WTF? Politico Does Bizarre Deep Dive – With Photos – on Things People Leave at Beau Biden’s Gravesite
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Politico did a bizarre deep dive on the gravesite of President Joe Biden‘s late son Beau Biden that included photos of things left by mourners — a breathtaking but characteristic intrusion on grief.
Anyone who has paid any attention to the president knows that he was, and continues to be, deeply affected by the life and death of his son. President Biden speaks frequently about Beau’s memory and the inspiration he draws from his son in raw emotional terms.
It is a facet of Joe Biden’s life that his opponents have despicably tried to weaponize — and that the political media have treated with all the sensitivity of a burlap Q-Tip.
They weirdly grilled Jen Psaki constantly about the president’s frequent visits to his home in Delaware 90 miles away, where Beau’s grave — and those of his late first wife Neilia and infant daughter Naomi — sit.
The Washington Post‘s Annie Linskey tweeted a photo of Biden visiting his family’s graves with the caption “Biden goes to church and walks through a graveyard in Wilmington as his legislative agenda is dying in Washington” — deleting it after she got dragged. Linskey invited another dragging when she and her paper teamed up to paint Biden as some kind of grief addict who’s getting bashed for spending too much time at funerals.
It is in that fine tradition that Politico’s West Wing Playbook celebrated Memorial Day this week with their spread on the mementos that family and other mourners leave at Beau’s grave.
The byline for the article — entitled “The things they leave for Beau” — was authored by Alex Thompson and supplemented with a series of tweets.
The first several paragraphs of the piece feature an extensive inventory of the items left at the site, which include:
- flowers and American flags
- momentos and emblems with a personal or even spiritual connection to the sacred grounds”
- The “I Voted Early” bracelet from New York City
- An untouched letter, wrapped in plastic and addressed to “President Elect Biden and Dr. Biden.”
- a USA Olympics pin
- a black squash ball
- a “U.S. Army Deputy Chief of Chaplains” medal from the National Guard.
- a Christmas angel statue imprinted with “Peace & Love”
- a St. Patrick’s Day clover wreath
- some “happy birthday” confetti.
- rosary beads
- dozens of visitation stones
- People also leave a lot of change — a tradition for servicemen. A penny for a visit; a nickel if they trained together at boot camp; a dime for people who served together in some capacity; and a quarter if the person was present when that veteran died, according to the Department of Military Affairs.
- There are many quarters. One has a tails side showing Washington crossing the Delaware. A newer addition to the site includes a coin with the presidential seal.
- And of course there’s a dark blue rubber bracelet that asks: “WWBD,” or “What Would Beau Do?”
The piece also features several photos of the items left at the gravesite, in case the list wasn’t enough.
Unlike some of his colleagues, Thompson’s intentions here appear to be good ones. The balance of the article consists of extensive background on President Biden’s public expressions of grief and affection for Beau, and interviews with mourners for whom Beau’s life and death left an indelible mark.
This raises the question: Why not make that the center of the story, instead of pegging it to the ghoulish and intrusive exercise Thompson went with? It’s the same question that plagued that WaPo article about Biden’s attendance at funerals, which was a mostly-positive piece marred by a few insensitive paragraphs and a terrible tweet.
I could hazard a guess. The political press has long been gripped by a deranged phobia of conservatives accusing them of going easy on Democrats that has accelerated after four years of Trump. That phobia is accompanied by a palpable pressure never to be seen as saying something nice about Biden — especially at insider outlets like Politico, which have complained ostentatiously about their lack of access.
So as well-intentioned as Thompson was, it probably never occurred to him that he could get Politico to publish something with a premise and a headline that reflected those intentions.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
