Cats, People.
There is a persistent kitten on my desk right now as I write this. I guess I forgot it’s kind of like having a kid, I imagine. The growing-up happens quicker. He was basically a newborn a couple of weeks ago and now he’s like a two-year old. I have to wear him out so he’ll nap.
Unlike most two-year olds he is learning how to navigate the stairs. One at a time. Hopping. He also has this strange side-stepping dance he does when he’s freaked out and he's trying to be intimidating. I like the I’m-so-weird-get-away-from-me defense.
Jkkkkhfiou8iojallllllll
Sorry, Sammy wrote that.
When I was asked if I wanted to interview Hunter Biden my first reaction was ‘no, I don’t need to do that.’ I just didn’t want to be part of the ongoing right-wing shitstorm that surrounds the guy. It didn’t seem necessary. I had assumptions about who he is and they weren’t good. I thought he had to be a douchebag of some sort or a sociopath or, worse, a bro. I just didn’t see a conversation there. I said, ‘nah.’
Then I thought about it. This guy is a hardcore drug addict. This guy was the focus of a right-wing campaign to destroy his father through his behavior. He was what they saw as the weak link, the Achilles heel, the sure-fire way to bring down his family. They just keep hammering at the total mess of a drug addict Joe Biden's son was. I thought, ‘How does someone handle that?’ Anyone. Let alone a guy trying to get clean. I started to think about him differently.
I can talk to drug addicts. I can talk recovery. I've had these conversations many times in my public life and private life. It’s sort of what I do. So I told Brendan to have them send me the book. I read it. It is sad, tragic, brutally honest, disturbing and concerning.
I rethought it. I said I did want to talk to him. I thought it might be good for him to talk to another recovering addict for an hour. It was. For me as well.
I did not set out to clear his name or set anything straight for the right-wing machine. A lot of the stuff the right-wing tried to use against him was transparently just an attempt to hurt his father. They tried to run the Crooked Hillary playbook on Joe Biden by turning Hunter's business dealings into some kind of financial conspiracy that involved Joe. It was such a flimsy case, Trump got impeached by trying to manufacture it.
A lot of the accusations against Hunter were just tabloid fodder that attacked his character for being a drug addict - like the nonsense with his laptop. Who the fuck cares about his laptop? Even the people who said they looked at the stuff on the laptop couldn't come up with anything.
So this is a talk today about grief, desperation, tragedy and deep drug addiction. It lands in a good place but it's fragile.
On Thursday I talk to Katey Sagal about her new show and her life in the business and more recovery. Big sober week here on the show.
Enjoy!
Boomer, Monkey and LaFonda live!
Love,
Maron