Pictured
above is “Billy Beer,” brewed by former President Jimmy Carter’s
younger brother. In 1977, as Jimmy Carter was victorious in his
unlikely Presidential campaign, the press began to get wind of his odd
younger brother. Boorish and outlandish, Billy Carter soon gained
considerable attention. Capitalizing on his spotlight, Billy brewed his
own short-lived lager. After failing as a brewer and facing IRS fines,
the sitting President’s younger brother did something that, in
retrospect is shocking.
Credit
Billy for his sense of timing, shrewdly aware that he had only four
years to capitalize on his older brother’s office, his desperation
became apparent. In 3 visits to Libya for negotiations, Billy and a
group of business friends could have a chosen a less controversial
destination than a North African, socialist, Muslim country. Not
exactly like buying a flat in London, Billy registered as a foreign
agent and received a $220,000 loan. Senate hearings came and went
without any major fanfare and eventually the story floated away.

As
Roger and Billy have shown, siblings, while never important, can shed
some light on the candidate. Obama, McCain, and Hillary each have
siblings, some average Johns and Janes, some peculiar.

Barak Obama: half sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, nothing particularly insighful.

Hillary
Clinton: two younger brothers, Tony and Hugh Rodham. Hugh, received a
questionable payment of $400,000 for legal services rendered in
relation to Bill Clinton’s federal pardons. The transaction did not
break any laws, but was certainly unethical under the Rules of
Professionalism for attorneys. In the spirit of Billy, in 1999, Hugh
and brother Tony Rodham entered into a $118 million venture to grow and
export hazelnuts from the Republic of Georgia. Turns out their hazelnut
man was a political opponent of the sitting President of Georgia, a
U.S. buddy. Not exactly in the Muammar al-Gaddafi league, but odd still. Youngest brother Tony has found himself the most trouble, questionable pardon badgering, fights, and back child support.

John McCain: older sister Sandy, younger brother Joe. Sandy is a breast cancer survivor, something her brother takes seriously. Joe is a dinner theatre actor, who is rumored to have made a passionate, yet ominous speech in 2002.