October 15, 2019

But even the son of the vice president of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked...

"Look, I'm a private citizen. One thing that I don't have to do is sit here and open my kimono as it relates to how much money I make or make or did or didn't," said Hunter Biden resisting the questions of Amy Robach, who had him crying by the end of the interview.

67 comments:

gilbar said...

But Donald Trump's finances, from back in the 1990's; when HE was a private citizen
THAT'S DIFFERENT!

rcocean said...

I agree. Please don't open that Kimono Hunter, I don't want to see it.

Mary Beth said...

open my kimono

Racist or cultural appropriation? Before you answer, think what the response to that phrase would be if the speaker were the child of a Republican politician.

Lucid-Ideas said...

He doesn't want to open his kimono because that's where he stashes his coke.

tim in vermont said...

I have a feeling, based on how eager they are to open their kimonos, that the Biden per - fils are not “scammers” on that score.

tim in vermont said...

I have heard “open the kimono” in meetings back in the ‘90s. It meant to be completely open about technology issues in that context. I kind of saw it as a dated reference.

Heartless Aztec said...

I agree with Hunter. Nobody's business but his the Press'. And they Press isn't interested are they?

Wince said...

We had a sixth grade teacher whose claim to fame was swearing like a sailor in class all the time.

Aside, I remember he described dirty movies to us sixth graders as those that "had the man walking around in the open bathrobe".

Still makes me laugh out loud.

chickelit said...

Reveal the chapstick, Hunter!

Iman said...

"I don't feed bullies.”

No, he just trades on his father’s name and screws his dead brother’s widow.

rehajm said...

It meant to be completely open about technology issues in that context. I kind of saw it as a dated reference.

Guys in M&A use it too, referring to the point in negotiations when financials are disclosed. It's dated there, too...

Iman said...

Kimono Big House, monsieur!

rcocean said...

Yeah, don't investigate Presidential or VP Children. Ivanka, Baron, and Don Jnr would agree. Not to mention the Bush daughters. Of course, when you're flying on Daddy's Jet to China and the Ukraine and getting $gigs because you're the son of the VP, its kinda hard to stay out of the spotlight.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Why not?

Hunter - You made that money right after your dad became VP. You rode, Hunter, on Air Force Two with him and traveled to the nations who ended up paying you in some way - mega mega bucks.

Joe Biden, your dad, as VP of the US, is caught bragging on video - that he had a prosecutor fired because that prosecutor was investigating Barisma's corruption. A shake down of sorts using US tax payer money as bribe money to get the investigation stopped.
*everyone laugh and clap*

and our corrupt media and corrupt Adam Schitt(D) insist the real corruption is asking a questions about it.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

"... President Trump asked Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky to investigate the Bidens, no evidence of illegal wrongdoing has been found against either one."

Nor have the Bidens been exonerated.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Exactly - Trump's privacy prior to his office cannot abide.

Hunter Biden made all this money because of his dad's VP status and connections. But we cannot ask about it. *shut up, he explained.*

David Begley said...

Crybaby.

Whimp.

Druggy.

tcrosse said...

Keep that kimono buttoned up, for the love of God

gspencer said...

"Really, I don't want to tell everyone how I cheated my way to the top. Or how my father, as a so-called public servant, cheated his way to the top, using his position as senator and then vice president, amassed a fortune without ever having worked for it. He never provided a service or product that improved the lives of others. He skimmed; he used insider information. Okay, so maybe we got our money the dirty way, betraying public trust and exercising privilege. Do you people have to humiliate us this way. We're rich by having cheated, and having scammed the system.

"And, okay, my step mother, she's a doctor, ya know. Dr. Jill Biden I know that implyies that she’s a medical doctor. But that’s all part of a rather large deception. Deception actually has become a real thing with us Bidens. She’s not a real doctor. Her pretentious claim to that title is based on an EdD (which is even flimsier than a PhD) in “educational leadership” (gag)) is nothing less than a variant of Stolen Valor (ask Don Shipley about that and phony SEALs). I know that my step mother is really a Glammed-Up Jill and that she's claiming a status to which she’s not entitled. I know that real doctors = MDs, dentists, holders of PhDs in the hard sciences. Not real doctors = anyone with an EdD or a PhD in any soft studies programs (especially all those “studies” programs (gag-gag = womyns, black, gay, gender, education)) are exercises in bullshiitte-ology. Word-processing programs have enabled turgid writers to become even more turgid."

