Joe Biden is ahead in the polls, but he
still has a way to go to seal the deal. If his prime qualification is
winability, he will have to show that he can be a strong and
declarative candidate, not just good old lovable (and stumbling)
Uncle Joe. To get the nomination,
he will need to show that he can make strong arguments, be adept,
perhaps even subtle, but strong and even close to eloquent. In any
event, convincing and persuasive.
So
if I were to advise Joe, I would tell him that now that he has
appeared in Trump's crosshairs, it is a prime opportunity for him to
show his mettle – can he pivot and take the case to Trump, run
against him now?
So
here's a version of the speech I would advise him to give.
The
Speech
I
have a son, Hunter, whom I love very much. He's not a kid anymore,
he's 49 years old, but I don't have to tell parents out there, no
matter how old they get, they're still your kids, and you never stop
loving them. You don't approve of everything they do, they don't
listen to your advice, but they are your kids, and you love them, and
you give them your unconditional love.
Hunter
has come under into the crosshairs of the great machine of
destruction called Donald Trump. Obviously, Trump doesn't care about
Hunter, he's trying to get to me. He and his minions are accusing
Hunter of taking a position as a member of the board of directors
with a Ukrainian energy company, and in that position, using his
connection with me to make money for that company by getting
contracts for them with the United States. I guess that's his
charge, Trump is never that clear as he rants and raves. He just
says, “It's dirty.”
Should
Hunter have taken this position? It was legal for him to do it, he
did nothing unethical or illegal while he was in the position, and he
was well paid. But, I'm sure the fact that he carried the name
“Biden,” and that I was Vice President of the United States at
the time, helped him get appointed to this job. Let's face it, when
your father is Vice President, you get offers you wouldn't get
otherwise. He didn't ask me about it, and I didn't give him any
advice, and his company didn't benefit from their indirect connection
to me in any way that I know about.
But
now Donald Trump can't leave that alone. He's got to find something
wrong and bad, and if he doesn't find it, that doesn't matter to him,
he makes it up anyway, makes accusations, lies and impugns and smears
and does as much harm as he can, just because that's what he does.
You
have to hand it to Trump. He really is a genius, not a stable genius
as he claims, but he's a genius of destruction. If there is a person
or an institution that gets in Trump's way, or even just gets near
him, watch out! And now he suspects that I will be in his way of
securing a second term, and there is my son, Hunter. Trump figures
that Hunter is fair game, because to him, everyone is fair game.
John McCain was fair game. If he can slime John McCain, surely he
can slime Hunter and me. To him, he is the only person in the world
who exists.
Since
this attack is on me, even though he is using Hunter as a ploy, I am
the one who needs to respond. That is what I intend to do. First I
will respond directly to the charge, and then I will take the
challenge that Trump seems to be issuing, and address corruption in
government, most specifically, his own. And then I'll add a few
words about the destruction that Donald Trump has brought to this
country.
The
Charges Against Hunter And Me
The
basic charge that seems to be leveled at us is that Hunter took this
position and then used his connection with me to the advantage of the
company. Trump also says, what was Hunter doing in that remunerative
position when he has no obvious qualifications. Let me answer those
questions.
Well,
it's well known that Hunter has had a tumultuous life, starting when
his mother and sister were killed by a runaway driver in an auto
accident when he was not yet three years old. Since then he has
achieved many things, but he has also been wracked by demons,
including drug addiction. To his great credit, Hunter has been up
front about this. He bared all for a magazine article in the New
Yorker. And as he has had his severe problems, Hunter has benefited
from his association with me. Others have been there to help him up.
In truth, although Hunter is a bright and capable person, this
position that Trump refers to, is in fact something that he would not
have gotten save for his association with me. Children of people in
high political office have avenues open to them that other people
don't, and they often take them. This is unfair. Life gives
advantages to some that it denies to others. I recognize this, and I
hope that people will look at the record of what I have tried to
achieve in life and realize that I have sought all my life to give
the advantages to others that the rich and well born, and public
officials such as myself, already enjoy.
Should
Hunter have taken this job with the Ukrainian company? If he had
asked me, I would have said no. He made a lot of money for it, and
it was very tempting and I understood why he did it. It was an
opportunity for him that helped him out financially, and he knew that
he would not do anything corrupt. Nevertheless, I would have told
him, find another way. But he is in his 40's, and he's got to figure
things out for himself.
