Son of Draconian Drug Warrior Fails Drug Test

Vice President Joe Biden's son tests positive for cocaine, gets booted from Navy Reserve.

White House

Vice President Joe Biden has been one of the most strident drug warriors of my lifetime. Mandatory minimum sentences, the crack/powder disparity, federal asset forfeiture, the RAVE Act—they all have Biden's fingerprints on them. The man may be responsible for the very phrase "drug czar." If the Drug War had its own Mount Rushmore, Biden's face would be carved on it, right next to Richard Nixon and Bill Bennett.

Guess why his son got kicked out of the Navy Reserve?

Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter was discharged from the Navy Reserve this year after testing positive for cocaine, according to people familiar with the matter.

Hunter Biden, a lawyer by training who is now a managing partner at an investment company, had been commissioned as an ensign in the Navy Reserve, a part-time position. But after failing a drug test last year, his brief military career ended.

While I'm sure it's no fun to be booted from the Navy, I'm glad the younger Biden hasn't had to suffer any formal penalty greater than that. It's a shame his father's laws have wrecked the lives of so many people who did no more than he did.

Comments

[Agammamon]

He had to get a waiver because of his age at the time of his commissioning.

Sounds like Biden'd already gotten that favor from his boss.

Also - It is with deep shame that I have to acknowledge that Public Affairs Officer is a viable career track in the Navy rather than a collateral or temporary assignment you took on the way up the ladder.

[Agammamon]

"It was the honor of my life to serve in the US Navy, and I deeply regret and am embarrassed that my actions led to my administrative discharge.

No - if it was an honor you would have stayed off the drugs. I don't agree with the policy, but its there, not hidden, not something they sprung on you after you'd invested a decade in a career. If you couldn't commit, you should have resigned your commission.

And I don't believe you were embarrassed by your actions - you are embarrassed at being *caught*.

[Agammamon]

Jesse - the question you should ask is what type of discharge he got.

If its not at least an OTH then he got off easier than normal.

[Patrick Smash]

The Navy said Mr. Biden met all of the criteria for a direct commission, but declined to provide any details of why he was discharged. "Like other junior officers, the details of Ens. Biden's discharge are not releasable due to the Privacy Act," Cmdr. Ryan Perry, a Navy spokesman, said.

Navy personnel who are discharged from the military because of a failed drug test don't receive honorable discharges. Most are given an "other than honorable" or "general" discharge. It isn't clear which discharge Mr. Biden received, and the Navy doesn't release the discharge status of low-ranking officers or junior enlisted personnel.

Thank god the government respects our privacy.

[Agammamon]

Eh, this isn't something to bitch about too much. The Navy really is pretty even-handed about this - and keep in mind that *normally* enlisted and low-ranking officers don't get the sort of institutional protection that, say, the police do - the Navy will, and does, throw its low-rankers to the dogs on a regular basis.

And when it comes to misconduct (or worse, incompetency) in its senior officers, the Navy is quite willing to air its dirty laundry in public (unlike the Army - or any police department in the country).

[Paul.]

Most are given an "other than honorable" or "general" discharge.

Which turns honorable in six months.

[Jesse Walker]

the question you should ask is what type of discharge he got.

According to the WSJ, "It isn't clear which discharge Mr. Biden received, and the Navy doesn't release the discharge status of low-ranking officers or junior enlisted personnel."

[Jesse Walker]

I see Patrick got there first.

[Cdr Lytton]

He didn't get a waiver to be commissioned. At 42 and no prior service and not an in demand occupation like doctor, he got a Waiver.

Mere mortals have to get a waiver in their thirties and absolutely no way do you get in if you can't accumulate twenty years service by age 59 unless you're a thorassic surgeon or a burn specialist or something similar.

[JWatts]

Or, son of the Vice President?

[Cdr Lytton]

I could have worded that better. He would be in the non mere mortal category so doesn't need to be a super in demand occupation.

[Episiarch]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

It's got to be egregious when the Vice President's son can't weasel out of this. Oh man that's good.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I'm glad the younger Biden hasn't had to suffer any formal penalty greater than that

I'm not.

Turnabout is fair play.

[Jesse Walker]

Turnabout is fair play.

Don't punish a man for his father's sins.

[Heroic Mulatto]

You're no fun.

[RG]

You're probably right, but being right doesn't change a lot of minds.

[Aresen]

Don't punish a man for his father's sins.

Yes, I agree.

But if the children of the privileged were to suffer the same consequences as the children of "the little people" for being caught using drugs, the whole damn drug war would end a hell of a lot sooner.