The Bidens - all of them - part of America's self-described POS.

gahrie said...

The scary thing for the Democrats is that Hunter is the tip of the iceberg. And he is exactly the type of slime to throw everyone else under the bus to save his own hide.

Gusty Winds said...

The premise of Atlas Shrugged was the difference between people who made their money producing products (TRUMP FAMILY), and those that made money peddling influence (CLINTONS, BIDENS ETC....)

tim in vermont said...

Elizabeth Warren, if she really wanted to stick the knife in Biden, could ask him to defend that “bankruptcy reform” act of his. She doesn’t even have to bring up the fact that the main beneficiaries of the bill (not the consumers, BTW) hired on his son Hunter as a “consultant” at the tender age of 21. Did ABC ask Hunter about that? What was his qualification for that other than being his daddy’s son?

Milo Minderbinder said...

"had as much knowledge as anyone else on that board, if not more."
Well then, no wonder the Ukrainian prosecutor wanted to talk to him...

Balfegor said...

I don't think people would have been nearly as skeptical if it were his dead elder brother, who actually seemed like the kind of person you might put on a board of directors. Isn't Hunter the screw-up who got cashiered for being a drug addict and left his wife over an affair with his brother's wife (whom he has since left)?

Shouting Thomas said...

I've begun to donate monthly to Althouse. Not a lot, but I'm retired and living on a not so huge budget.

You know that I have a couple of areas of serious disagreement with the professor.

But, really, she's just about all we've got in terms of unrestricted free speech and a semblance of balance and fairness.

Her tactics confound me at times. I wish, often, that she'd come out in favor of Prez Trump. He seems to me to have earned it with his performance on the job. But her "hypotheticals" and omission of conclusions, I've seen, work over the long haul in exposing the truth.

I encourage you to contribute as well. She doesn't need the money, but we all need to be acknowledged for the value of our work.

Nichevo said...

If "open the kimono" is dated, and the last time I heard that expression was from the senior partner on Mad Men, is there a new phrasing for "Chinese wall" as it applies to the regulatory partition between, e.g., buy- and sell-side at a finserv firm?

Wince said...

Notice how the thematic language here mirrors the narratives. Impeachment hinges on whether you believe Trump wanted to...

"Gather dirt" on Hunter (gather Hunter), or expose corruption.

Rory said...

"Exactly - Trump's privacy prior to his office cannot abide."

Joe was on the public payroll for the first 46 years of Hunter's life.

Amadeus 48 said...

"Open my kimono..."

Great. Now I have to wash that image out of my mind. I think I'll imagine Amy Robach opening her kimono.

Carter Wood said...

Since you're quoting Dylan, let me just say to young Mr. Biden, you gotta serve somebody.

I was glad to see Serve Somebody on the setlist from Dylan's opening night of his new tour.

https://www.jambase.com/article/bob-dylan-fall-tour-opener-2019

Bob Dylan at Donald Bren Events Center
Oct 11, 2019Irvine, CA, Never Ending Tour

Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
It Ain't Me, Babe
Highway 61 Revisited
When I Paint My Masterpiece
Can't Wait
Simple Twist of Fate
Honest With Me
Tryin' to Get to Heaven
Make You Feel My Love
Pay in Blood
Lenny Bruce
Early Roman Kings
Girl From the North Country
Not Dark Yet
Thunder on the Mountain
Soon After Midnight
Gotta Serve Somebody
ENCORE
Long and Wasted Years
It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry

Charlie said...

Open kimono. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0keb6t1Pxg

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

"Gather dirt" on Hunter (gather Hunter), or expose corruption."

Should be "garner dirt".

rehajm said...

is there a new phrasing for "Chinese wall" as it applies to the regulatory partition between, e.g., buy- and sell-side at a finserv firm?