But
the most important thing is this, not whether or not he benefited
from his family connection to get this position, but rather – were
the interests of the people of the United States compromised by his
taking that job? My answer is simple – no, no, not in any way,
never, a thousand times no. Hunter never contacted me, directly or
indirectly, about any of his business, and I would never have
listened if he had.
But,
you don't have to take it from me. There have been several
investigations, they have been deep and thorough, and they have all
come up with one conclusion. There has been no fraud, no influence,
no corruption as a result of Hunter's taking this position.
Trump
and Corruption
Donald
Trump is, as we know, a terrific liar. One of his greatest talents
is to take what he is guilty of and attribute it to others. He did
this most jaw-droppingly obviously and publicly against Hillary
Clinton in one of the debates. She accused him of being a puppet of
Russia – a charge that we have seen to be totally true, of course.
But what did Trump do? He turned on her as a not very bright bully
in the schoolyard will, and he said, “You're the puppet!”
Unbelievable – Hillary, a puppet of Russia! Believe that, and
there's a bridge he's like to sell you. But, it was so breathtaking
a lie that it was hard to counter. We are used to people trying to
saying things that are at least somewhat truthful, but this was just
breathtaking.
But
what I'm pointing out is this: look at the technique – take your
major flaw and attribute it to others, even if it couldn't possibly
be true. That's what he does, and that's what he is now doing to me.
Me, corrupt? I've been so uncorrupt that for virtually all my life
in the Senate, I was the least-wealthy senator. I had to mortgage my
house twice to send my kids to college. Look, is this what millions
of parents do every year, I'm not complaining, I'm just saying that
if there's anyone not corrupt in public life, it's me.
On
the other hand, let's turn the spotlight where it belongs, on Trump,
his family, and his associates. There has never been a family or an
administration in the history of the United States that comes close
to the corruption of the Trump Abomination.
Most
people assuming high office in the country forego any further profit.
They are working for the country. Not Trump. Money is his God. He
has given up none of his holdings. If you want a meeting with Trump,
you stay at his property. If you are a government wanting access,
you rent out floors in Trump properties. If you are the military,
you schedule your troops to fill up their planes at Trump filling
stations, you put your overnight stays at Trump properties.
The
Trump family is the most acquisitive, values-free family in the
history of the Presidency, bar none. No one comes close. If you are
China, do you want to do business? Grant Ivanka licenses and
copyrights. A Gulf nation wants to do business? Grant Jared a $90
million cash infusion.
[Biden
should insert here a list of the items of corruption – there's so
much, one has to choose only highlights.]
So,
Mr. Trump – you want to call out Hunter on his judgement? You too,
Mr. Giuliani? Let's go at it. You have a pair of deuces, and I have
a royal flush. You are a bunch of corrupt liars, and you have no
business running this country, because you are running it into the
ground.
The
Trump Slime Machine
Corruption
is a disease that eats its way into the body of the country. We
shouldn't allow it to happen, and I have faith that we won't. But
just as vicious a vice is the lying. Trump and Giuliani have such
warped personalities that they don't care. They just take dirt and
throw it around. Truth? Truth is for suckers (like paying taxes, as
Trump has said.) The lie is the thing, keep repeating it until it
becomes fact. This is the Trump modus operandi, his MO. Even
though everyone knows this, Trump's genius is not to care. Trump is
out there ruining the good name of this country, making the country a
laughingstock internationally, giving away America's largesse to
other countries who are not our friends, dirtying our name, and
getting away with it by lying, lying, lying. If you like to lie, if
it is second nature to you, if you do it repeatedly and effectively,
if you do it loudly and incessantly, and if you are in a position of
responsibility, there is no limit to the damage you can do.
This
is the truth that Trump's lies have taught the world.
So,
to finish this up, Hunter has his weaknesses, just as I have mine,
and just as all of us have ours. But most of us try to do the best
we can, to honor ourselves, our families, our country, and try to be
the best people we can be. I doubt, though, that we can say this
about Donald Trump. He is just a scourge, and he glories in being
that.
One
of the most important things I can do for the United States, the
country I have loved and served for all my life, is this: I'm calling
out the Trump lies, and I'm asking everyone to pay attention to them.
Don't overlook them, and don't laugh at them. Take them seriously,
and reject them, and reject him for who he is and for all the bad
behavior he glories in, all the destruction he purveys. Realize that
these lies and this liar are bad for us as a nation, bad for every
single one of us.
We
need to find the truth that will set us free, and the truth is that
Donald Trump's lies can lead us to our destruction.
Budd
Shenkin
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