Democracy 2024: # 3

Joe Biden has now been President for two years and one day. With his term now half over, he is still by a considerable margin, the oldest person ever to occupy the White House and a long campaign for reelection is anticipated to officially begin after next month's State of the Union Address.

Two years ago, he began his term with the nation fairly divided along partisan lines but many relieved that such a seemingly steady figure was at the helm of state after the chaos of the previous four years. Today, we saw "Breaking News" headlines that the FBI searched the (private) home of the current President of the United States. This is not something that has ever happened in American history before. In doing so, they found even more classified documents that clearly belonged nowhere near Wilmington, Delaware, the Biden Corvette, any rambunctious German Shepherds, and certainly not Hunter Biden, the President's ne'er do well son with an enormously checkered history. As I have written before, I have admired the fact that Biden loves his family, warts and all, and has not given up on Hunter. That comes with various risks though. Just about any politician would not have sought the Presidency in order to spare themselves the stress of controversy and to spare an adult child, hoping to turn their life around, the grief of an intense media spotlight. Biden did however, and won. He seems to have a blind spot about just how problematic Hunter's life would look to the average American, if they really dug in. Of course, the father is not responsible for the sins of the son, but Biden is believed to have a long history of getting Hunter out of trouble and the son has long been suspected for trading on his father's name and position for financial advancement. When it comes to being "a Biden", Joe has been very loyal, for better or worse.

Now, the current President is engaged in biggest controversy he has ever been involved in .By all accounts, he and his Administration are continuing to cooperate with the Justice Department in regards to finding and returning classified documents that date back two Administrations and which have apparently been "missing" for years. There are still many questions though. One, which seems hard for anyone to answer, is why Biden's personal legal team, which does not have national security clearance, were allowed to search two Delaware residences for the documents instead of official Justice Department personnel. This weekend's excursion at the main Delaware estate is clearly a different situation and a sign that the government may realize just how extensive this problem may be. Of course, it has to be pointed out that in a semi-similar situation, Donald Trump fought back against returning classified documents, asserted his right to have them, and fought the government to the extent where the Justice Department authorized a "raid" on his home, against his will. Again, the situations between the two Presidents have important differences, but also troubling similarities.

 

Republicans and many within the party base have been after Hunter Biden as a way to embarrass or damage his father for a long time now. It has been thought that zealous efforts in doing so will ultimately only have the affect of politically backfiring. This document situation definitely puts a new wrinkle into the situation though, as it is clear that Hunter Biden has had continuous access to the Delaware home which was housing the forbidden docs. At this point, there is definitely no evidence that the younger Biden knew about them or did anything with them but the President's opponents will push that narrative and many people will be suspicious, and if nothing else, that will be a further political headache for the Biden White House. Incidentally, news has come out today that Chief of Staff Ron Klain is soon to depart his job.

Late this week, speaking in California, Biden insisted that he had "no regrets" about this situation and even allies in his party and in the media were pretty taken aback by such a brazen statement. Indeed, it sounded very much like something Trump would have said. Even if Biden had no malicious intent regarding the laws of America upon leaving the Vice Presidency, he definitely ought to have regret over having the documents in his possession in the first place. Even if it was all the fault of a sloppy staff, he was their boss and bears the ultimate responsibility. He ought to have regret for how this episode looks to America and the world. While he may ultimately be cleared legally, he ought to show less stubbornness and more contrition. Ronald Reagan understood this after Iran-Contra and was able to perhaps "save" his Presidency at the time. These days though, with our partisan wars being what they are, showing an inch of weakness or vulnerability is considered a political sin. Going even further back, it is clear that Biden, even as a much younger Senator with national ambitions, tended to dig in and fire back at detractors, such as during the plagiarism scandal during his first Presidential bid. He and Trump are essentially men of the same generation and share more personal traits than many feel comfortable in admitting.

As for the Republicans who hope to succeed Biden, things will develop more slowly, especially as their is little desire for the hopefuls to find themselves directly in the fire of the one announced candidate, Donald Trump. This week, the former President warned that if DeSantis opposes him, he will "handle" things they way he is known to handle things. What made less news this week is that during a recent deposition in which Trump testified in a case in which he is accused of rape (a particular set of circumstances which I have always had a hard tome believing) by a woman he insisted was "not his type", he confused an old photo of her for that of his second ex-wife.

Perhaps most significantly in regards to the GOP Presidential sweepstakes, former South Carolina Governor and Trump's U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley made her soft entry into the race this week during a Fox News interview. She had previously said she would not oppose Trump, but has definitely changed her mind on that. Haley has gone back and forth over Trump a lot over the history of his political career leading many to believe she is purely a political opportunist. She is saying that the nation needs to find a new leader who is not "80 years old", in what is clearly a reference to Biden and Trump.

Haley apparently is being supported in her efforts by the parents of Jared Kushner, Trump's own son-in law. There have been stories lately about how Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump may have major marital woes. We do not know that for sure, but both are clearly staying clear of being involved in another Trump White House run. They continue to be talked about. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, himself a likely Republican Presidential candidate, is saying that while she was U.N. Ambassador and technically under the State Department's purview, Haley conspired with the Kushners to get Trump to dump Mike Pence from the 2024 ticket in favor of herself. Trump apparently considered it, but has also been said to be turned off from the idea because he had issues with Haley's skin care effectiveness. Also, perhaps the fact that she is a woman of color.

Several months from now, we could see Trump, Pence, Haley, and Pompeo all on the same debate stage fighting over what exactly happened in this episode. DeSantis can try to appear above it all and the longtime dysfunction of Washington D.C. I will be looking and hoping for someone else to be on that stage.