From the Archives | The Biden Way becomes The Chicago Way, So Shut Up and Take It, America.

I wrote this one more than a year ago. And by the time this weekend is over, two things should happen:

 1) I hope that by Monday I’m finished with these damn killer kidney stones and 2) the White House correspondents’ dinner will have mercifully passed. I don’t know which is worse–if the legacy media hacks who suppressed the Hunter Biden Laptop story were true socialist believers or simply a bunch of cold eyed, soulless and mercenary squabbling prostitutes?

I’d almost rather they’d be cynical streetwalkers, singing their cheap streetwalker praises for the republic that they pour their garbage on, almost every day. They believe in nothing but serving power and money.

JK

April 3o, 2023

 

By John Kass

Hunter Biden, the former crack addict who used his father’s political clout to leverage big paydays as an international business tycoon in Ukraine and China, now has a side hustle:

He’s a budding artist. He’s always been artistically inclined, he says.

But he doesn’t have the time to suffer in poverty and live on peanut butter and Ramen noodles like other young artists. Hunter isn’t some kid. He’s past 50 now. And he’s President Joe Biden’s son.

Some art critics suggest Hunter might sell his artwork for $500,000. But that’s lowballing Hunter’s appeal. Is he worth big bucks because he’s some new Picasso? No, the big bucks will come because he’s Hunter Biden.

What better way to reach out and touch the “The Big Guy” than by buying Son of Big Guy’s art?

“How much of that value is due to the art itself? That’s easy: none of it,” Jeffry Cudlin, professor of art curatorial studies at the Maryland Institute College of Art told the Washington Examiner. Hunter art isn’t exactly memorable, he said. “They’re fine decorative amateur art. Hey, everybody needs a hobby!”

The artwork has been critically panned. But it’s like art for which people spend $850-$3,000 “to hang over someone’s couch,” Cudlin said.

But what if that couch belonged to Xi Jinping, leader of communist China? Xi just might want some Hunter art to fondly remember Hunter’s business successes in China.

 Or some Ukrainian natural gas oligarch, or an American tycoon or anyone with massive reach and clout who seeks more clout?

There’s nothing so powerful as that federal hammer. And all the eager go-betweens and cutouts want to help direct that hammer in the hands of Joe. You can almost hear them thinking:

 Hey, I’ve got a big couch. I’ll need a big Hunter for that big couch. A big, big Hunter.

They’ll buy up that Hunter art that he spits on canvas through a straw. But they’d also buy Hunter finger paintings or even a Hunter papier-mache head of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. They’d buy Hunter anything.

The Biden White House, that paragon of ethics and transparency in government, has come up with ludicrous excuses and a laughable “ethics” shield so that Hunter won’t be officially told who buys his paintings from a New York gallery.

This means the public won’t know who bought them either.

Isn’t it funny how that happens?

Obviously, it’s all bull (crap) and most Americans can smell it. Of course, others may sincerely love the idea of the president’s son embarking on an artistic journey.

But not all of us are chumbolones.

“Of course, he has the right to pursue an artistic career just like any child of a president has the right to pursue a career,” says Biden Press Secretary Jen Psaki.

OK Jen. Put that in a bottle and sell it as perfume. Just put a little dab behind your ear. But don’t complain about the flies.

Crooked Chicago politicians perfected this sort of thing many years ago. Grabbing envelopes of cash was too easy, and too risky. The true art of corruption is in holding elected office while selling goods and services and making a fortune under the color of law.

 Some sold beer, others became lawyers helping businesses win city permits. The true artists helped their clients reduce property taxes they just helped raise.

 It’s all nice and legal-like. Until it isn’t.

Years ago, corrupt judges in Illinois benefitted from their wives selling artwork and insurance policies. The spouses had a right to pursue their artistic and business careers, too, didn’t they, Jen Psaki?

