Getting paid for a 'relationship' is nothing new.

You will often see a Partner in a Law firm quit and obtain major office in Politics and that entire Law Firm then pivots to being a registered Lobbyist which is entirely based on the personal relationship and access the firm has to the Politician.

It is the same for other 'WORK' colleagues who use their prior work relationships with a Politician(s) and access to them, to become lobbyist and get paid.

Family members also fall into that same pot for the same reason.

Very often the person is not being paid for a skill set and is selected simply because their is a belief they will be able to get access and the ear of the politician.

None of that is unlawful and honestly I don't think it would be possible to make it so.

All of the laws are directly, and RIGHTLY, at the politician. At selling influence. And they can go to jail for that if they do so.

Hunter Biden is pitiable, IMO. A sad individual who has made many mistakes in his life. But if someone wants to pay him for his last name, there is nothing wrong with him taking it as long as he is not making improper promises to get paid.

Trump's kids are despicable not based on their reliance on daddy. That makes them pitiable too. They are despicable based on their political positions and conduct.

lozen imagine this hypothetical situation and tell me what you would do different if you were Gore.

- Gore beats Bush and implements his aggressive Green New Deal like agenda to combat climate change, which will lead to Billions in spending in new areas and impact the Fossil Fuel industry by billions

- two of Gores kids are offered jobs separately. One by a Green Energy advocacy firm hoping to pick up work, both private sector and government and thinking having a "gore' name on the team will help. The other kid hired by Fossil Fuel for similar reasons, plus they think it undermines Al Gore to have a kid being seen on the side 'against' him.


- Al Gore says to his two kids - I won't allow this. I don't want you guys working in that regard as it looks bad on me.

- Kids to Al - We are each being paid $500K so hand us that money or we are taking the job

- Gore - I don't even make that much money. I can't do that

- Kids -Then go f*ck yourself. We are adults and we made no untoward promises and they want to pay us. We are taking it.

- Gore - You will have no influence on me or my office. I won't even give you access.

Kids - We never told them we would.



Lozen how would you change the above?

You could not stop it one bit. What bothers me is the notion that Hunter was qualified to sit on the Burisma board or brought in the Investment Capital because he is just so smart. No he got his wealth and fame based on companies that thought hiring him may get them access to Biden .

As for why I think he is pond scum Correct me if I have any of the facts wrong

• Dishonarble Discharge
• Dated his brothers widow
• While dating her fathered a child with a stripper
• refused it was his child until a lawsuit and DNA proved it was

Yes addiction is a serious issue but he was lucky to have a rich father to get him the help he needed. The last one makes him a piece of garbage to me anyone that does not take responsibility for their kids

As for all the fuss the GOP made about him I thought it was the wrong path.

Exactly.


I have never seen a single person claim he is smart or capable. Especially on what we would call the Left leaning media. Almost all treat him as someone 'sad' and to be 'pitied'.

Can you quote that as I am sure you must be taking Fox talking points and assuming they are real.


EXACTLY.

It is almost always that.

Even when the person is a top lawyer who turned lobbyist because suddenly his old partner is a POTUS or Governor.

Even though that person is probably skilled and capable they are hiring based on WHO HE KNOWS, and hoping that gets them access to make their case.

And make no mistake. The companies are not stupid. They know they are NOT buying results. They are making a gamble based on the price they think the gamble is worth. That is it.

If someone wants to hire Hunter or DonJr to a B.O.D and pay them stupid money, they are not doing so based on business skills. It is all about the access they HOPE it gets them.




I guess that depends on how you view the words but i see him as a pathetic and pitiable human being. The type of tragic tale we often hear about.

But if you associate the word 'scum' with that, I won't complain. I am more addressing the idea that somehow him taking a high paying job he is not qualified for was wrong and not just wrong for him, but somehow an indictment of Biden.

And how you can post something like this as if you know that everything you are saying is completely true?
I mean perhaps that is true. But I don't think you know at all.

Trump's kids and spouses work in politics. Ivanka and her husband were high ranking white house officials, Don Jr Eric and Eric's wife run PACs. Hunter just got a fancy job because of his connections like Mitt Romney's kids who you probably can't even name.