I've seen 'ethical wall' or 'insulation wall' in written form but everyone still uses the old phrase or implies existence without referring to the thing by name...

Mark O said...

The elite are different.

DarkHelmet said...

"... President Trump asked Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky to investigate the Bidens, no evidence of illegal wrongdoing has been found against either one."

How about legal wrongdoing?
How about illegal non-wrong-doing?


How about the obvious fact that nobody would have hired Biden's kid to walk a dog except for the fact that he was Biden's kid. Not that it's illegal to grease the kid of an Important Person. But maybe it is worth looking around and asking a few questions. You know -- investigating? Rather than the media serving as the Democrats' intellectual praetorian guard? (using 'intellectual' in a very generous sense here.)

Gusty Winds said...

Does anybody believe that Crackhead Hunter Biden was smart enough to peddle this influence without the help of his father? Come on.....

Michael said...

Oh, I see now. He was qualified for the Ukrainian board because he had served on the board of AMTRACK. WTF. Now how did he get that gig? First I have heard that the son of the AMTRACK riding Senator happened to land on the board of the RR company. Christ.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

too much Kabuki !

The modern all-male kabuki, known as yarō-kabuki (young man kabuki), was established during these decades. After women were banned from performing, cross-dressed male actors, known as onnagata ("female-role") took over.

is that how we got to Ru Paul?

tim in vermont said...

"The elite are different.”

The whole quote is:
“The elite are different than you and me.”
“Yeah, they don’t need guns to steal money."

tim in vermont said...

"Great. Now I have to wash that image out of my mind.”

You haven’t even gotten to Warren in her underwear yet.

Drago said...

Lots of drug addicts cry alot.

Professional lady said...

Creepy.

stutefish said...

"Open my kimono" connotes casual, ingrained decadence to me. It's the phrasing adopted by a guy who has so completely internalized the ideal of hedonism that he thinks of himself reflexively in hedonistic terms. It's the kind of thing that plays well among close friends who understand where you're coming from and are inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt. But to outsiders, it just sounds like you've been living so decadently for so long that you no longer hear how weird and decadent "open my kimono" actually sounds to the other 99% of Americans.

zipity said...


Yes. You are a private citizen. Who leveraged his father's position to make, not earn, MILLIONS of dollars.

It's called crony-capitalism. Sometimes it's referred to as graft.

In either case, it's CORRUPT.

PM said...

Why didn't he just say "open my blouse"?

Yancey Ward said...

The Bidens' troubles in this regard are the perfect examples of res ipsa loquitur. This is why the defense of the Bidens in the media is so languid. Notice how the defense is always of the nature "nothing illegal has been found or proven". There is no direct defense attempted because it would only draw attention to the wrongs themselves in that there really is no direct defense possible other than to make the claim that peddling influence isn't illegal or unethical.

Yancey Ward said...

In tonight's debate, there is an opportunity for one of the lagging candidates to drag themselves into contention- all they have to do is to directly and explicitly question Joe Biden on allowing his son to make millions by trading on Joe Biden's position as, first Senator (hello Amtrak board position!), and then as the VP handling Ukraine and China relations.

The Democratic Party apparatus and media may be completely corrupt, but I guarantee you a majority of the actual voters in the primary are not really accepting of this kind of graft, and if given a chance, they will vote for someone will to go against the media narrative and call Biden out on this corruption. However, I am pretty much sure no one will do that tonight.

narciso said...

but of course,



https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/kyle-drennen/2019/10/15/you-look-guilty-cbs-frets-hunter-biden-interview-helped-trump

Greg the class traitor said...

"Look, I'm a private citizen. One thing that I don't have to do is sit here and open my kimono as it relates to how much money I make or make or did or didn't," said Hunter Biden

Do you want to claim you actually earned that money, and it wasn't bribes paid by corrupt people, to get corrupt favors from your father?

Then yes, you do have to open up.

And if there's a criminal investigation, with subpoenas, again, you will have to open up.

So, if you aren't corrupt, you're better off opening up, now

Larry J said...

