July 9, 2023

Afternoon Update:

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Biden said in an interview that aired on Sunday that Ukraine was not ready for membership in NATO and that it was 'premature' to begin the process to allow Ukraine to join the alliance in the middle of a war. In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Mr. Biden said that he did not 'think there is unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now,' and that the process could take place only after a peace agreement with Russia was in place." The Hill's report is here.

Simon Romero, et al., of the New York Times: "... Instead of surging as elected officials and immigration advocates had warned, the number of migrants trying to enter the United States has plummeted following the expiration in May of a pandemic-era border restriction. The unusual scenes of relative calm flow from a flurry of actions the Biden administration has taken, such as imposing stiffer penalties for illegal border crossings, to try to reverse an enormous jump in migrants trying to reach the United States. But it is also the result of tough steps Mexico has taken to discourage migrants from massing along the border, including transporting them to places deep in the country's interior.... The harsh conditions [Mexico imposes] attracted a global spotlight following a devastating fire in March at a Juárez migrant detention center that left dozens dead." MB: For better or for worse, this does kind of deflate Republican blowhards' favorite fear-mongering issues.

Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Nearly two years after Congress finalized the first in a series of measures to improve the nation's aging infrastructure and combat climate change, some of the GOP lawmakers who originally tried to scuttle the spending are now welcoming it. They have privately courted newly available federal money to improve their local roads, bridges, pipes, ports and internet connections, and publicly celebrated when their cities and states have secured a portion of the aid. The dynamic has created some uncomfortable contrasts, since those same GOP lawmakers still maintain that President Biden's legislative agenda has served as a drag on the nation's economy, worsening inflation. The White House, meanwhile, has seized on Republicans' shifting tone as part of its new campaign to promote 'Bidenomics,' which took Biden and his top advisers to Michigan, Ohio and other 2024 election battlegrounds over the past week to tout their work.... 'All those members of Congress who voted against it suddenly realize how great it is, and they're bragging about it,' Biden said [in South Carolina Thursday]."

Zach Montellaro of Politico: "Over the past year and a half, eight Republican-led states quit a nonpartisan program designed to keep voter rolls accurate and up to date. Top Republican election officials in those states publicly argued the program was mismanaged. The conspiracy theorists who cheered them on falsely insisted it was a front for liberals to take control of elections. But experts say the program, known as the Electronic Registration Information Center, was among the best nationwide tool states had to catch people trying to vote twice in the same election. Now, those Republican-led states who left -- and other states who lost access to their data -- are scrambling to police so-called 'double voters' ahead of the presidential election in 2024." MB: As for me, I'm looking forward to voting in all those Republican-led states.

Tamia Fowlkes of the Washington Post: "For many voters under 35 years of age, especially those on the left, the Supreme Court has become a political issue in the same way that climate change, gun violence and immigration have over the course of the past two decades, some political scientists and organizers have said.... The court's recent rulings, along with last year's decision striking down the right to abortion established in 1973's Roe v. Wade, could prompt more young people to be active in next year's presidential and congressional elections, some observers predict."

Here's a fun story that appeared in the Independent, a former U.K. broadsheet that now appears only online. MB: I don't consider the paper's reports particularly reliable, but this one probably has basis in fact:

Michigan. Now, This Is Disarray! Oliver O'Connell of the Independent, republished by Yahoo! News: "Tensions boiled over within the Michigan Republican Party on Saturday resulting in an altercation at a hotel to which the police were called. The GOP's state committee came together for a meeting at the Doherty Hotel in Clare as members have been feuding over the party's direction and the leadership approach of the new chairwoman, Kristina Karamo, The Detroit News reports. Some Michigan Republicans ... were frustrated to find the meeting was limited only to members of the state committee and was taking place behind a locked door. In an interview with The Detroit News, James Chapman, a Republican from Wayne County, said he had travelled to Clare for the meeting but was forced to listen to it through a locked door. Mr Chapman said he and others said the Pledge of Allegiance together in the lobby outside the meeting, after which he jiggled the doorknob of the meeting room. It was then that Mark DeYoung, chairman of the Clare County Republican Party, approached the door, saw someone flip him off through a small window, and opened it. 'He kicked me in my balls as soon as I opened the door,' Mr DeYoung said, adding that Mr Chapman ran at him and slammed him into a chair. Mr DeYoung gave his account to the outlet over the phone from an emergency room where he said he was being treated for a broken rib. For his part, Mr Chapman alleges that Mr DeYoung had swung at him and said: 'I'll kick your ass.' Mr DeYoung denies this happened. Continuing, Mr Chapman says he removed his glasses, took Mr DeYoung by the legs and knocked him down...."

