Beau Biden’s stroke far more serious than reported
While the possible switch from Joe to Hillary sucked all of the oxygen out of the room, this Beau Biden item in the recent Halperin book flew under the radar.
Halperin and Heilemann offer behind-the-scenes details about the campaign and other revelations. They say, for example, that the 2010 stroke suffered by Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, the vice president’s son, was more serious than reported and that he suffered months of paralysis.
“The stroke was publicly described as minor, but in fact was life-threatening,” Halperin and Heilemann wrote. “There were initial questions about how full his recovery would be. (He suffered paralysis for months.)”
Helps explain the virtual media blackout on this summer’s visit to the hospital in Houston.
His handlers knew that a good reporter would ask how the recent episode compared to 2010 and if there was any relationship …
And Beau would have:
(a) denied;
(b) evaded;
(c) told the truth.
Taking any of those options would have proven harmful to his political future. He chose (d) none of the above.
Sometimes the best course is to remain silent.
The AG walked out of the hospital a few days after the stroke – http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/37220856#37220856
How long has it been now since Beau ended up in that Houston hospital?
While I respect his right to privacy as a private citizen, it’s time for us to know if he’s actually running the AG’s office. After all, we, including me, voted for him.
We get press releases all the time saying that AG Biden did this, and AG Biden did that, but we don’t really know. His cover story for the J-J Dinner was that he was tending to National Guard responsibilities, but is there any verification of this?
Not meaning to be ghoulish, but I can’t escape the feeling that we’re being misled here. And we have a right to know.
@ES “And we have a right to know.”
No you don’t. What you have is the right to vote against him.
Actually, LE, we do. If he isn’t really capable of doing the job, that’s pertinent for us to know.
Seriously, do some of you people understand the concepts of good government at all? Or are you just rooting for your team?
Yeah, I do. He is a public official. He has said he’s running for reelection. His agency sends out press releases every day saying that he has done this or has done that. There is no evidence that this is so.
He has missed events that he would not generally miss.
I’m not trying to blast him, far from it. But we have a right to know whether he is sufficiently healthy to run his agency. His press secretary says that he is doing so. I’m just asking for them to prove it.
Sorry guys… You do not. Being a public figure does NOT mean that your private medical records become public… at least not in America.
If he cannot do the job, then focus on that.
If you worked for a private company, and you got so sick that it would affect your performance, the company you work for does NOT have the right to see your medical record. They do have a right to fire you for not being able to do your job. It’s no different for public figures.
Even Ronald Reagan had the right to keep his medical condition private after he was shot. Releasing such information was not required by law nor by the constitution.
For what it’s worth, I’ve seen him and he looks pretty good. Maybe the health scare has given him reason to limit his activities as far as attending events and focus more on his kids and family. Is there any reason to believe he is not doing his job?
The AG is afforded the same rights as any employee. I am an employer and only know an employees condition when an if he choose to share it. I will afford him the appropriate time to seek treatment and recovery. I my sorry but compassion in a non intrusive manner is the respect alll employees deserve.In almost every case employees make appropriate decisions regarding their ability to fufill their job requirements. Frankly , their health conditions are none of my business. If they have need for a medical leave we follow the policy. After recovery we welcome them back and support their transition if necessary.
If we want to discuss the AG s performance that is an appropriate discussion.
My point is that WE DON’T KNOW IF HE CAN DO HIS JOB. I agree with you that we don’t need to see his medical records. My issue is that we’re basically being forced to take the word of press flaks as to whether he’s up to doing his job or not. That’s not good enough for me.
Hey, if they said that he’d be back to work on Date X, that’d be better than pulling a curtain down as to whether he’s working at all.
Halperin and Heilemann
These two –especially Halperin — are a real reason to hold any fire on this report of Beau’s health. Halperin’s credibility in the reporting business is dubious (to say the least) and certainly seems to be a card carrying member of the Tiger Beat on the Potomac crowd. He trades on insidery information that too often isn’t quite right, but is perfectly pitched to the DC insiders and wannabes that are his audience. Which isn’t to say that these guys are wrong or right — just that their track record justifies some caution before taking at face value.
I think their fact checker skipped that line. Beau did walk out of the hospital a handful of days after being admitted for that stroke. It’s odd the person who did the story about that line in the book also missed that it wasn’t true.
On any given day, we do not know if an elected official can do their job (excepting Congress, who provides daily demonstration of their inability). The evidence of whether Biden can perform the duties for which he was elected is evidentiary. That is, when it becomes apparent that there are performance issues. Until then, the assumption is that he can and is performing the job.
Absent any objective standard against which to assess Biden’s ability to perform his job, any assessment would therefore be subjective dependent upon the assessors credentials and experience. For any condition less than the extreme of being comatose or nearly so, the presumption is that he perform as intended. It may be that he is less able physically but that in an of itself is would not constitute being unable, unless one decides that physical challenges are an impediment, which to me is a slippery slope.
Lastly, I would expect that Biden has a modicum of integrity and if knowing he is currently unable and will continue to be unable, would take the appropriate steps (such as resignation) to rectify the situation. Until then, he is the AG and we have a right to expect that he can and will perform his duties. It should become evident in the future if he cannot.