Then came the Operation Greylord indictments, back decades ago when the public still had some faith in the Justice Department and the media. More than a dozen judges were sentenced to federal prison on corruption and bribery charges. Many lawyers and bagmen were also convicted. And there was talk of “reform.”

But have things changed? As you read this, three members of the Chicago City Council are currently under federal indictment. And a fourth former alderman who liked the massage parlors cut a deal with the feds and wore a wire. There have been so many politicians indicted in the latest federal corruption probe rolling from Springfield to Chicago that the public can’t count them all. And over the years, we’ve had governors thrown in jail. Nothing changes.

It has been said that the Bidens operate the Delaware Way. I don’t give two figs for the Delaware Way. I don’t eat in Delaware.

But is there a difference between the corporate and smiley Delaware Way and the Chicago Way?

Yes. A big difference. And it’s all about the open humiliation of the people.

The Delaware Way is all about putting a positive spin on bi-partisan political corruption to explain how things are done. But Chicago is long past that. That’s what Chicago was told to believe decades ago, what we used to tell ourselves about the grease lubricating “the city that works.” It was the price we thought we paid to make the machinery run.

But now it lubricates nothing. There’s no longer machinery in Chicago sensitive to the people and working to serve them. All that remains is debt and the exercise of power and perpetual grift.

Under The Chicago Way the people understand the rules. They know the political class lies to them. And the political class knows that they know.

The response of the politicians is this: Shut up and take it. And even then, chances are you could get a hard slap across the mouth just because. Then you’re supposed to smile and say, ‘Thank you sir, may I please have another?”

There’s nothing better for a political class than to have their subjects beaten into submission. True believers, fools that they are, can become quite challenging when they finally realize, always too late, that reality doesn’t match their illusions. But in Chicago and the rest of Illinois, there are no illusions anymore.

And the acquiescence of the people, whether by tugging on a forelock or the doffing of a cap to political lords– whether to a crooked alderman or to a president with a son on a side hustle–isn’t what America was supposed to be about. It is right out of the Soviet dominated Eastern Bloc of old.

Such acquiescence reinforced by fear of sanction is consciously self-abasing. It is all about self-humiliation. And when the people are expected to become active participants in their own humiliation, dangerous seeds are planted that grow over time.

It’s not just the Hunter Biden art saga, but the entire operation. What of the Hunter Biden laptop story that the New York Post broke before the November election, and all those emails about Hunter’s business deals and Biden Inc?

All of that was suppressed by the Beltway media—what some of us correctly call the Democratic Media Complex—and by Big Tech as part of a larger scheme to protect Joe Biden and the establishment he represented and help them win the presidential election.

In a presidential debate, Biden pointedly promoted a letter dishonorably signed by former American intelligence officers. Their letter suggested that the Hunter laptop scandal may have been the work of Russian spies. The intelligence officers sold their honor, and the reputations of their agencies, for partisan benefit.  And with that, the media had another excuse to ignore the laptop story.

But it turned out that the Hunter laptop story wasn’t the work of Russian spies. It was real. Hunter was (and is) under a federal tax investigation. He’s being investigated by the Justice Department under his father’s command.

According to Politico, the Republican U.S. Attorney in Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware—whose nomination was backed by both of Delaware’s Democratic senators–had enough to seek grand jury subpoenas before the election, but didn’t, lest it leak before the election and hurt Joe.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/16/hunter-biden-probe-prosecutor-499782

Funny how stuff like that happens.

Legacy establishment media is all but silent on the Hunter art story. They rub their forelegs together like crickets in a can, adrift in some leaky rowboat taking on water that will inevitably sink to the bottom.

Media and Big Tech in service of the Bidens ignored the Wuhan Lab leak story and mocked as conspiracy theorists those who suggested otherwise. Establishment media also pushed that Trump Russia collusion lie day after day after day, year after year and applauded themselves for their Pulitzers.

The humiliation of the American public continues. Now there are new efforts to maximize that humiliation.