~~~~~~~~~~

Marie: Maureen Dowd's column about Joe Biden's seventh grandchild is one that -- as Dowd herself emphasizes -- is one that people of all political persuasions can agree. (Also linked yesterday.)

Yellen in China. Alan Rappeport & Keith Bradsher of the New York Times: "Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen wrapped up her two-day visit to Beijing, where she made progress in restoring some balance to the rocky economic relationship between the U.S. and China. This trip has been a centerpiece of Ms. Yellen's time as Treasury secretary, a top cabinet official involved in overseeing ties with China. Her meeting on Saturday with Vice Premier He Lifeng, her counterpart, was a first step in easing relations.... Ms. Yellen did not announce any breakthroughs at a news conference on Sunday at the U.S. Embassy. She suggested that the trip would yield more regular, constructive conversations with Chinese officials."

David Smith of the Guardian: "Republicans on Capitol Hill are moving up a gear in a wide-ranging assault on the justice department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that would have been unthinkable before the rise of Donald Trump. The party that for half a century claimed the mantle of law and order has, critics say, become a cult of personality intent on discrediting and dismantling institutions that get in Trump's way.... Some Republicans, especially on the far right, are now demanding [Attorney General Merrick] Garland's impeachment, a sanction that no cabinet official has suffered since 1876. Kevin McCarthy, the House speaker, told the conservative Fox News network recently: 'Someone has lied here. If we find that Garland has lied to Congress, we will start an impeachment inquiry.' Meanwhile, Christopher Wray, the director of the FBI, is discovering that his status as a Trump appointee offers no immunity against the Republican onslaught.... The acrimony threatens to dominate the rest of the year in an already unproductive Congress."

** Clarence's Rich Friends: the Gifters Who Keep on Giving. Abbie Van Sickle & Steve Eder of the New York Times: "When he joined the Horatio Alger Association [months after being confirmed as a justice of the Supreme Court], Justice [Clarence] Thomas entered a world whose defining ethos of meritocratic success &-- that anyone can achieve the American dream with hard work, pluck and a little luck -- was the embodiment of his own life philosophy, and a foundation of his jurisprudence.... At Horatio Alger, he moved into the inner circle, a cluster of extraordinarily wealthy, largely conservative members who lionized him and all that he had achieved.... His friendships forged though Horatio Alger have brought him proximity to a lifestyle of unimaginable material privilege. Over the years, his Horatio Alger friends have welcomed him at their vacation retreats, arranged V.I.P. access to sporting events and invited him to their lavish parties....

"A look at his tenure at the Horatio Alger Association, based on more than two dozen interviews and a review of public filings and internal documents, shows that Justice Thomas has received benefits -- many of them previously unreported -- from a broader cohort of wealthy and powerful friends. They have included major donors to conservative causes with broad policy and political interests and much at stake in Supreme Court decisions, even if they were not directly involved in the cases.... Justice Thomas's acceptance of such hospitality apparently predates his time on the court.... [Thomas] is hardly alone among his colleagues in accepting benefits from rich friends and sympathetic organizations." The story gives numerous examples of the expensive perks Thomas' richy-rich friends have bestowed upon him. And somehow those lavish gifts never ended up on his financial disclosure forms.

Elon, Spreading Lies Around the World. Shayan Sardarizadeh of BBC News: "False and misleading posts about the Ukraine conflict continue to go viral on major social media platforms.... Some of the most widely shared examples can be found on Twitter, posted by subscribers with a blue tick, who pay for their content to be promoted to other users. Many misleading posts have been shared online about the recent riots in France, but one viral post last week focused on US military aid to Ukraine. It featured a screenshot of what appeared to be a headline from a news website, along with an image of two rifles. 'French police are fired upon with American rifles that may have come from Ukraine,' reads the headline. Several Twitter accounts with Blue subscriptions have shared the post, which has been viewed more than a million times. BBC Verify has traced it back to pro-Kremlin channels on the Telegram messaging app."

