Two days after Special Counsel Robert Hur released his now infamous report that included disparaging political comments about Joe Biden’s age and memory, First Lady Jill Biden wrote these words:
“The reason I’m writing is because of what else was in the report: Inaccurate and personal political attacks about Joe. Rather than just saying the case was closed, as they have for others, the Special Counsel claimed that Joe ‘couldn’t remember the year his son died.’ Believe me, like anyone who has lost a child, Beau and his death never leave him.
“I hope you can imagine how it felt to read that attack — not just as Joe’s wife, but as Beau’s mother.
“I don’t know what this Special Counsel was trying to achieve. We should give everyone grace, and I can’t imagine someone would try to use our son’s death to score political points. If you’ve experienced a loss like that, you know that you don’t measure it in years — you measure it in grief.
“May 30th is a day forever etched on our hearts. It shattered me, it shattered our family.
So many of you know that feeling after you lose a loved one, where you feel like you can’t get off the floor. What helped me, and what helped Joe, was to find purpose. That’s what keeps Joe going, serving you and the country we love.”
Like Jill Biden, I don’t know what Hur was trying to achieve in making his comments. What we do know is that he gratuitously betrayed common decency in using President Biden’s loss of his son, Beau, in the way that he did.
No decent person would do such a thing. Reminded me of Trump mocking disabled New York Times reporter, Serge Kovaleski, at a South Carolina rally during the 2016 campaign (Kovaleski has arthrogryposis, a congenital condition affecting his joints).
Apparently, Trump and Hur are cut from the same piece of morally corrupted cloth.
Jill Biden tried to rise above the indignity her husband suffered. “We should give everyone grace,” she wrote, then added, “I can’t imagine that anyone would use our son’s death for political advantage.”
Maybe Robert Hur would tell her that it was not his intention to do that, but it would be difficult to believe him. A better read is that he knew exactly what he was doing, and for all practical purposes became a Trump political hit man in the process. How does anyone go that low?
It is not often that a person faces a moment that defines them for the rest of their lives. Robert Hur faced such a moment and failed the moral character test as badly as anyone could, something that now defines him as a person.
Because of who Donald Trump is and his intention to become president again, such is the moment every adult American is also facing.
The grace we have been given is that we have more than enough time to consider the moral and political consequences of how we will vote in November that will define us for the rest of our lives.
Just as Jill Biden couldn’t imagine anyone using the death of their son for political advantage, I cannot imagine any decent American using Joe Biden’s age as an excuse for electing Trump.
Jill Biden explained why when she said, “Joe is 81, that’s true, but he’s 81 doing more in an hour than most people do in a day. Joe has wisdom, empathy, and vision. He has delivered on so many of his promises as President precisely because he’s learned a lot in those 81 years. His age, with his experience and expertise, is an incredible asset and he proves it every day.”
The truth is, Biden’s age is not the issue in this campaign. After all, Trump is only four years younger and far more out of shape physically and mentally than Joe Biden.
Instead, the real issue is what kind of person will we choose to represent us as our President, a decision that is the most consequential moment our country has faced since the Civil War.
Will America be defined by the kind of man Donald Trump is, or will it be defined by the kind of man Joe Biden is.
Honestly, given everything we know about both, I cannot for the life of me imagine anyone choosing the former over the latter.
linnposts.com 
Hur was appointed by Trump, but he was appointed special prosecutor by Merrick Garland, as partisan an AG as we have ever seen. David Weiss also appointed by Trump and also appointed a special prosecutor by Garland and we all saw the sweet heart deal he arranged for Hunter, plus allowing the statue of limitations to expired on the years of Hunter’s most egregious tax years. Garland allowed this report to be released. To call Hur ‘morally corrupt’ is beyond reason.
Biden kept classified documents in multiple, unsecured locations. He kept them back from the time he was a Senator. He was not president when he had these documents. He was clearly guilty. Hur interviewed Biden for over 5 hours, which means he has spent more time with Biden than anyone outside his inner circle. As David French wrote in the NYT, ‘ Hur had to explore Biden’s mental state because willfulness and intent are necessary elements of the underlying crime & including some details was necessary to support its legal conclusion’. Instead of seeing what 80% of Americans see, the left ridiculously castigates the messenger.
And then we had his press conference. Biden was fine when he read from the teleprompter. When he went off script, the wheels fell off and much of what Hur said seemed to be valitified. Except for the amicable part. The press went after him for the first time like.
