Smedley said:

But, come on, man. Hunter the smack addict was unethical in accepting millions of dollars from foreign corporations and individuals, for no work or token work. Period. Even if accepting these payments wasn't to the detriment of American interests, presumably it shut out honest companies and people who could have been awarded the work otherwise. 

Exactly.  Hunter Biden took work from honest influence peddlers who could have delivered actual improper influence for their clients.

Smedley said:

OK, ml1 Esq. 

It's fine to be all lawyerly with narrow definitions and parsed words. You'll serve your client well in a court of law. 

But, come on, man. Hunter the smack addict was unethical in accepting millions of dollars from foreign corporations and individuals, for no work or token work. Period. Even if accepting these payments wasn't to the detriment of American interests, presumably it shut out honest companies and people who could have been awarded the work otherwise. 

I'm sure you're familiar with the reasonable person standard. Reasonable people would judge Hunter's "business" dealings to be unethical, and by extension, those same reasonable people would side-eye Joe saying nothing was unethical. But to Biden defenders, it's fine. 

do I need to go back and quote all the times I said Hunter Biden's business dealings weren't "fine."

I was responding to your criticisms of Joe Biden's characterization of it as not unethical. I can see why he would say that, and I don't think it's anything to be getting as worked up about it as you seem to be.

there's an investigation going on. If that uncovers real influence peddling, I'll change my tune. But until we know something, it's just another seedy story that may or may not be of any real importance to the workings of the White House.

after all these posts, I still don't quite understand what is getting smedley so hot and bothered about this.

It seems that he just wants Biden to throw his son under the bus.

Pvw and ml1 have posted about the same # of posts and wc on this topic. Are they hot and bothered as well?

And, I don't want anyone thrown under the bus necessarily. But it would be nice if at some point the  president addressed the situation with some honesty and openness. I don't think that's too much to ask, maybe you do.

drummerboy said:

after all these posts, I still don't quite understand what is getting smedley so hot and bothered about this.

It seems that he just wants Biden to throw his son under the bus.

he also seems to want everyone else to be as worked up over it as he is. 

ml1 said:

he also seems to want everyone else to be as worked up over it as he is. 

Are these conservatives really jealous that Hunter made a lot of money in a foreign country? Which government would hire someone just because they’re the son of a vice president? 
Pay him millions of dollars to just lay around smoking dope and taking naked pictures of himself? That’s why Ghouliani decided to lay down on the bed and unzip his pants…. ? These people are completely out of their minds. It’s okay smedley… I will toss a few “likes” your way. 

Smedley said:

Pvw and ml1 have posted about the same # of posts and wc on this topic. Are they hot and bothered as well?

And, I don't want anyone thrown under the bus necessarily. But it would be nice if at some point the  president addressed the situation with some honesty and openness. I don't think that's too much to ask, maybe you do.

what exactly do you want him to address?

ml1 said:

drummerboy said:

after all these posts, I still don't quite understand what is getting smedley so hot and bothered about this.

It seems that he just wants Biden to throw his son under the bus.

he also seems to want everyone else to be as worked up over it as he is. 

Let’s just say I consider myself blessed to have had two capable, enthusiastic and passionate debate opponents on this topic.

Jaytee said:

ml1 said:

he also seems to want everyone else to be as worked up over it as he is. 

Are these conservatives really jealous that Hunter made a lot of money in a foreign country? Which government would hire someone just because they’re the son of a vice president? 
Pay him millions of dollars to just lay around smoking dope and taking naked pictures of himself? That’s why Ghouliani decided to lay down on the bed and unzip his pants…. ? These people are completely out of their minds. It’s okay smedley… I will toss a few “likes” your way. 

You’re a bit of a loose cannon , but you can be funny at times. I’ll give you that. 

drummerboy said:

Smedley said:

Pvw and ml1 have posted about the same # of posts and wc on this topic. Are they hot and bothered as well?

And, I don't want anyone thrown under the bus necessarily. But it would be nice if at some point the  president addressed the situation with some honesty and openness. I don't think that's too much to ask, maybe you do.

what exactly do you want him to address?

for starters, maybe his previous statements that Hunter did nothing wrong, didn’t do anything unethical, and didn’t make any money in China?

Smedley said:

drummerboy said:

Smedley said:

Pvw and ml1 have posted about the same # of posts and wc on this topic. Are they hot and bothered as well?

And, I don't want anyone thrown under the bus necessarily. But it would be nice if at some point the  president addressed the situation with some honesty and openness. I don't think that's too much to ask, maybe you do.

what exactly do you want him to address?

for starters, maybe his previous statements that Hunter did nothing wrong, didn’t do anything unethical, and didn’t make any money in China?

and you think that will accomplish what exactly?

and what do you think about the Republican's behavior concerning Hunter? Do they have anything to apologize for?

Smedley said:

ml1 said:

drummerboy said:

after all these posts, I still don't quite understand what is getting smedley so hot and bothered about this.

It seems that he just wants Biden to throw his son under the bus.

he also seems to want everyone else to be as worked up over it as he is. 

Let’s just say I consider myself blessed to have had two capable, enthusiastic and passionate debate opponents on this topic.