[Mark22]

Hunter Biden just goes from one partnership, CEO position, board position, investment banking position, to another, with some stints in Democratic administrations. Most people spend their entire lives working hard to rise to any one of those positions. Do you seriously think that his father's position has nothing to do with that? The guy seems to have derived lots of benefits from his father's position, so it doesn't seem unreasonable to hold him to a higher standard too.

[Patrick Smash]

Precisely -- this dolt has willingly benefitted from his father's sins, so it is right that he is punished for them too. It's not like he's 10 years old, either.

[Bill Dalasio]

True.

But, this is the son that is on the board of Ukraine's largest gas producer. There's plenty of sins of his own for him to be punished for.

[BigFire]

They cannot hand out Big Chicken Dinner or Dishonorable Discharge without a formal court martial. Since they're trying to swept this under the rug, he just gets an administrative discharge.

[Patrick Smash]

If the Drug War had its own Mount Rushmore, Biden's face would be carved on it, right next to Richard Nixon and Bill Bennett.

Bennett had very little independent power. Interesting that you leave Ronnie Raygun, otherwise a Saint of libertarianism, off the list. Just Say No to partisanship.

[Jesse Walker]

Just Say No to partisanship.

Yes, I'm such a GOP partisan that two-thirds of the villains I listed are Republicans. (Rolls eyes, walks away.)

[SIV]

Just another HitnRunpublican fouling the pure air and water of Cosmotaria.

[DK]

Well, Mount Rushmore lists typically have four people.

So, who shall we add?

[SIV]

Wilson, Roosevelt, JFK, LBJ,, Jimmy Carter, Dr Peter Bourne, Tip O'Neill...

Wait, that is kinda partisan.

Orin Hatch,Jeff Sessions, Newt Gingrich, Nelson Rockefeller...

[Heroic Mulatto]

Ronnie Raygun, otherwise a Saint of libertarianism

What bizarre parallel Earth do you hail from, and what is Superman's origin story there?

[Agammamon]

Red Son?

[Heroic Mulatto]

No, Lex Luthor was President in Earth-30.

[Agammamon]

You must be a blast at parties.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Until they whip out the Trivial Pursuit board.

Then everyone hates me.

[Mike A.]

Let me guess. because of your towering intellect?

[Paul.]

Ronnie Raygun, otherwise a Saint of libertarianism, off the list. Just Say No to partisanship.

Alan?

[gaoxiaen]

Just Say No To Statist Douchebags.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Reagan was a ChristoFascist of the worst kind. No one would mistake him for a freedom lover.

[PapayaSF]

A lot of Eastern Europeans and Cuban refugees do, but what do they know?

[MarkinLA]

Reagan was no Christian. He gave lip service to the religious right but never did anything for them.

[MarkinLA]

Well even though Reagan did sign the legislation making crack worse than cocaine he did use the CIA to bring it in to pay for weapons for the Contras, so he can't be all bad.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Wouldn't you know, he's a crony's crony.

[Agammamon]

Yeah, I'm not certain how you get an appointment to the board of a foreign company while still being allowed to hold a commission (and, undoubtedly, a Secret clearance).

[Mark22]

I think I have a pretty good idea, actually.

[The Late P Brooks]

I'm glad the younger Biden hasn't had to suffer any formal penalty greater than that.

I'm not feeling that magnanimous, tonight. Those motherfuckers need to have their drug wart shoved up their asses, and if that means Joe only gets to see his boy on visiting day, then tough shit. I'm guessing Hunter Biden never questioned the benefits of being a Senator's son as he was cutting lines with the rest of the cool kids.

[Trouser-Pod]

Is this in any way appropriate?

No? Well, to hell with 'em, anyway.

[The Late P Brooks]

t

[SIV]

KIDS ARE OFF LIMITS YOU RETHUGLICAN HATE MONGER!

lol

That's a serious dope habit if he can't work it around the time frame he's likely to be tested.

[Agammamon]

Well, the likely testing frame is 'is it a workday?' Then you have a 1/10 chance to get called for a test.

Did you just come back from leave? Then the 'random' testing is about 50% likely to pick you.

Does the Commanding Officer feel a little paranoid about drug use today - command sweep - nobody goes home until everyone's given a sample.

When I went to work with the Marines on my last tour it was crazy how rarely they(and how lax they are about the ) test. I was there for a year before they realized none of the Navy personnel at the unit were being included in the UA.

[nipplemancer]

When I was in the Marines we did our drug testing along with yearly physicals, the PFT, and admin stuff every October like clockwork. No one ever failed a piss test.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

While in EUCOM, we had 3 piss tests in 4 months - someone was trying to catch up apparently.