It’s not easy to take your comment seriously. To begin by saying Garland is “as partisan an AG as we have seen” is an absurd statement, and that’s being nice. Garland is seen as bending over backwards avoiding even the appearance of partisanship to the point where he has fallen off his feet. Second, you obviously haven’t read the report. At the end Hur completely exonerates Biden of any criminal conduct based on the facts even though he implies at the beginning that he didn’t recommend charges because he didn’t think he could win a case against an old man with a faulty memory. That makes his personal comments about Biden totally political without any place in a legal document. He turned his own report into a political hit job to placate Republicans who he knew wouldn’t like the conclusions he had to reach legally. Biden’s mind is fine, as he has proven time and again in response to impromptu reporters’ questions. What is astounding is that Republicans like you defend Trump who often speaks in ways that don’t even make sense, not to mention the fact that he is a moral degenerate who panders to dictators ad is quite willing to push the U.S. to abandon our NATO allies. What you seem unwilling to see is that this election isn’t a choice between Biden and Trump. It’s about a choice between democracy and autocracy, the latter apparently being what most Republicans prefer, as trashing their own border bill proved.
According to a recent ABC News poll 86% of voters believe Biden is either mentally or physically unable to carry on as president of this country. He has the lowest approval ratings of any sitting president going into an election year since polling started. Nothing Mr Hur wrote is gratuitous to most Americans.
Contrast these numbers with a Rasmussen poll of our cultural elites. They are mostly white males, almost all democrats with one post graduate degree. They make $ 150,000 and above annual income and they live in high-density urban area. These people give Biden an 85% approval rating. As these numbers show, Rasmussen concludes our cultural elites are hopelessly out of touch with ordinary Americans. They live in a bubble of perceived superiority and ridicule any opinion not shared by themselves. I believe this explains the views I read here.
Mr Blackwell, I meant to use the word validity, but misspelled it. Thanks for graciously pointing it out. Hope what I just wrote is coherent to you. The Rasmussen poll had people like you in mind
Not sure what Rasmussen poll you are highlighting. Fife-thirty Eight weights the latest Rasmussen poll as 41% approve of Biden to 54% disapprove. Polls right now make no sense, given the job Biden has done. Eventually, reality will break through because of the best economy for average Americans in 60 years, especially in comparison to everything about Trump. Your conclusion are not based on Rasmussen or anything else, but simply your view. I am not a member of the culturally elite, whatever you mean by that and I think Biden is the best President in my lifetime. But I admit that I don’t understand what any middle class American has against Joe Biden. He is a pragmatic liberal who believes in negotiations, compromises to get things done, and has implemented policies that are helping ordinary Americans. Republicans don’t care anything about middle income people, never have because they been and are the party of the rich, and are now willing to sell the country’s security to a Russian dictator to placate Trump. I am betting the majority of average Americans will say no to your party for both the WH and the Congress.
Jan,
First, I will comment on Ed Keefer’s response to your post. He seems incapable of writing a coherent sentence, and toward the end uses the word “valitified,” which is not a word. His ignorance renders his comments on Biden and Garland inaccurate and inappropriate.
As you state, Robert Hur’s attacks on Biden, invoking his son Beau’s death, were indecent — indeed, beyond the pale! Such people who support Trump are scum like he is!
Thanks, Jan, for continuing to call out these people for what they are — rat bastards of the highest order!
Bill Blackwell
Bill, our language is different, but we share the same alarm and astonishment that there are still Americans who refuse to see Trump for the parasitic politician he is. I truly believe his days of shame and public rejection are close at hand.
To all reveling in Hur’s political comments, they should all watch John Stewart’s return to CS. He played a clip of a trump diposition from 9 years ago, neutralizes the discussion. Good column Jan, For me I will take Biden in any condition over a immoral, corrupt, treasonous buffoon
So will I, and I believe so will the majority of voters. Thanks, bro.
Jan,
Hur’s report is a sickenly low in political partisanship. I sometimes feels that our society’s social discourse has coarsened so badly that there is no way out. Fortunately, I still have a reserve of hope that people, and society, can change. I just hope that I live long enough to see it on a broad scale. I do, however, find that reserve operating in day-to-day social discourse with friends and associates. Your posts are evidence of that hope being alive.
Gene
I understand how you feel, Gene. That’s what makes it hard to keep going. We are fighting against powerful forces that pretend to stand for democracy and truth and justice, but are undermining all of it behind the scenes. But giving up is not an option. We will see in November whether American democracy survives or dies. Trump is an evil man and those who support him are supporting evil, whether they believe it or not. As is always the case, ignorance never justifies complicity.