For example, Americans are now told by the media that white people are irredeemably racist, even if they don’t question the racist teachings commonly called Critical Race Theory being forced upon their children in public schools and shoved down the throats of their soldiers who are supposed to defend the nation.

They are told such stuff isn’t being taught to their kids. But they see it with their own eyes. They see the government telling them how to raise their kids under threat of sanction. And many of them, white, Black and brown, don’t like being divided by race.

 They’re not supposed to argue. They’re expected to shut up and take it, put their heads down and pretend it’s not happening to them and their kids, or even pretend to like it. And so, their humiliation becomes complete.

Maybe under the Bidens, we’ll see if our national motto, “E Pluribus Unum” (Out of Many, One) is replaced by another:

“Thank you sir, may I please have another?”

(Copyright 2021 John Kass)

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Comments 34

  1. A family of vulgarian spud-munchers, fueled by the gas-light of the Obama Unicorn merchants, have looted their way globally.

    Joe Biden, President Hair-plugs, is and always has been political vulgarian and now he and his spawn are global bagmen.

    Please explain how a man that should not hold public office is our nation’s Chief Executive. It would take a very special and practiced pseudologue to offer a compelling narrative about President 46.

    Oh, that’s right. The Biden relaunch commercial.

  2. Cold eyed, soulless and mercenary squabbling prostitutes is appropriate for all of them, and not just those on “the left”. You could make more traction with younger people if you actually advocated true reform, freedom and true Democracy, and more local control.

    Let’s start with Citizens United and all the cash the corporations use to buy policy that actually harms us and greatly benefits them. Then, the public employee unions must be banned from political activity. They can do so as private citizens, but the union should not be able to buy office either.

    Term limits are needed, as are strict ethics laws with draconian penalties and public audits. John, the Pentagon cannot account for trillions of dollars. This is by design.

    Public financing of campaigns is also needed. Campaigns should be about debate and ideas, not smears and innuendo.

    The waste, fraud and abuse is bipartisan John. Look at how they’ve sold out American workers, consumers, children, elderly. Look at our immigration policy. The Dems are pathetic on immigration, but our Republican friends couldn’t agree on a bill either.

  3. Same old, same old. Excellent piece, John, and still so true today. The problem is that one party (or more accurately the uni-party) has controlled the narrative for so long that the people are either totally brainwashed or have accepted that we are past the point of no return and have given up. To the extent we still have any moderate/conservative politicians, pundits and voters with some fight left in them, they are terrible at messaging. As our recent runoff demonstrated, conservatives (or moderates in Vallas’ case) are painted as uncaring and controlling while anti-progress “progressives” promote a feel-good (but false) message of helping others and standing up for “democracy” and our constitutional freedoms. How do we help people see that they have it backward, and that those who are jumping up and down about “saving democracy” are actually the ones intentionally destroying it — before our very eyes? Good luck with the kidney stones — we need your voice of reason more than ever!

  4. First off: Speedy recovery sir!

    Your column is valid today as it was last year. But as we have seen most recently here in Chicago, nothing has changed. We had an opportunity to set Chicago on a better path, but the voters chose a different path. The voters indeed asked for another and boy did they get it. It’s going to be the same in 2024.

  5. I understand “Hunter Gossip” has a special place in the pantheon of right wing grievance fuel (right along side “The War on Christianity!” and “Trans Athlete!) but to resurrect this at a time when we have former President who HAS ACTUALLY been indicted (no rumor, no laptop..) seems like reckless and intentional hypocrisy. I give Joe Biden credit, he has handled the Hunter Hysteria perfectly, just shrugs it off. He has stated for the record that if there was a crime, then indict my son, he isn’t above the law. Perfect response. Meanwhile the laptop and thousands of hours grievance merchants have spent spinning this story and ruminating over possible outcomes has created (at least among the MAGA/Fox crowd) the impression it MUST BE a cover up. Only, here we are, a year later, and nothing. Oh, did you notice former President Trump was indicted? And that’s only the beginning, wait until the state f Georgia drops the hammer. Didn’t see Tucker Carlson’s firing from Fox covered here either, but hey let’s drag that ‘laptop from hell!!’ out for another spin!!

