Trump/Putin pulled "Pizzagate" on Clinton in 2016, and it worked—despite being 100% false. Now Trump/Putin hope to burden Biden with "Burisma," and while the idea Biden did anything wrong is *100% false*, Joe should also admit his son was a damn fool for joining Burisma's board.
1/ In 2016, Democrats found one of the only ways to lose to Trump: have a candidate under federal investigation who—in addition to being innocent in the eyes of the law—admits no error in his/her conduct (at least not in a timely fashion). Biden has picked up the *same playbook*.
2/ Democrats have such a fear of voters' intelligence—which they presume to be low—that they can't make simple human admissions that have *nothing* to do with criminality or an admission of guilt: it wasn't a good idea to have a private server; my son made an unwise job decision.
3/ Everything's so binary these days that if you say "I wish the Clintons hadn't had a private server," it's seen as a vicious attack on Clinton rather than a simple statement that we all make mistakes and that it usually doesn't mean anything criminal *or* that we're bad people.
4/ Every Democrat I know *privately* says, "Screw Hunter for putting his dad in a spot—and being unwilling to admit it was a stupid job for him to take." Publicly they're terrified that saying Hunter made a bad call is akin to accusing him of committing a crime—which he *didn't*.
5/ One of the best things HRC did was—after much pushback to admitting she made an honest mistake with the server—saying she had. It was a great day for her, and I think it was so long in coming because of bad advice from aides, not her own obstinance. Joe needs a similar moment.
6/ I know some disagree with me on this—but I stand by my values. I sidestep whataboutism by trying to be consistent on conduct no matter which party it is. It's the only way to be invested in politics while keeping one's integrity. I DGAF how bad-faith GOP actors twist my words.
7/ You don't allow bad-faith actors to determine your principles—ever. That's my two cents, at least. The argument that I shouldn't take a given position because "Republicans will twist it" is a position sans honor, and it makes the world sh*tty. Try to live your principles, IMO.
8/ Hunter did nothing criminal. Joe did nothing criminal. And the only way to give this story additional legs is to *not* admit that Hunter *did* do something stupid that created the appearance of a conflict (appearance, *not* reality, which *is* the applicable ethical standard).