Leave him alone. He’ll do the right thing. And regardless of medical compromise, do you really think he’s that much of a legislative junkie to knowingly abdicate family time to what has amounted in some serious reflection on life and relationships? He can go out on top as AG, he could go out 6 feet under as a Governor. This is a GREAT guy, who has had incredible success in the AG office–why blow that legacy, under the pressure of never being the “right Governor” for all the people. His wife and children don’t need the hassle either.
And to those of you w/ your dogmatic, “I need to know……” Wouldya have voted for Kennedy w/ his infinite shots of musclerelaxants, pain killers, and amphetamines to keep him propped to get thru a day post his war injuries? Or the wheelchair bound guy who routinely headed to Warm Springs GA, as his own Camp David?
What you see is what you get. And we all know any one of our health scenarios could change on a dime–so current landscape, gives me no pause. If they’re doing the work, and want to continue doing the work—fine, let ’em do the work–post your vote, then call your bookie. But let’s not any of us presume public scrutiny of health matters, is the true indicator of what is personal and private information. Not good enough for you? Vote for the other person–but you don’t need to expose every STD and bad sunburn just to play prognosticator of political dogyears.
Two words: Woodrow Wilson.
I love Joanne!
“Wouldya have voted for Kennedy w/ his infinite shots of musclerelaxants, pain killers, and amphetamines to keep him propped to get thru a day post his war injuries? Or the wheelchair bound guy who routinely headed to Warm Springs GA, as his own Camp David?”
I don’t know. Would you have voted for FDR in ’44 knowing how close to death he was? You act as if hiding this information were somehow admirable.
You get points for honesty. You lose points for dishonesty, even of omission.
If you don’t understand that concept, don’t try telling me you’re for good government.
Honesty is one thing. None of your business is something else. Health concerns fall under that. They’re upright and functioning in front of your face and the public. Do you really need to know, they may have changed their colostomy bag, and self-cathed prior to being at their designated responsibility? Or inserted their prosthetic eye? Taken their Plavix after a joint replacement, or a quick puff of their inhaler?
Nobody’s claiming admirable–they’re claiming manageable and fully integrated in the general populace. Contributory. Need we humiliate by addressing publicly a focus on how their hiccups in health have been mitigated?
“Need we humiliate by addressing publicly a focus on how their hiccups in health have been mitigated?”
I’m sorry, but have you been hit in the head by something recently? Perhaps you missed the part about Beau not showing up in public anymore? And we’re talking about a brain injury, not hiccups. If you have to change the terms of the discussion to make your point, maybe your point sucks.
In short, if someone is only pretending to do his job, then yes, I need to know. And so do you, even if you don’t want to.
” if someone is only pretending to do his job, then yes, I need to know.”
Absolutely! And if there is evidence that he is only pretending, then action should follow. Is there some objective measure that by which one can assess pretend performance versus actual performance?
I have a bigger problem with Erika Benner who resigned from the Treasurer’s Office and is still making her $97K a year reportedly until she finds another state job.
Women in the private sector are lucky to get 6 weeks of maternity leave, when they return to work, there is no guarantee their job is still there, they are just guaranteed “a” job.
Delaware’s unemployment numbers aren’t showing signs of improvement and the budget situation for next year looks less than great, but we’re paying big for some sketchy state employee while she looks for another state job.
The situation with Benner is ridiculous and needs to be immediately stopped. She shouldn’t be able to go near another state office.
Good question, Dave. So far, Beau has skipped a number of events that a politician of his stature would normally attend, and a federal plane was commandeered to fly him to hospitals for, it appears, no discernible reason.
Going back a few years, Bill Roth’s failing health, along with his alcohol problem, was kept under wraps for years. In one noteworthy example of this, he was supposed to give the keynote speech at the annual Gridiron Dinner, but was so drunk and incoherent he had to be led off the stage. All the party insiders knew this, but the general public did not. If the knowledge had been more widely disseminated, perhaps Roth would have been eased into retirement instead of campaigning badly against our pretend-Democratic Sen. Tom Carper.
Y’all can hide behind manners until the cows come home, it doesn’t make hiding a medical condition from the voting public the right thing to do. Indeed, it shows that most of you aren’t so progressive as you are Democratic partisans.
Indeed, it shows that most of you aren’t so progressive as you are Democratic partisans.
This would presume that the same wouldn’t be accorded to a Republican in the same position. I am certain that some of the commenters above wouldn’t differentiate.
I’m a Democratic progressartisan.
Beau’s people tear this apart via Celia: http://www.delawaregrapevine.com/11-13doubledown.asp
Granted, Halperin’s book is thinner than Charlie Copeland’s resume, but could Celia come off as any MORE of a courtesan?
He tone is similar to when she whitewashed Castle’s stroke and reported him joking around with staff, when in fact he was on a ventilator. Halperin v. Cohen is the battle of the less than credibles.
On the other hand, it is a glaring inaccuracy in the book, one that could have been set right by a fact-checker in about two minutes.
Also, Celia’s last two grafs make a salient point that Beau’s people didn’t bring up:
“Ironically the book resurrects questions about Biden’s health two months or so after another medical scare, the one that sent him to Houston for what the family vaguely called a “successful procedure” but has yet to be given any public explanation by an attending doctor.
There was no hesitation about setting the record straight on Beau Biden’s health then. What a contrast to the way it is now.”
Yeah. I left that out because it didn’t support my premise that Celia is a courtesan. Busted!