If reports are accurate, influence peddling may be something of a family cottage industry. Biden and his business partners however insist that their business dealings have been widely misrepresented in the media. While Congress continues to look at the Hunter Biden contract and his effort to sell his name to foreign companies, the brother of Joe Biden is facing the same allegations in an expanding controversy over his selling of his connection to the former vice president. James Biden was anything but subtle in his pitching his connections to his brother. Update: after initially posting this blog, I heard from Michael Lewitt, friend and partner of “Jim” Biden, who offered some useful (and not widely known) details on the loan controversy in this litigation. I have offered their side of this litigation below, which makes some good points. It also gives a perspective of a core player who has found himself at the center of a swirling controversy during a vicious presidential election cycle.

We have been discussing the openly hostile treatment of Bernie Sanders on MSNBC by hosts like Rachel Maddow. MSNBC has often been cited with CNN as one of the main voices of the Democratic establishment working against Sanders. On the eve of the all-important Michigan primary, MSNBC was true to form and script with a bizarre question by MSNBC Katy Tur: “Can he continue to blame the establishment if he loses in Michigan?” For those of us who are alarmed by the bias against Sanders by the media and political establishment, the question showed an utter lack of self-awareness. If Sanders loses today, it will come after a concerted effort of virtually every establishment candidate in the country. Why would a loss after such a crushing campaign by the establishment be proof that there was no campaign by the establishment? This does not mean that many voters honestly do not support Sanders’ radical agenda, but Tur’s comments reflects an effort to deny what has been obvious and open in the long-effort to derail Sanders.

For years, I have written about our age of rage where people believe that they now have license to attack others in restaurants, hurl threats on social media, and even damage the front doors of those who hold opposing political views. These attacks have been fueled by politicians like Maxine Waters who encourage people to hound conservatives. Howard Dean is the latest leader to rationalize such threats. After Rep. Elise Stefanik revealed a threatening note left on her car, Dean chided her as bringing about such threats by voicing her opposing political views.

There is a controversy brewing over the comments of CNN contributor Hilary Rosen during a heated exchange with Sanders campaign co-chair Nina Turner. Rosen’s comments have been denounced as racist and her initial apology triggered even more intense criticism. What is most interesting however is what this controversy says about the role of contributors. Rosen has a long history of supporting Democratic establishment figures from the Clintons to Joe Biden. In today’s formulaic media roles, she is viewed as such a de facto voice for Biden that Sen. Bernie Sanders has demanded that Biden apologize for her comments. It is a dispute that directs a bright light on the usually murky roles played by “contributors” on the cable programs as campaign surrogates. The exchange also had some troubling issues when Turner objected to Rosen’s contrary interpretation of a Martin Luther King “as a white woman.” As discussed below, Turner was right on the meaning of the quote. So the problem was not that Rosen was white. It was that she was wrong.