[l0b0t]

In the 7th ID (Light), we were on deployment status every other month. Coincidentally, our random urinalysis occurred the first day of deployment status; every single time. Also, if one had just returned from leave, one could expect a test the first week back.
Here is where it gets fun. During my ETS (1994) there were 6 guys from my unit who being outprocessed for smoking crack. At the time it was very difficult to get thrown out for drug use. If one came up hot, one was told "You failed your test. You will have another in 1 month; be prepared". If one failed the 2nd test it meant 3 months of mandatory counseling, followed by a test. If one failed the 3rd test, then and only then would one be subject to discharge.

[Calidissident]

A politician's son, who works at an investment company, tests positive for cocaine. What a shocker. Almost as surprising as the complete lack of legal consequences he faced.

[Ken Shultz]

A dishonorable discharge, doesn't that mean he can't pass a NICS check?

I'm sure Mumbly Joe is all broken up about his son not being able to use his patented Biden "two blasts" Shotgun Tactic anymore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv63D6hJU_Y

[Paul.]

I thought it was a general discharge-- which turns honorable in six months.

[Ken Shultz]

I'm by no means an expert on such things, but if they kick you out of the military for drugs, why isn't that a dishonorable discharge?

[Patrick Smash]

It may be dishonorable, but it's not a dishonorable discharge. Those are for major violations.

[LarryA]

A dishonorable discharge is most often for a serious felony.

[Paul.]

I'm by no means an expert on such things, but if they kick you out of the military for drugs, why isn't that a dishonorable discharge?

Here is my understanding of the relatively modern military as explained to me by a former member, and friend of someone who failed a drug test during his time in the same unit.

Some drug violations don't even get you discharged. Sometimes they just bust you, remove a stripe. Other times it gets you a discharge, and that discharge is often "general" which I've been told automatically turns honorable within six months. I believe for officers, though, that they bounce your ass.

However... HOWEVER... according to my friend, he had a pal in the same unit who failed a drug test, and the military did whatever they did with him, but YEARS after he was out, he tried to buy a firearm and was denied on the bg check.

I'm trying to verify now...

[Paul.]

Yeah, and according to my friend, officers (when he was in (late 80s)) can get the book thrown at them for failing a drug test.

[Ken Shultz]

Seems like an easy way to get out of the service.

Corporal Klinger should have thought of that.

[JWatts]

Corporal Klinger wasn't a volunteer.

[Tsumaranai]

You can actually self report your drug use to your unit and request rehab to avoid getting kicked out. As you ask for help before they find out, at least.

[Scarecrow Repair]

When I was in, sometime around 1975, we went to Karachi, Pakistan, and they warned us many times that there would be bend-over spread-your-cheeks tests for everyone except senior officers (USS Midway, flagship 7th fleet). The first thing just about everybody heard once off the liberty boat was "Hashish, $10 a pound, $20 a kilo" and they busted 40 sailors for bringing a kilo or more back on, out of 5000 crew and airdales.

I was a supply clerk, nothing close to scuttlebutt central, but we heard that all 40 had been given discharges for the good of the service, whatever that meant. Hell, I don't think any of us actually knew what kind of discharges you could get other than honorable.

We understood the 40 were given a choice -- take the discharge or face a court martial and get worse. We figured half the reason for choosing Karachi was to get rid of the dead wood, which I have always assumed was the same reason Bush II wasn't court-martialed for desertion -- get rid of the deadwood. It was after the Vietnam War, they had way too many people who had only joined to avoid being drafted into the army, and ships were being mothballed like crazy after being run down during the war without proper maintenance. More sailors than ships -- start pruning!

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

"which I have always assumed was the same reason Bush II wasn't court-martialed for desertion"

Lucy Ramirez, is that you?

[Calidissident]

It's undisclosed what sort of discharge he received.

[Patrick Smash]

In theory, he's ineligible to purchase or possess a firearm due to being an unlawful user of a controlled substance.

[Ken Shultz]

Either way, if his mom isn't there with her shotgun when somebody breaks in, he's in a lot of trouble.

[Paul.]

Yep, I just verified that from my friend. His army buddy tried to buy a firearm years after his discharge and got denied.

[An Innocent Man]

Don't punish a man for his father's sins.

Oh? Like when the president assassinated Anwar al-Awlaki's son, a16 year old American citizen, because his father was a terrorist? And Robert Gibbs dismissed criticism by saying, "I would suggest that you should have a far more responsible father."

Fuck that. Burn 'em.

[Jesse Walker]

I prefer not to use Robert Gibbs as my moral guide.

[Scarecrow Repair]

I usually have three thoughts to everything.

1. Pure, like what I would want by ideal NAP, self-responsibility, etc.

2. What the rat deserves in my imagination.

3. What I sort of more or less wish society would do to the rat without me having to get my hands dirty but would make me smile.