    1. There really is no need to respond to this dim witted comment, is there? This justice department won’t touch Biden Inc. with a ten foot pole. Stop bringing up Trump…he has nothing to do with the criminal enterprises Kass is writing about.

      1. Think. “Nancy Himmes’ from the comment section has insider knowledge of criminal activity that has SOMEHOW evaded House Republicans, The FBI, Justice Department and every single grievance merchant in social media, all of whom would love nothing more than to nail Hunter Biden. Does that make sense to you? If you have the proverbial ‘smoking gun’ then by all means, call the FBI! See? Responses (and assumptions, generated by right wing media..) like yours are the reason we no longer have confidence in our elections and conspiracy theories have become news. And yes, Trump matters, because unlike Hunter, there is an actual indictment, and to ignore that while promoting Hunter gossip is the height of hypocrisy. Glad you found my comment ‘dim witted’-but you DID respond.. (:

    2. Of course he ‘handles it perfectly”! He OWNS all of the faceless foot-soldiers who would actually be able to bring the indictment and prosecute! The FBI and the rest of the “law” in Washington is in the pocket of the same people Joe answers to. He’s told us that himself – just this week he said that when he got to be President he thought he’d be giving the orders….turns out (he said!) all he does is take orders! Who exactly is driving the bus?

      1. Does he? Is that fact? Again, think. If the Justice department ONLY HAD the inside scoop! that “Karen Bushy” from the Kass comments section has, Hunter would be behind bars! What’s her smoking gun? Well, something she read on Fox! Or that thing Hannity said, or Kass’s column! Please. There is an old expression, when you hear hoof steps behind you, don’t look for the purple zebra, look for the horse. Conspiracy theories and tin foil hats are not proof of crime. The right wing media disinformation generator has invested so many resources pushing the Hunter Laptop garbage that it simply MUST be true, right? Wrong. And if he is guilty of…something…then I hope he is indicted, you know, like Trump was! No one is above the law. Stop looking for the purple zebra Ms. Bushy, it doesn’t exist. Moreover Independents DON’T CARE about Hunter’s laptop, and that odd fixation you and others have will NOT help the GOP in 2024. Guaranteed.

  6. Be patient. Have faith. Hunter is a gift to the Dems in charge. They will suddenly find their moral and legal compass at the right time and Hunter will be toast. And the collateral damage will be Joe. I don’t think they really want Joe to run again and using Hunter to knock Joe out of the race is an easy call. The DOJ is using republican appointed special prosecutors for a reason. That way, when the dominoes fall on Hunter, and then Joe down the line, it will be those nasty republicans that did it to Hunter and Joe. And they’ll bail on Joe like Pritzker did on Madigan.

    1. Joe will run again, bet on it. They’re setting it up so a criminal defendant Trump will be the opponent. Even though much of his legal troubles are due to selective enforcement and politics, this is a fact.

      Trump stated himself that the abortion extremist agenda is a political loser. He is right. Trump has also stated that Social Security and Medicare should be left alone.

      As long as the politicians refuse to lead and do things a majority of the people want instead of catering to left and right extremism and to the big donors exclusively, this back and forth, he said, she said, you investigate us, we’ll investigate you dance will continue unabated.

      Poor people will suffer due to lack of public safety, healthcare, lousy schools, jobs, housing, food. Brandon Johnson will be a disaster I’m afraid.

      1. “Much of his legal troubles are due to selective enforcement and politics, this is a fact.” Only, it’s not. He raw dogged a porn star while his third wife was pregnant, and he violated finance laws in a ham handed attempt to silence her, THATS the ‘fact.’ So much so he was indicted. Wait, this indictment is just the beginning, the big one slams in Georgia. Remember ‘just find me these votes”? Was that statement (on a recording..) due to “selective enforcement??” Why do “Old Patriots” INSIST on shielding a narcissist who could care less about them??