Presidential Race 2024

Iowa Caucuses. Anjali Huynh of the New York Times: "Iowa Republicans voted on Saturday to hold their caucuses on Jan. 15, 2024, pushing the state's first-in-the-nation nominating contest weeks earlier than in recent years. The state party voted unanimously to hold the elections on the third Monday of the month, which coincides with the federal holiday recognizing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr." CNN's report is here.

Ian Ward of Politico, in Politico Magazine, dives into "the darker corners of the Internet" to find the sources of Ron DeSantis' weird anti-gay video. (DeSantis' team did not create the video; rather, they distributed it with the message "To wrap up 'Pride Month.'") (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update! A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics: "A video spotlighted by the DeSantis War Room Twitter account that painted Donald Trump as accommodating on LGBTQ+ issues has been quietly deleted. However, the Tweet highlighting the video is still up as of this writing Saturday morning. The deletion, first noticed by Axios reporter Alex Thompson, caps off days of blowback against Ron DeSantis which included the Governor defending the video as 'fair game' and saying that Trump was a 'pioneer' in allowing transgender women to participate in beauty pageants that Trump put on."

Beyond the Beltway

Lucy Kafanov of CNN: "Republican attorneys general from seven states signed a letter Wednesday to Target..., warning clothes and merchandise sold as part of the retail giant's Pride month campaigns could violate their state's child protection laws. GOP attorneys general from Indiana, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and South Carolina signed the letter, writing they were 'concerned by recent events involving the company's "Pride" campaign.' The letter asserts the states are obliged to 'enforce state laws protecting children' from 'content that sexualizes them,' including obscenity laws. The letter also suggests Target may be breaching the law by making decisions that are allegedly 'unprofitable' and not in the best interests of its shareholders, citing it as a violation of the company's fiduciary duty. The AGs said they believed the campaign was a 'comprehensive effort to promote gender and sexual identity among children,' criticizing items such as 'LGBT-themed onesies, bibs, and overalls, T-shirts labeled "Girls Gays Theys"; "Pride Adult Drag Queen Katya" (which depicts a male dressed in female drag); and girls' swimsuits with "tuck-friendly construction."'... Target did not have comment on the letter." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Well, this is one time that "Officer, why aren't you out catching the real criminals?" is a valid complaint. Obviously, these AGs do not have enough to do so they're occupying themselves making sure gay kids and others don't see any images that might constitute affirmation.

Florida. Grethel Aguila of the Miami Herald, republished by Yahoo! News: "A law enacted by Gov. Ron DeSantis July 1 declared certain driver's licenses and learner's permits from five states [-- Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island & Vermont --] invalid in Florida. The restriction primarily affects undocumented immigrants and is part of a larger immigration law that critics argue is among the harshest in the country.... Not every license from the five states on the list is considered invalid in Florida -- just those labeled with certain conditions...." MB: It appears the restrictions all apply to licenses that are marked, in some way, as not valid for identification purposes. BTW, Miami Herald, governors do not enact laws; they sign bills into law. Legislatures enact laws.

Oklahoma. Adam Gabbatt of the Guardian: "The state official in charge of Oklahoma’s schools is facing calls for impeachment, after he said teachers should tell students that the Tulsa race massacre was not racially motivated. In a public forum on Thursday, Ryan Walters, Oklahoma's [elected] state superintendent of public instruction, said teachers could cover the 1921 massacre, in which white Tulsans murdered an estimated 300 Black people, but teachers should not 'say that the skin color determined it'.... Walters ... has consistently indulged in rightwing talking points including 'woke ideology.'... According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, a state-run agency, the massacre is 'believed to be the single worst incident of racial violence in American history'." MB: Alas, the article does not cite a single call for impeachment, only a remark from the chair of the state's Democratic party, who said she "wished" Walters would be impeached. So I can't say the story's main claim of "calls for impeachment" is true. I linked the story mainly because I don't mind repeating evidence that Oklahoma's superintendent of education is an utter moron.

