Dominating the media this week is how “The Barbie Movie” and “Oppenheimer,” which were each released last Friday, have resulted in this summer’s “Barbenheimer” phenomenon. Though seen as a solid instance of counter-programming aimed at two distinct audiences, both films have received widespread acclaim and exceeded box-office expectations. Moreover, despite their differing themes, there have been suggestions that the two films have the potential for a double feature!
“Barbenheimer” is sure to continue to dominate the media’s attention for the rest of the summer – unless, of course, it is in the right-wing media, which remains entirely fixated on Hunter Biden.
Andrew C. McCarthy, a senior fellow at National Review Institute and a contributing editor for National Review magazine, has written about the president’s son and/or the Biden family “Burisma” connection in four of his past five columns. But he is hardly the only reporter who has told readers over and over that “The younger Biden reportedly put Burisma executives in touch with his father, who was then vice president.”
The New York Post, The Daily Mail, Fox News, and The Washington Times are just a few of the outlets that have laid out what we can expect Devon Archer, the former Burisma board member and business partner/BFF of Hunter Biden to tell lawmakers.
“Archer’s testimony will further challenge the White House’s insistence that Joe Biden never had any knowledge of or involvement in his wayward son’s business affairs,” The Daily Mail reported.
Hunter Biden: It Was Reported…
In all too many cases, the media is just reporting what has been reported.
Per Fox News: “Miranda Devine, a New York Post columnist, and Fox News contributor, reported Monday that Archer, 48, is expected to tell the House Oversight Committee about meetings he witnessed attended by both Bidens — Hunter and Joe — either in person or via telephone. During the meetings, Hunter would specifically introduce his father to foreign business partners or prospective investors, Archer is expected to testify.”
This would seem to be quite the bombshell.
What We Have Heard?
We’ve now heard from the media what we can expect to hear, yet haven’t actually heard it. As the editorial board of The New York Post also suggested, “Rep. Jim Comer (R-Ky.), Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) & Co. are right to press unrelentingly here.”
This is absolutely true.
The lawmakers should press the issue, and we should hear what Archer has to say – but we’re in an echo chamber now where we’re hearing not what he said, but what we believe he has to say. But we should also accept that Archer is a convicted felon who may be willing to say anything at this point.
We know (or at least think we know) that “Hunter’s business interests were intimately entwined with Archer’s,” and that the two “regularly consulted on their sundry business dealings,” because writers like McCarthy keep telling us it was so.
But as McCarthy also wrote in another column, “Archer faces about a year in prison, in addition to tens of millions of dollars in fines and restitution costs. His predicament has given him an incentive, finally, to cooperate in investigations of the Biden family business of cashing in on Joe Biden’s political influence.”
What Will Archer Say?
Again, we’re expecting a bombshell – but hasn’t some of the “yield” been lost due to the fact that it is receiving such a build-up? In other words, we’re expecting an atomic bomb like the one in the film “Oppenheimer,” but part of the bomb’s effectiveness when it was used at the end of the Second World War was that it took the Empire of Japan by utter surprise!
And what happens if Archer doesn’t really have all that much to say?
What we know is that Devon Archer is set to speak to GOP lawmakers behind closed doors on Monday, when he will provide details related to the president’s sons’ business dealings in Ukraine.
Of course, by then, we’ll probably get to read more about a play-by-play of what we believe transpired in meetings between various Ukrainian businessmen, the president, his son, and Archer.
Will it be an atomic bomb that truly destroys the Biden family or a dud? We’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, there is always “The Barbie Movie” to keep us entertained!
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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