I absolutely believe the vast, vast majority of 'lobbyist like hires' are hired based on 'who they know and are believed to have access to' and not any 'guarantees of access or result'.

I am sure there are a percent, especially at local levels, where the lobbyist first approaches his old friend, business partner to make sure he can get the result and then sells his access based on that. But most lobbying is not.

So what that means is that if there is a case to be made that there is more to it than that, then make the case. We should not assume it is anything more than that without proof.

Hunter Biden overcame the death of his more serious brother , his mom in a car accident, a very lethal drug addiction and became president of the world food bank and Yale graduate because he likes helping people.

That list could basically function as a resume for building some conservative street cred.

Quick--picture a dude blowing lines off some stripper's ass--are you seeing an sjw type or some rightwing stereotype dude with wild eyes and his tie hanging off while screaming for another round of shots as he's throwing bits of his trustfund up in the air? Be honest

Really hope this guy does some time in jail

Thanks for the response. I asked because I honestly don't know that much about Hunter, and wasn't familiar with a couple of those issues. I take a little different view just because I try go light on the judgement especially when addictions come into it, but I can at least get where you're coming from and won't take further issue with it.

Republicans, conservatives all have done it. One of your greatest presidents may have been sleeping with 17 year olds after leaving office

Politics corrupts so many

Labor union reps do this **** too. Pretty much any man that can get away with it does. Those who say otherwise are liars.

Thread about a Congressman sex trafficking minors somehow devolves into a discussion on whether the son of the President is a good person or not. Man the right is good at playing the 'what about' game.

Oh ya there's no doubt it crosses all the lines. Being a labor rep doesn't guarantee being a liberal(in their personal beliefs) though as odd as that sounds--plenty of conservative union guys. It was more of a general take based on what the image you'd immediately visualize in your head. If we went and dusted off my fb acct and I pointed you to all the outlier/giant cokeheads I grew up/went to school with etc--you'd see pretty quickly the crossover with trump supporter

For balance--a guy we grew up with failed 12th grade 4x -on purpose- to still be around hs chicks. They basically had to force him to leave lol. Things haven't changed much over the years--a little bit though. And he's about as liberal as it gets and definitely knows how to chop out the rails.

It wasn't "somehow" that this happened. Glenn Greenwald posted an article that I linked to and then people started whatabouting Greenwald. You have it backwards.

At least it didn't go the religous route

That is not an accurate summation at all.

you posted a GG article that had a clearly stupid and specious 'what about' argument within it.

It is natural then that others will reply to that article to point out why it is 'stupid and specious' with the only other option simply for everyone to ignore like it was never posted, something rarely done on a discussion forum.

So the 'whataboutism' arguments were triggered by the posting of that silly tweet.

No back and forth here when it is not about The GMan, gentlemen.

Oh wait, that should say Gaetz

Gaetz moved $85,000 intended for campaigning into his own legal defense fund.

In the 1990's, David Brock wrote a book titled Blinded by the Right, in which he, as a former conservative "insider" (and author of the "hit piece", The Real Anita Hill), detailed the prevailing hypocrisy in the conservative movement. While many of the conservative politicians and operatives were publicly promoting " Family Values", in their private lives they were doing all the things that they were publicly denouncing.

Addendum: Several years after his The Real Anita Hill was published, Mr. Brock both privately and publicly apologized to Ms. Hill for publishing falsehoods about her in that book.

Well, since someone other than me brought up the topic:

Jesus Christ saved (so to speak) His greatest condemnation and his harshest language for the religious hypocrites of His day.

What Gaetz is reportedly being investigated for isn't really comparable to being a conservative who doesn't live up to conservative standards. It isn't even comparable to being a conservative politician who doesn't live up to conservative standards.

He's reportedly being investigated for sexual trafficking of minors (my "legal English" might be off on this one). Which as far as my views go isn't even on the same moral planet as not living up to conservative standards.

Seems like a weird law. So if he had slept with these 17 year olds in Florida and not travelled out of state. Would he still have committed a crime?
In Canada age of consent is 16 and that changed in May 2008 when it was 14