Tennessee. Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "A federal appeals panel on Saturday said a Tennessee law that would ban hormone therapy and puberty blockers for transgender youth could go into effect, marking the first time a federal court has allowed a law banning transition care to fully take hold in the United States. The ruling, issued by a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, comes less than two weeks after a district court judge temporarily blocked the ban on hormone therapy and puberty blockers. The judges, who will now consider a broader appeal on the temporary hold on the law, said a final decision would come before Sept. 30. The decision is a notable blow to transgender youth, their families and their allies, who have leaned on the nation's judiciary as a last resort to block a series of sweeping laws that target transition care, legislation they say would be harmful to young people's health. Until the ruling Saturday, judges had been compelled by the argument that the laws are discriminatory against transgender people and violated the Constitution, ruling to either temporarily or permanently block their enforcement." The AP's report is here.

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Moscow accused Kyiv and Ankara of violating a prisoner exchange agreement after five commanders from Ukraine's Azov Brigade returned to Ukraine from Turkey, where they were held after being freed from Russian captivity. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that neither Turkey nor Ukraine consulted Russia about the transfer. The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he accompanied the men from an Istanbul airport back to Ukraine after a state visit to Turkey.... [President] Biden faces the challenge of uniting allies at this week's NATO summit, where divisions are mounting over the Ukraine war.... Ten people were killed in Russian attacks across the Donetsk region, in eastern Ukraine, Ukraines national police said Sunday." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's summary report is here.

Tom Ambrose of the Guardian & Agency: "The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has visited Snake island to mark 500 days since Russia's invasion. The island became a symbol of Ukrainian defiance after guards refused to surrender to Russian forces on the first day of the war.... Wearing a black hoodie and a camouflage bullet-proof vest, Zelenskiy laid flowers to honour those who defended the island, and thanked all the soldiers who had fought for Ukraine in the months since Russia's invasion."

Comments

[Ken Winkes]

Sunday Sermon

I don’t remember when I stopped playing “let’s pretend.” A photo shows a much younger me wearing a cowboy hat, with a cap pistol strapped to my side. I can’t tell from the picture if that grinning four-or five-year-old boy believed he was a cowboy or not. More recently, I’ve watched grandchildren pretend to be wild animals, knights, and soldiers. As they matured, I’ve also seen them gradually leave those childhood days of let’s pretend behind.

Unfortunately, we cannot say the same for certain politicians and judges. Even as adults, “Let’s Pretend” remains their favorite thing to do.

If they don’t like something, if it makes them uncomfortable, they pretend it doesn’t exist. They even attempt to legislate it out of existence. The Trump impeachments? Republican Representatives Elise Stefanik and Marjorie Taylor Green have introduced House Resolutions to expunge Trump impeachment votes from the Congressional Record. Poof! They’re gone, just like all that possibly disturbing history and gender instruction Republicans have rushed to ban in many red states (zinnedproject.org).

The Republican pathology of convenient pretense is not limited to their politicians. Last week, conservative Supreme Court justices followed a trail of “ifs” to decide a prospective marriage web designer would have the right to deny her service to gay couples who might request it, if or when they ever do (thenewcivilrightsmovement.com). Then they overturned Biden’s student loan forgiveness program based on the vague Court-concocted “major questions doctrine” they have recently chosen to apply, willy-nilly, as their conservative spirits move them (crsreports.congress.gov).

Meanwhile, Trump, that master of convenient pretense, is back on the stump, claiming, against all legal precedent that “just by thinking about it" he de-classified those secret documents that ended up at Mar-a-Lago (politifact.com).

If pretending were all it took, little Kenny might still be a cowboy.

[Marie Burns]

@Ken Winkes: Giddyap! Now that you mention it, there is a connection between children play-acting and people of more mature years playing "let's pretend." The major difference may not be the ages of the actors, but in their motivations. Children play cowboys out of delight and fascination with heroism. They're making up their own fairy tales, and for the most part, I think they know they're fiction. If not, how come my friends and I -- when we played war -- changed the characters halfway (or so) into the game because none of us wanted to always play the villain. We knew we were actors, even if we wanted to be real heroes.

