# Hunter Biden Laptop Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 22, 2020, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587 "2020-10-22T11:17:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 26
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587/505 "2020-10-31T15:33:23Z")
So it is wrong to argue against such slander by stating: The following _things_ would have to be true in order to make such an accusation plausible; is there any evidence for these _things_? No? Then what are we talking about? It is important to maintain the ability to distinguish who is doing the “slandering” and who is doing the debunking. Insisting that people must not even entertain the hypothetical in order to illustrate its shortcomings is absurd and demonstrates a kind of ideological orthodoxy that actually emboldens those putting forward the falsehoods. To use an analogy that hasn’t been pulled out of thin air, thrice told tales about 9/11, Holocaust denial and flat earth have been disproven on these boards multiple times by often following alleged hypotheticals and disproving them, not by simply denying the false claims by saying they are morally repugnant or because they result in hurting real people. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587/506 "2020-10-31T15:46:01Z")
Well, I did say, at some point. This particular falsehood at this particular time is being used by the most powerful man in the Country in an attempt to besmirch his opponent. I think that makes a difference. Maybe that makes me ideological or even absurd. I don’t know. 🤷‍♀️ ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587/507 "2020-10-31T15:49:10Z")
While random people on twitter _have_ been quoted by RW media in order to try to make a point, I don’t think that we are going to be seeing SDMB used as a cite to further their narrative. Though if they did, that would actually be kinda entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587/508 "2020-10-31T16:14:47Z")
The guys on Pod Save America frequently point out not just how terrible Trump is from a moral and policy perspective, but also how incompetent at even doing the terrible things they are trying to do. That’s the thrust of the “assuming it’s true” argument. They ginned up “evidence” as an October surprise, that, even if true, would not show that the target had even done anything wrong. Anyone who doesn’t want to participate in that discussion doesn’t have to, and can certainly say they don’t think others should be having it. (Repeating that multiple times, though, starts to seem like a shouting down tactic to me.) But that is different from seeing a post that entertains the hypothetical and accusing the person who said “assuming it’s true” of saying that it _is actually_ true. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587/509 "2020-10-31T16:18:28Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > “The dog ate my homework.” > “Sophia, you have a cat.” > “Yes, professor. But for the sake of argument, assume I have a dog. And he ate my homework.” > “No. This conversation is not worth having. You get an ‘F’.” > “Can’t you even debate honestly?” “Okay. Assuming for the sake of argument that you have a dog, it doesn’t matter. I grade homework based on what’s turned in, not what’s left at home. You didn’t turn anything in, and that’s what matters.” Sometimes assuming something for the sake of argument lets you short-circuit a bad argument. That can be valuable. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587/510 "2020-10-31T16:20:48Z")
I wonder if they will come up with something new, they’ve got 3 days left ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587/511 "2020-10-31T16:28:24Z")
Declare war on the Duchy of Grand Fenwick? ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587/512 "2020-10-31T16:34:15Z")
I, for one, would welcome our new Fenwickian overlords (assuming I got a bottle or two of wine). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587/513 "2020-10-31T17:13:17Z")
They had a better space program. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587/514 "2020-10-31T17:37:29Z")
Rudy Giuliani is a dangerous lunatic. ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587/515 "2020-10-31T19:37:49Z")
NBC practically begged Giuliani to show them the contents of the hard drives and he turned them down. > **[Here's why the media isn't reporting on the Hunter Biden emails](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/here-s-what-happened-when-nbc-news-tried-report-alleged-n1245533)** > > Analysis: Trump complains the media isn't reporting on Hunter Biden's emails. But NBC News met obstacles, including Rudy Giuliani, when it tried. I’m not willing to declare it a Russian operation, because there’s nothing incriminating there in the first place. Everything there is to know has been known for months. No serious journalist will touch it. Hunter Biden’s dealings in Ukraine have been investigated and found not to be corrupt. His dealings in China were not corrupt. And at any rate there is no proof that Joe Biden was involved in either one of them. Tony Bobulinski was on Tucker the other night acting indignant and pretending that Adam Schiff calling it a Russian disinformation campaign was somehow a personal attack on Bobulinski and his family, who are VETERANS AND HOW DARE HE!!! …even though no one even mentioned him or suggested that he was somehow complicit in the disinformation campaign. He just needed some excuse other than “I want to help Trump win the election.” And Ted Cruz was doing his usual indignant act at the Senate hearings with Jack Dorsey the other day, accusing Dorsey of “censorship,” and asking him bullshit showboating questions like “Who elected you?” It was embarrassing. (Though I’ll also say that Jack Dorsey really should have shaved his mountain hermit beard for his appearance. He talked like he was in the middle of an acid trip.) This is silly season, the last gasps of a joke of a presidency entering its death throes. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587/516 "2020-10-31T19:42:08Z")
I’m not saying the disinformation op is Russian - it’s _Trump’s_ disinformation op. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587/517 "2020-10-31T19:45:51Z")
Anyone who thought it was a Russian disinformation op, to some extent myself included, should apologize… to the Russians, for thinking that they would have had such a poorly executed kompromat campaign. So, sorry, Russia, I really should not have insulted your capabilities that way. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587/519 "2020-11-06T03:37:02Z")
Congratulations to the ever-vigilant defenders of American democracy- I believe Hunter Biden has still yet to receive his first vote. America is saved! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587/520 "2020-11-07T00:01:25Z")
Oh, and unlike my dunking above, this one is relevant to this thread: > ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587/521 "2020-11-08T00:35:16Z")
It looks like this was all fake news. No surprises there. > **[How a fake persona laid the groundwork for a Hunter Biden conspiracy deluge](https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/how-fake-persona-laid-groundwork-hunter-biden-conspiracy-deluge-n1245387)** > > A 64-page document that was later disseminated by close associates of President Donald Trump appears to be the work of a fake "intelligence firm." ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587/522 "2020-11-08T02:51:36Z")
Exactly. This was _the_ disinformation op for which we literally saw the President impeached! How anyone could assume there was anything to this story when it finally limped like the beaten orphan it was onto the pages of the NY Post is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587/523 "2020-11-08T03:03:02Z")
Actually, whatever that document is, it’s not the evidence everyone is talking about. In fact, conversation on the right about this is like, “Hey, what’s this document the Times is talking about? I’ve never heard of it.” They ‘debunked’ a document no one cares about, which had nothing to do with the hard drive evidence or Tony Bobulinski’s evidence, so far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587/524 "2020-11-08T03:13:19Z")
What “hard drive evidence”? What evidence from Bobulinski? No actual evidence of wrongdoing has been put forward. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587/525 "2020-11-08T05:01:57Z")
He’s totes not a Trumpie, though, guys! For serious! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587.md?page=25) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-laptop-question/923587.md?page=27)