Parents today are known to have “unconditional love” for their children. This is when parents accept, love, and show affection to their children, even when those children make mistakes and fall short of expectations. This is actually described as a modern approach to parenting, and until the 1950s, conditional love was the dominant American parenting approach.
It would seem to be the correct way to parent, especially as it is what almost everyone who can be described as a Baby Boomer onward likely experienced.
Yet, maybe it isn’t perfect.
A Psychology Today article from 2009 suggested, “Unfortunately, the pendulum swung too far. If you look at unconditional love carefully you see why this grand experiment failed. By taking away conditional love, parents lost their ability to influence their children. Parents gave their children carte blanche in the misguided belief that this freedom would build their self-esteem, foster maturity and independence, and allow them to become successful and happy people. But what it actually did was hurt self-esteem, encourage immaturity, and ill prepare children for life in the adult world.”
As a matter of full disclosure, this writer is not a parent and therefore has practiced neither conditional nor unconditional love as it relates to a child – and yet, as an outside observer, extreme unconditional love perhaps explains how President Joe Biden not only stands by his “problem child” Hunter but has repeatedly proclaimed such pride and adulation.
Hunter Biden: Nothing Wrong?
Before a plea deal was announced earlier just last week that would see Hunter Biden avoid jail time, the president’s response to Hunter Biden’s legal woes seemed like it was coming from a parent who can’t even admit their child made any mistakes.
“First of all, my son’s done nothing wrong,” Biden told MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle last month as prosecutors neared the end of their probe. “I trust him. I have faith in him. And it impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him.”
President Joe Biden has been known for telling more than a few tall tales that border on outright lies at times, but even those pale in comparison to his stance, “My son’s done nothing wrong.”
Yes, Hunter most certainly did something wrong.
He failed to file his income taxes and he lied on an application to purchase a firearm. The elder Biden could have at least said, “First of all, my son’s made mistakes. But I trust him.”
The fact that the president added, “It impacts my presidency” might even send shivers down one’s spine, especially as Politico reported that several people close to the president portrayed him as having been deeply anxious for months about his son’s legal fortunes and frustrated at the slow pace of the investigation.
We’re not talking about the average Joe who worries about his child; we’re talking about President Joe Biden who must deal with China’s saber rattling, Russia’s possible use of chemical weapons in Ukraine, and a border crisis that shows no end.
Even worse, Politico also reported, the elder Biden had “repeatedly barked to confidants that he could not understand why his son was being made to twist in the wind for five years, concerned the legal limbo could create a stress that would trigger his son’s demons, according to those people in the inner circle, who spoke about private matters on condition of anonymity.”
Such stress isn’t likely good for the average 81-year-old, but we can only imagine what it means for someone who already has the weight of the world on their shoulders!
Keeping His Son Close
In recent months, Hunter Biden hasn’t exactly kept what can be described as a “low profile.” Far from it, as he joined his father on a trip to Ireland, and more recently, was present at a White House State Dinner hosted for the visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Then just last weekend, Hunter traveled with his father to Camp David.
The two have become practically inseparable.
But, this isn’t about fatherly pride for a son. This is likely about fear – as in what might Hunter do next? There are now those who have suggested that President Biden has an existential concern that weighs on him daily. If Joe Biden loosens his grip on his son, who or what will replace it — and to what end is what is now being asked.
“It’s consumed him,” a person close to the president told NBC News.
Then there is all of the talk of potentially shady business deals that Hunter Biden may have been involved in, and moreover how Joe Biden may (or may not) have been involved.
Yet, the fact remains that even if Joe Biden’s hands are 100 percent clean and he had absolutely no involvement in any of his son’s nefarious activities, it is still a worry that the president doesn’t need.
Babysitting a 53-year-old Hunter Biden problem child isn’t part of the duties of the leader of the free world, except when they both share the last name “Biden.”
Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
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