Adult pretenders, on the other hand, play-act out of fear and/or malice. Maybe, as you write, they're afraid of people who aren't like them. The motivation is to suppress "those people," whether those people be racial or ethnic minorities, religious minorities, women, gay people. It's one thing to be Bernie Sanders, fighting for Utopia and knowing the odds are long of advancing in the field. It's quite another to be John Roberts, pretending that because he's nice to the Black people with whom he comes in contact that racism no longer exists, or to be Sam Alito, who prefers to pretend the medieval order is the proper order and who has contempt for the women who disobey and for the millions of people -- women and men -- who disapprove.

Through all of the pretense, whether a product of childish joy or one of fear and loathing, there runs the great lure of imagination: imagining a world that suits us better. Yet another thing is clear: some imaginings are better than others.

[ForrestMorris]

I'm reminded of someone who pretended for four years to be
president* of the USA.
Ask any of his cult what he did for them and they have nothing
solid other than cutting taxes (for billionaires).
I'm also still wondering what the Saudis got for that 2 billion dollar
loan to Jared, or was it a gift, can't remember. Something classified?
Just imagine what would happen if Hunter Biden had been the
recipient of 2 billion dollars from some kingdom. His name would
be in the news 24 hours a day.
Oh never mind, his name really is in the news continually and he
wasn't even in a government position like the trump spawn.
I'm going to pretend that it's a beautiful, sunny day here in W. Michigan and get ready to give garden tours.

[Marie Burns]

@Forrest Morris: Whatever the weather, it seems like a lovely day for a garden tour. I'm jealous of the local residents there. If Betsy shows up, could you accidentally step hard on her toes for me?

[Ken Winkes]

Scary Sunday Stuff:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/08/opinion/supreme-court-religion.html

Or what can happen when you don't keep religion properly confined to a few relatively harmless hours/week.

And @ Marie.

Writing 300 word sermons has its challenges. The word limit straitjacket just doesn't allow a garrulous old man to say all that he would like.

In this one the clear connection between. pretense and power bit the editorial dust. Yes, there is joy in childhood pretending, but it's not all about fun. Sometimes it appears that way only because the shooting, clawing, even the pretend killing is essentially harmless. Because the power of childhood personas is only assumed, we call it play.

Adults, on the other hand, pretending to be something like a president, a policeman or a Supreme Court judge...are scary on every day of the week.

[Marie Burns]

@Ken Winkes: But for children, I don't think playing cops & robbers is about death as a permanent condition. Otherwise, how could the dead villains of my childhood games risen up to play the heroes in Part 2? What we were doing was playing out the fantasies we saw on 1950s teevee and the 14-cent-admission Saturday morning shows at the local Essex movie theater. And we knew the villains in these shows didn't bite the dust forever, because the same actors could show up as the villains (or even, occasionally, the good guys) in a show we saw the following week.

I'm sure when I played these games, I did so all in fun, and I never had revenge in my heart or a desire to obliterate kids I didn't like. We played with kids we did like.

As you note, children gradually abandon those childish games. It seems likely to me that the reason is not that they tire of the fun but that the fun tends to evaporate as the children mature & come to grasp the meaning and permanence of killing and death.

[ForrestMorris]

No cops and robbers and cowboys in this neighborhood. It's smart
phones and ipads and computers for most of the kids.
And next week the sewing classes for kids graduates to quilt making.
I still have a patchwork quilt my old granny made (she was exactly
32 years older than me, so I don't know why she's referred to as
old grannny).

[P.D.Pepe]

Well gee, let's pretend that Maureen Dowd doesn't fan the flames of Democratic mishaps but is just brushing up on her literary acumen that just happens to be political. She showed her colors writing about both Clintons and during Obama's reign had a field day with "Barry's baloney." Could she be like her siblings a true blue conservative just pretending to be on the other side? A spy in the house of love? thingy?
So while some get all weepy eyed over Hunter's child that is not counted as a seventh grandchild we get pleas from organizations who tell us hundreds of children are going hungry in THIS country. But hey---we are back to let's pretend and concentrate on what really matters.

In other news I learn that right-wing political factions are making headway in European countries. In Spain, the right-wing Vox group is one example and here's a sample of their rhetoric:

"One resident, a 45-year-old truck driver named Maximo Ibañez, said he voted for Vox because the party spoke clearly, but also because he feels that Spain’s pioneering laws to explicitly protect women against gender-based violence — complete with special courts and tougher sentences — discriminate against men.
