Original Sin: The Biden Cover-Up

 No one looks good in this book (except for Robert Hur).

Hur left his job to do the Biden investigation. He was respectful; he tried to stick to the facts. Biden was evasive, unintelligible, lost. Hur correctly summarized his findings; he had to describe Biden's appearance and age to make the case that a jury likely would not find Biden guilty (though Biden himself acknowledged his guilt several times in taped interviews).

After the Hur fracas, Biden claimed to feel outrage that Hur had brought up the subject of Beau. Whether consciously or not (always a tough question with septuagenarian Biden), the President was lying. It wasn't Hur who brought up Beau; it was Biden himself who brought up Beau. Kamala Harris assisted in Biden's bad behavior by attacking Hur's professionalism. (It's hard to believe that Harris was not aware that she was lying during this attack.)

It's difficult to spend so much time with terrible people. The writers' disdain for Hunter Biden is palpable. Hunter--it is noted--has the special distinction of being at the center of two impeachment stories. (Both the Trump and the Biden impeachment inquiries were related to Hunter's past business deals). Jake Tapper observes that, when Hunter's plea deal was going up in smoke, Hunter had the option of saying, "Dad, don't worry about me. You do not need to spend time wringing your hands about this. I will handle this as an adult." The thought seemed not to occur to Hunter. Also, Tapper is careful to point out that Hunter's legal woes partly grew out of Hunter's own memoir, in which Hunter made clear that he was an addict during various periods of his personal history when drug addiction was an especially bad idea.

Meanwhile, Jill Biden omits her own grandchild from the dedication page of her picture book (because of Hunter's wish). Jill also ices out her former daughter-in-law, because the daughter-in-law had the temerity to tell the truth about how Hunter had behaved during his brief marriage.

I feel like I'm reading a novelized version of "Next to Normal," which is both draining and intriguing to watch. (Check your PBS listings.) I guess I recommend this book, but you'll need to take a shower when you finish.