Happy to oblige.

Smedley said:

ml1 said:

drummerboy said:

after all these posts, I still don't quite understand what is getting smedley so hot and bothered about this.

It seems that he just wants Biden to throw his son under the bus.

he also seems to want everyone else to be as worked up over it as he is. 

Let’s just say I consider myself blessed to have had two capable, enthusiastic and passionate debate opponents on this topic.

That must be nice. 

Smedley said:

You’re a bit of a loose cannon , but you can be funny at times. I’ll give you that. 

we’re all lost souls living in a fish bowl…year after year.

Jaytee said:

we’re all lost souls living in a fish bowl…year after year.

Running over the same old ground
What have we found?

ml1 said:

Smedley said:

ml1 said:

drummerboy said:

after all these posts, I still don't quite understand what is getting smedley so hot and bothered about this.

It seems that he just wants Biden to throw his son under the bus.

he also seems to want everyone else to be as worked up over it as he is. 

Let’s just say I consider myself blessed to have had two capable, enthusiastic and passionate debate opponents on this topic.

That must be nice. 

Ha! Saw what you did there.

drummerboy said:

Smedley said:

drummerboy said:

Smedley said:

Pvw and ml1 have posted about the same # of posts and wc on this topic. Are they hot and bothered as well?

And, I don't want anyone thrown under the bus necessarily. But it would be nice if at some point the  president addressed the situation with some honesty and openness. I don't think that's too much to ask, maybe you do.

what exactly do you want him to address?

for starters, maybe his previous statements that Hunter did nothing wrong, didn’t do anything unethical, and didn’t make any money in China?

and you think that will accomplish what exactly?

and what do you think about the Republican's behavior concerning Hunter? Do they have anything to apologize for?

What would that accomplish? It would support the notion that Joe Biden is an honest politician. I think if he were to acknowledge there was unethical business, mistakes were made, there could have / should have been more oversight, etc.... something along those lines.... that would be better than keeping his head in the sand and only when pressed, offering up weak sauce that everything was clean as a whistle. Plus, his current approach is allowing Republicans to control the narrative.

As to your second question, the NYT piece that was the genesis of this discussion, posted 3-4 days ago, provides a good critique on the Republican angle, so that's what I think. 

The New York Times thought it would be great to subject its readers to the wit and wisdom of Ann Coulter, in this conversation with Frank Bruni, and I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, now. 

‘I Don’t Think Trump Will Be the Nominee’: Three Writers Preview the First G.O.P. Debate

By Frank Bruni, Ann Coulter and Stuart Stevens

Mr. Bruni is a contributing Opinion writer. Ms. Coulter is the author of the Substack newsletter Unsafe. Mr. Stevens is a former Republican political consultant.

This Ann Coulter?

nohero said:

The New York Times thought it would be great to subject its readers to the wit and wisdom of Ann Coulter, in this conversation with Frank Bruni, and I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, now. 

‘I Don’t Think Trump Will Be the Nominee’: Three Writers Preview the First G.O.P. Debate

By Frank Bruni, Ann Coulter and Stuart Stevens

Mr. Bruni is a contributing Opinion writer. Ms. Coulter is the author of the Substack newsletter Unsafe. Mr. Stevens is a former Republican political consultant.

don't they know Ann Coulter is performance art? She's the Andy Kaufman of pundits. 

Is it just me, or is this military propaganda?

I’ve heard of military cardboard drones (we’ve donated stacks to Ukraine, apparently), but ‘flexible vessels’? Rubber dinghies??? Or do they mean versatile or multipurpose vessels? 
Sigh. 
Sometimes I hate being a language dinosaur.

joanne said:

I’ve heard of military cardboard drones (we’ve donated stacks to Ukraine, apparently), but ‘flexible vessels’? Rubber dinghies??? Or do they mean versatile or multipurpose vessels? 
Sigh. 
Sometimes I hate being a language dinosaur.

I'm more concerned that the paper of record is accepting the Navy's premise that we need to be ready for a war with China. 

really?

Well, we’ve had 2 exploding Tesla batteries in Sydney this week… I guess any drawn-out strike will be fodder for those saying your President and his team can’t possibly continue to control things the older he gets [each day]…

The stupidity of international politics and international economics just makes me want to scream sometimes. 

Not a good week for "Hey, if you like Taylor Swift, Burlington Vermont has your kind of people!" 

[https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/29/us/vermont-shooting-burlington-palestinian-american.html?smid=url-share]

The times wrote this sentence today, regarding the Claudine Gay affair.

Newspaper articles about Dr. Gay and the board kept coming.

As if they just appeared out of the ether.

Meanwhile they wrote 95 articles in a month.

90 effing 5

The Times has an odd sense of priorities

drummerboy said:

The times wrote this sentence today, regarding the Claudine Gay affair.

Newspaper articles about Dr. Gay and the board kept coming.

As if they just appeared out of the ether.

Meanwhile they wrote 95 articles in a month.

90 effing 5

Does a "result" equal a stand-alone article?  Or could that must be a mention of Claudine Gay somewhere in the paper?