“It’s women who have the right to presumption of innocence here,” he said.
One of Vox’s regional leaders has joked that some women were too unattractive to be gang raped, and another said that “women are more belligerent because they don’t have penises.”

and so it goes~~~~

[P.D.Pepe]

On another matter:

"Architect of Atomic Bomb Cleared of ‘Black Mark.’ ” That was the headline last December 18th, when the Times ran a long story on page 16 reporting that Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm had “nullified a 1954 decision to revoke the security clearance of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a top government scientist who led the making of the atomic bomb in World War II but fell under suspicion of being a Soviet spy at the height of the McCarthy era.” Granholm had issued a press release explaining that her department had been “entrusted with the responsibility to correct the historical record and honor Dr. Oppenheimer’s ‘profound contributions to our national defense and scientific enterprise at large.’ ” She said that she was pleased to announce the nullification."

So today MSNBC is airing (at 10 P.M) a documentary film based on the long slog it took to arrive at this junction. Worth watching.

[Marie Burns]

@P.D. Pepe: I guess I disagree with you about Biden's grandchild. I understand why the Bidens don't want to have anything to do with an ex-girlfriend Hunter hooked up on when he was on drugs. But the grandchild??? I think the Bidens are pretty horrible to ignore her.

I didn't get along with my ex and had little to do with his family after our divorce, but my husband's parents often arranged to see their grandchildren and take them on trips, and we always met amicably so they could do so. I'm sure the old folks didn't like me, and I was none too fond of my husband's father, but we put the children first, and not because we were extraordinarily wonderful human beings. We all just loved the kids, and we wanted them to be happy and to experience what was left of the family, such as it was. And why wouldn't we? I was glad my children's grandparents maintained their interest in the children, and I probably would have been dismayed if the grandparents had "dropped" the children the way my husband dropped me.

[Marie Burns]

@Forrest Morris: I don't think I'd refer to your grandmother as "old granny," either, given her relative youth upon becoming a grandmother. When my son was a toddler, one of his great-grandmother's was still living, and we visited her several times, at the same time we visited my husband's mother, who looked her age, which I guess was mid-50s then. My son called both of them "grandma." We were going out West to visit them again when my son was about three, and we told him we were going to see grandma. He asked, "Which one, the old one or the young one?" I have no idea how a three-year-old would discern the ages of adults, and we did not refer to his great-grandmother as "old granny." But somehow he figured out that his great-grandmother was older than his grandmother. Kids catch onto things we never even say.

[P.D.Pepe]

Marie: From a lengthy piece in the Times some weeks ago we learned that the child in question here is in a loving home with a set of grandparents who also adore her. Hunter has been providing $$$ for his daughter's upkeep. We may not approve of the way the Biden's have handled this but in the end it's none of our business. My beef is really with Dowd fanning the flames. After reading her piece I read dozens of comments and so many said they would no longer support Biden for president––––there were many also who felt it was none of our business and said how this was cat nip for the right-wing zealots who have ignored Trump's family disasters.

However–––since this story has been bandied about will Joe use more of his Irish charm to address his lack of adding Navy to his list of grandkids given that the importance of "Family" has been one of his signature pieces? Jill might just wear a jacket that says "It's none of your business."

And in the end this little girl will grow up in a loving home knowing her father was the son of the president of the U.S. and maybe in time will be part of the Biden clan––––her story might just be a best seller or a Netflix documentary. Stranger things have happened.

[Marie Burns]

@P.D. Pepe: I think what you're objecting to is that Dowd has highlighted an indicator of a significant flaw in Joe Biden's character. Moreover, that flaw points to an essential element of his electability: his image as a kindly, generous family man. As Katie Rogers wrote in the story you cited, "President Biden has worked over the past half-century to make his last name synonymous with family values and loyalty." Joe Biden has made a point of supporting Hunter though Hunter's travails, and Joe has received a lot of sympathy when he has explained it honestly, saying he did so because "I love my son." The familial love he expressed was what we would hope for in the leader of the country.