  7. Very relevant column today, John. I read the Laptop From Hell book based on your recommendation and it definitely crushes idiotic commentary from leftist trolls who think President Hair Plugs is straight up, honest and real.

  9. Yo Tee! I’m sitting at the imaginary rooftop deck bar in the imaginary skyscraper you own over here in Beloit Wisconsin. The imaginary view is breathtaking! I can see all the way to Chumbalonyville and back! Happy to report that I too also worked with Hunter at that imaginary oil company in the Ukraine. I can vouch for Hunter one hundred percent. He was a great coworker and well worth the fifty grand a month he was getting despite having no experience in the oil business. Hunter would pick up the coffee and doughnuts for the gang on his way into the office every morning. He was always good for making lunch runs too although I think he was picking at the french fries. People always felt shorted on their orders. We had to be careful to get the car keys from him a few times since he decided to get the three martini lunch special and got too tipsy to drive. But overall, despite Hunters dabbling with underaged prostitutes, crack smoking, and sneaking around with his deceased brothers wife he was every bit the team player. A fun guy to hang around with and the life of the Christmas party to be sure. This alone makes him worth the fifty grand he was getting paid. Me, I also made fifty grand a month too but unlike Hunter, I was paid in imaginary money. Since I have no money to spend here at your imaginary rooftop bar of the imaginary highrise you own here in Beloit , I’m gonna have them comp the bar tab on your account. I’m sure Hunter would approve.

  11. Yo! Riga- Tee! I’m thinking Hunter was paying income taxes for that imaginary job in the Ukraine with imaginary money! Maybe that’s why the IRS is looking at him. Ya think Tee?

  12. JK — Can’t help noticing that your column has been attracting a steadily increasing number of lefty trolls. They’re not satisfied that the Guild thugs and Hedge Fund Boys drove you out of the remains of the Tribune. Maybe they’re not even satisfied with your health issues. Well, I guess people who live on a diet of “The View” and NYT derivatives . . . have to search out the remaining pockets of resistance.

    Anyway, get better, JK, keep writing, and take heart in the knowledge that in this world of Brandon hegemony we need you more than ever.

    1. Ah yes-“The View.” Trumpets, MAGA devotees and Fox News viewers are obsessed with what is said on “The View!” It’s among my favorite pillars of right wing grievance journalism, right along side “The War on Christianity!” or “Good Gun with a Gun!” or even “Blue City Crime!”

    1. ( Rod Serling voice)…”Submitted for your approval..a man that lives an imaginary life, talking about imaginary subjects and giving imaginary opinions since he s also an imaginary person. He’s created a fictional persona know as “Riga Tony” aka “Tony Chumbaloney”. He lives a solitary lonely bleak life. Mainly sitting in his cubicle at work where he is despised by coworkers for being a talentless, witless dullard whose opinions are meaningless. Yet in his empty imagination he maintains vast real estate holdings. He owns many fine dining restaurants, rooftop bars all for some inexplicable reason located in Beloit Wisconsin. Why Beloit? Why not! He has fought quite heroically in numerous international conflicts and awarded many medals for valor. He has killed many a ferocious lion with his bare hands while on safari. All of these fictional accounts exist to fill a vacuous wasteland in his eternally empty life. He is, and always be a permanent only resident of a city he created as his lonely emotional prison. Here.. eternally.. in the Chumabalony zone…”( ominous, dramatic music, then fades out).

      1. Enrique:

        Your Rod Serling is really quite good. In fact Riga – Tony (aka Tony Cesare) reminds me of the Theodore Bikel character in “4 O’clock” … a paranoid obsessed compulsive nobody trying to “cleanse” the world of “evil” (1962).

  14. With only a 9 seat majority in the House, and a minority in the Senate, the Republicans don’t have the political strength to prosecute Hunter Biden. November’s red wave was a red whimper. Very sad.

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