It is illegal to offer a bribe to a politician. It isn't illegal to give them a campaign contribution, which is just a bribe by another name. It isn't illegal to hire a politician's family members, either. That's a great way to curry a politician's favor, along with paying inflated prices for real estate and other such scams. Those things aren't illegal because the politicians who write the laws say so. Notice that I said politicians. These practices are far from limited to just Democrats.

YoungHegelian said...

"Open my kimono"

Yukata be kiddin' us, H. Biden!

Ralph L said...

Does anybody believe that Crackhead Hunter Biden was smart enough to peddle this influence without the help of his father?

He did go to Yale Law School, but we know that was probably because of his father, too.

Sheridan said...

Did Hunter ever meet Epstein? Opening one's kimono requires skill acquired through relentless practice.

Chris-2-4 said...

What's the over-under on someone unearthing a video of Beto in an Open Kimono?

Susan said...

I imagine there is a video somewhere of Justin Trudeau in a kimono. Hopefully it is a closed kimono.

Rabel said...

Hunter was initially rejected by Yale law and entered as a second year transfer from Georgetown.

Joe was a Senator at the time of both the rejection and transfer.

minnesota farm guy said...

We seem to ignore it, but this is the kind of corruption an average person (voter) can understand. You know "How come my kid can't get a $600k gig? I mean I fix people's plumbing - a real job." Slimey trade offs in DC are well hidden and difficult to figure. This is so blatant that Joe and Josephine Six Pack have no trouble seeing how the game was rigged.

Rabel said...

And a confusing note, Hunter went to Georgetown Law because he also couldn't get into U. Of Delaware.

WTH?

"When Hunter was unable to get into the University of Delaware, he instead went on to Georgetown and then to Yale Law School and managed to get through those OK."

- Sen Tom Carper introducing Hunter at the hearing on his appointment to the Amtrak board.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Yancey @ 11:41

Agreed.

Even some at CNN know that Biden biz deals smell, but Zucker won't allow them to discuss on-air.


narciso said...

right, that's what everything does, I wanted to go to rollins college I went elsewhere, that's not how it works,

narciso said...

btw joe walsh has only been able to raised 130k

hombre said...

I heard excerpts from Hunter’s “kimono” interview. That interviewer did a pretty good job. His arrogance was palpable and could best be explained by stupidity or the belief that daddy would get him another free ride - from the leftmedia.

Lazarus said...

If you're going to have a feckless, irresponsible celebrity kid, you shouldn't start out by being as big a dolt as Joe Biden or what you get will be a real trainwreck. But maybe it works out for the best. If Joe were a deeper guy, he might suffer from Hunter's scheming and bungling, but it doesn't appear to really get through to his core.

Think of Frank Skeffington, the fictionalized James Michael Curley in Edwin O'Connor's The Last Hurrah. From what I remember of the film and novel, it broke the old man's heart that his son cared more about going out dancing than making a name for himself in politics or law or business. What would it have done to old Skeffington/Curley if his kid had been doing cocaine, getting thrown out of the navy, getting money from shady foreign entanglements, and getting frisky with his brother's widow?

Biden won't get the nomination, but he won't be forgotten. He's already become a classic Irish-American political character, like Curley or Honey Fitz or Jimmy Walker (though he's less Irish than he pretends). Can't wait for the novel/movie.

bagoh20 said...

All Joe had to say is "don't hire my son" unless you would without knowing of me.

Then he wouldn't have to degrade his office or the Presidency. The problem is that Joe believes in affirmative action, and nobody needs it more than a drug addicted son with poor character. You gotta help the downtrodden who never get a break in this society. Joe was just helping out the less fortunate among us.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

"Bleau" Biden would let you peek under the kimono
for a hefty monthly salary

Michael K said...

Curley was re-elected from prison but times have changed,

narayanan said...

res ipsa loquitur (rayz ip-sah loh-quit-her) n. Latin for "the thing speaks for itself,"

__________________
my Q:

How is this different from words in the Declaration of Independence

The Declaration states, “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal.

I am eager to be edumacated. (did not go to law school)