So why not love the grandchild? Why pretend she doesn't exist? (See also Ken Winkes' remarks above.) You seem to suggest that it's okay because the grandchild has another set of grandparents, and they love the child. (The other grandfather is a gun manufacturer, for Pete's sake.) My own parents were very involved with my children, too, but that doesn't mean I thought it would be okay if their other grandparents ignored them. And those other grandparents didn't think so, either. Of course many children are not so fortunate as to be close to all of their grandparents, but most parents, in most circumstances, want to foster those relationships if at all feasible. (It is true, of course, that not all grandparents have the character and behavior patterns a parent would want to expose her children to, so a close relationship is not always advisable.)

You also note that Hunter provides financially for the child. Well, yeah, after first denying paternity (a DNA test put the end to that fiction) and then fighting in court over child support payments. I guess you forgot that part of the story. But it matters, too.

I agree with you that Dowd unnecessarily and cruelly nitpicked President Obama -- whom she called "Barry" -- and I faulted her for it. But she's hit on something in Joe & Jill Biden that is quite inexplicable, IMO, and calls into question their well-honed images as all-American parenting models. This does not mean I won't vote for Joe Biden, but I'll be voting for him warts and all. And his refusal to even acknowledge his grandchild, much less embrace her, is a giant wart, now made more visible by Dowd's column. I don't fault Dowd for this one.

We enumerate Donald Trump's and other Republicans' character flaws here every day. We have to be at least somewhat willing to do the same with those we otherwise support.

[Victoria]

It might be that Hunter Biden has forbidden his parents from contacting that grandchild. I think we don't know why Biden has nothing to do with that child.

[P.D.Pepe]

Marie: I can't quibble with anything you have said–--I certainly don't hold the Biden's above their treatment here but again my beef was with Dowd fanning the flames at this time when the prospect of Biden losing the election is so crucial. Dowd detecting the flaw? Joe's flaws were visible years ago but the alternative is terrifying to me.

[Marie Burns]

@Victoria: I agree that we have no idea under what circumstances Joe & Jill Biden decided not to have any contact with or even acknowledge their grandchild. All we know are the results, and the results, IMO, are not good.

Obviously, Hunter is at the center of it all. And there may be some binding legal agreement that keeps the elder Bidens away. According to Katie Rogers' report, the mother and her family agreed, under some kind of lawyerly or judicial supervision, not to claim the child's right to use the Biden name. I find that disgusting. Right now, I could change my name to Marie Biden, and unless I did so for some unlawful purpose, no Biden could stop me from doing so. But apparently the grandchild does not have as much a right as I do to the Biden surname.

The whole affair is shameful. While Hunter waltzes around the White House, waving from the balcony with his "accepted" child, his family does not even recognize another of his children. Whatever the faults of the mother (and I have no idea of that, either -- the Woes of Hunter is just not a story I have followed except insofar as it concerns the President and/or those Congressional yahoos), the grandchild herself is faultless. Yet she is the person who bears the brunt of the adults' disagreements. And in just a few years, she'll begin to understand that.

There is a tragedy here, one that is different from the family squabbles Shakespeare molded into plays, but of no less magnitude.

[Jeanne]

I read the Maureen Dowd column about the lovechild of Hunter Biden's and I also read a lot of the comments. Most seemed to think that this was none of our business. A lot thought less of Joe and Jill based on this column. Also, if anyone was to address this, it should be Hunter. I'm so sorry that the right has decided Hunter is satan, or something, as that is crazy, and Hunter has a right to figure out how to improve his life... Anyhow, because the child is sitting out there, EVERYONE is weighing in. Maybe his mom doesn't want any Biden connection. Maybe it is up to the dad (Hunter) to present his daughter to Joe and Jill... It IS complicated. And I am so sorry that there is a child as a result of drug crazies, but that is the norm for relationships that are mired in controversy. But I don't know why Maureen Dowd felt the need to dump on Bidens re this story. Although I should: we stopped reading her some years ago. She is very hard on women in politics. You can read for yourselves. She has been terrible to Democrats for years. Don't decide that Hunter and his father and family are horrible to this child based on MoDo's writing. My feeling is that if this was being handled correctly, the family would accept this child forthwith. There is so much we don't know, and frankly, why should we? NONE OF OUR BUSINESS!