Linda Dunn
Presidents have long struggled with family members casting a dark shadow over their presidencies:
Jimmy Carter’s re-election campaign was seriously damaged by his “colorful” brother, Billy, who accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars as an “agent for Libya.”
Richard Nixon’s brother, Donald, borrowed $200,000 from a major defense contractor and later was a conduit for illegal campaign contributions.
Bill Clinton’s half-brother was investigated for trying to peddle pardons.
Neil Bush, son and brother to presidents, was accused of insider trading and selling his influence with presidential relatives.
But Hunter Biden’s transgressions eclipses these and every other known scandal by a presidential relative. His obvious marketing of himself as a “presidential influencer” to enrich himself has been a public relations disaster of biblical proportions for his father’s presidency.
Any sensible politician would have distanced himself and offered up “thoughts and prayers” for his son’s recovery while possibly arranging to have him checked into institutions to keep him out of the public eye and hopefully get him back on track. Instead, President Biden has taken the “prodigal son” approach of embracing the wayward son, welcoming him back into the fold, and staying close as Hunter navigates the difficult path of sobriety.
Paradoxically, this has led many self-proclaimed Christians to express outrage. Apparently, children of Democrats are beyond redemption.
Its generally acknowledged that Hunter Biden successfully used his family name and the premise that he could influence government policies to generate a net worth estimated at over $200 million. More, he did this seemly with complete disregard for how his behavior would impact his father’s reputation and career. And like far too many people most of us know, his addiction-fueled lifestyle means he blew through everything he had and then some.
But wait. It gets worse.
He fathered a child with Lunden Roberts, whom he claims to not remember knowing, and blames the child’s existence — once parentage was proven by DNA tests — upon his addiction.
While he’s certainly not the first “Deadbeat Dad” to deny parentage and to blame intoxication once parentage was established, few have done this so openly. Even fewer have managed to call the shots for the grandparents by insisting they not recognize their grandchild for years while the legal cases related to his parental obligations slow-walked their way through our judicial system.
Hunter has recently rebranded himself as a recovering addict trying to live a sober life while earning his livelihood through artwork — which he’s selling for as much as half a million dollars per piece. This, to many of us, sounds like he’s still the “same old Hunter Biden” except now he’s money laundering with the Biden name through artwork rather than through shady business dealings.
How low can he go? And are we about to find out?
The Justice Department started investigating Hunter Biden’s various business shenanigans while Donald Trump was president and the Trump-appointed investigator, David C. Weiss, was held over partially to shield the Justice Department from accusations of political meddling.
However, the only charges that appear likely to stick after five years of countless claims but no real hard evidence are those limited to Hunter alone: two misdemeanor tax crimes and one illegal possession of a firearm (for 11 days).
That’s a disappointment to many and a relief for some looking toward 2024.
Joe Biden’s commitment to family and faith was once one of his strongest selling points and especially so for those of us moderates who have too often been faced with choosing the candidate we dislike the least rather than choosing someone whose policies and ideals we embrace.
Now, however, Biden’s devotion to his family has become his Achilles heel as outrage seemingly grows each time he’s shown in photos and videos standing with Hunter — often with his arm wrapped around Hunter’s shoulder, hugging him.
Like the father in Luke 15: 11-31, Joe Biden is demonstrating unconditional love. And it infuriates us.
We, as a nation, need to take a step back for a moment, turn off our political outrage machines, and examine this situation from a family and a community perspective.
Half of Americans 12 and older have used illicit drugs at least once. Drug overdose deaths are nearing one million. The federal budget for drug control in 2020 was a staggering $35 billion.
And for those who fall into addiction, studies show about 40-60% of individuals relapse within 30 days of leaving in-patient treatment centers and up to 85% relapse within the first year.
While many of them have families as loving and caring as the First Family and who rally around one another as the Bidens have done for Hunter, few of them have the privileges often associated nowadays with wealth.
They need more and they especially need understanding and family and community support.
Let’s separate the nationwide epidemic and tragedy of addiction from the public theatre and let our judicial system do its job.
Every person in recovery is a valued member of our communities who deserves support in their efforts to attain and maintain sobriety. Everyone deserves the opportunity to address their past behavior, perform whatever service is required by our judicial system, and return to the path of righteousness.
And no one is beyond redemption.
Not even Hunter Biden.
A lifelong resident of Hancock County, Linda Dunn is an author and retired Department of Defense employee.
