Biden’s Defenders Are Blowing Smoke
20 Sep 2023 ~~ By J. Peder Zane
I was expecting a lively exchange when Mike Gallagher invited me to debate the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter James Risen on his “No Interruptions” podcast last week. Instead, I was gob smacked as the former New York Times reporter abruptly hung up the phone after some 15 minutes.
Like the recent viral video showing
Washington Post columnist Philip Bump suddenly terminating an interview, Risen’s breaking point came when I questioned his reporting on Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings.
Before we get to that, Risen, who now reports for The Intercept, does deserve some backhanded praise: In the few minutes he spoke on Mike Gallagher’s podcast, Risen delivered a master class in concision, echoing most every major talking point fashioned by Biden’s handlers and the mainstream media to defend the president.
~Snip~
Slotting the president, or anybody else, into some archetypal narrative – the man who loved too much – is just blowing smoke. That is why, especially in public life, we assess people by their verifiable actions. You don’t have to be religious to see the apostle Matthew nailed it when he wrote, “By their fruit you will recognize them.”
No Evidence: As to Joe Biden’s actions, Risen
repeated the scandalously common claim that there is
no evidence the president has done anything “illicit or illegal.” That one is a real head-scratcher.
As Miranda Devine of the New York Post recently wrote, such a belief requires one to:
Forget the bank records, shell companies, SEC complaints, sworn testimony, IRS whistleblower statements, FBI informant files, emails, texts, WhatsApp messages, photos, speakerphone calls, voicemails, White House visitor logs, Air Force Two travel logs, Joe’s pseudonymous email addresses and a parade of Hunter’s shady foreign benefactors lining up for handshakes with Joe in Beijing, breakfasts at the VP’s residence and dinners at Café Milano, not to mention millions of dollars in filthy foreign lucre for no discernible product or service other than access to Joe.
Risen and Biden’s other defenders are playing word games. By evidence they really mean proof. Indeed, we don’t have a signed memo by Joe Biden stating he changed a specific policy in exchange for payments to his son. While we have multiple examples of Hunter’s business associates identifying Joe as the “big guy” who would get a cut of the action, we do not, as yet, have a check made out to the president. The evidence clearly shows that Joe personally facilitated Hunter’s efforts to earn money from China, Ukraine, and Romania based on the promise of access to his father. These hard facts cannot be wished away.
~Snip~
While we now know that Hunter was paid the princely sum of $83,000 per month for his service, I reminded Risen that he simply quoted a Burisma spokesperson who said Hunter’s pay was “not out of the ordinary” for similar corporate board positions. I also pointed out that he merely quoted a Burisma spokesperson who suggested Hunter was brought on to help with “strong corporate governance and transparency.” This seems fanciful on its face. As
Lee Fang reported this week for RealClearInvestigations, emails from Hunter’s laptop show his employment was connected to lobbying efforts in Washington and access to his father.
In response, Risen said he refused to be “insulted,” and hung up the phone.
Commentary:
This, in a nutshell, is the biggest problem with biased Quisling journalism since at least Clinton's election. They give the left every benefit-of-the-doubt, and always assume people on the Marxist Democrat left represent the moral high ground, while assuming that people on the right operate from some unstated set of unsavory ulterior motives.
Despite the massive amount of evidence that`s been uncovered, one shouldn't be too surprised that those in President Biden's political party would defend his behavior to the death.
However one does expect more from those in the media.
Sadly our country is full of journ0lists like Jim Risen explaining away immigration, inflation, crime, national debt, and Democrat scandal.
President Big Guy has already broken the federal bribery statute. It doesn't require a direct payment to Mr. 10% himself. It only requires somebody else to accept the payment for him, in this case Hunter. The quid Pro Quo is obviously the insistence that Ukraine fire Prosecutor Shokin who had seized 4 houses owned by Burisma's founder. Ukraine fired Shokin. The houses were returned. Further evidence to show the full extent of all the bribes Hunter collected, and all the actions Quid Pro Joe took in return would be nice, but ain't required.