[SIV]

Didn't his sister get caught on camera doing a line by the sleazeball that gave it to her?

[SIV]

http://nypost.com/2009/03/28/f.....g-cocaine/

[Nwallins]

Ashley Biden was a wild child who never said no, notorious for partying her way through Tulane University circa 2000. Witnessed firsthand on many occasions: coke, pot, mdma, booze, sex, minimal discretion, much like the rest of us.

[Rich]

"Stand up, Hunter, let 'em see you. Oh, God love you."

[An Innocent Man]

Is this the same son that joined the board of a Ukranian Gas company amidst their troubles this past spring? Or is their another Hunter?

[Jayburd]

Cocaine,,,,Ukraine,,, reelin all round my brain... What else rhymes?

[Paul.]

"I deeply regret and am embarrassed that my actions led to my administrative discharge," he said. "I respect the Navy's decision. With the love and support of my family, I'm moving forward."

Moving forward. Politican talk for "can we stop talking about this now?"

[Remnant Psyche]

Caption the picture: "This is not fuckin' great."

[C. Anacreon]

Or: "Hey polka-dot-tie man, get your greasy fingers off the material. This suit is worth way more than you are."

[Rich]

Looks like Time's lawyer had something to say, eh?

[SIV]

More likely Matt Welch

[Paul.]

I noticed.

[Paul.]

So are we going to civil-forfeiture Biden's residence?

[Scarecrow Repair]

Used to be a joke back in the Nixon days, where the Coast Guard was being tasked with all sorts of new duties but no more money. Just find a seed on a carrier and auction it back to the Navy.

[Paul.]

Well shit, according to my [enlisted] friend it can be bad shit if an officer is caught on a drug test. However, like the civilian world, that's on paper. If you have the right representation, not only can you escape serious punishment, you can THRIVE.

Positive Test For Marijuana Finds Positive Results

Army physician was reported positive for marijuana in his last semester of medical school. After the charge was preferred for Art. 32 Investigation, we negotiated disposition by an ART. 15, with the goal being to attempt to secure our client's graduation from medical school . Within a couple of weeks, our client was not only allowed to graduate from medical school and receive his medical degree, he was also PROMOTED to the rank of Captain.

http://www.militarylawyers.org.....enses.aspx

[Suellington]

A good week for Ess Eff. We lost the Bay Guardian and the Giants are in the series. I love it. Have the day off tomorrow to go on a friend's boat on the Bay,

Can I say fuck the Bay Guardian one more time? Hell yes.

[C. Anacreon]

The Bay Guardian was unable to even find mirth in their extreme-left tilting at windmills, they were always so fucking serious about every little thing. The SF Weekly at least has been able to be tongue-in-cheek at times, perhaps that's why they are still around. But to be honest, I haven't picked up a copy of either in years, so I really can't say for sure.

I find enough things in life every day to piss me off, I don't need a local pinko rag to do it for me.

[Suellington]

They were absolutely horrible. Favoring every incursion into freedom and championing extreme leftist causes. They even wrote a couple small hit pieces against my family years back. They ain't down with building houses for well off folk.

[Suellington]

Hunter Biden had been seen hanging out with Stitches lately. That was def a tip off.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XtW6HW8jO_U

[Paul.]

But did he have his money when he came t'collect?

[Suellington]

You don't want to try and get out of that.

[darlene]

People are not arrested for failing drug tests, or even using drugs. They are arrested for possession of illegal drugs and if there is a large amount, for possession with intent to sell. Just being on drugs is not a chargeable offense, unless you are driving under the influence. This guy's discharge from the Navy Reserves was appropriate, but his not being arrested and charged is not because his father is Vice President. Drug addicts are not charged, only when the drugs are on them.

[Patrick Smash]

Failed drug tests are evidence of past possession.

Also, doing illegal drugs while in possession of a security clearance is illegal in itself.

[sarcasmic]

I've seen people charged with felony drug possession for being under the influence. They were being charged for the drugs they possessed in their system. Don't know if the charges stuck or not, but it was an excuse for the cops to rob them and throw them in jail.

[Mike A.]

That is not the law in most states. Generally speaking, its not against the law to be on drugs, only to HAVE drugs.

[Agammamon]

You can tell that to the cops who hang around the Tijuana/San Diego border station.

Crossing *into* the US with alcohol in your system is illegal possesion if you're under 21.

[Jayburd]

It must have been the pressure of that two week class in-lieu of boot camp.

[CandiceEmmettsad]

my co-worker's step-sister makes $69 every hour on the laptop . She has been fired for eight months but last month her income was $20541 just working on the laptop for a few hours. why not try here............

http://www.Jobs-spot.com

[?rboles de la Barranca]

!! FREE HUNTER BIDEN !!