Joe Biden: Barometer for Conventional Wisdom of Left
Despite the president’s difficult first dozen days in office, given his intelligence and political gifts, he could change course should the national interest require such a shift. With his charisma and rhetorical gifs (when speaking from prepared text), he could more easily communicate that change.
I am less confident of his deputy’s ability to lead. The more I watch Joe Biden, the more I pray for the president’s health. He doesn’t seem to have ever had an original thought, serving more as a barometer of liberal conventional wisdom than anything else. Whatever his Democratic peers believe he does too.
People confuse his experience with wisdom, as if just because he’s been in the Senate for so long, chairing two committees, he must necessarily have a deep understanding of the way the world works. Well, he does know the way Washington works. And the way its winds blow.
Just look at how he treats his predecessor, calling the distinguished Wyomingite “one of the most dangerous vice presidents.” He didn’t say this because he believed it to be so, but because it is the conventional wisdom of his political peers and their allies among the punditry and in the MSM.*
While Biden served on the Senate Foreign Relations for decades, he’s been wrong on nearly every significant foreign policy issue since he first took office. In public appearances, he seems especially obsequious to the president, kind of like the geeky kid in high school, all of a sudden becoming the head jock’s right-hand man.
Let us hope Obama senior adviser David Axelrod was just being politic when he said Biden’s “insight and experience dwarf any minor gaffe or misstep.“Â Because the only insight the vice president’s gained for that experience is that Democrats look smart in Washington when they repeat the conventional wisdom of theirpartisan peers.
*To be sure, he may well believe it precisely because it is the conventional liberal wisdom, absorbing his beliefs the way a pious man learns religious doctrine.
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There is always the need for comic relief. Mr. Biden certainly will fill that bill. You are right, pray for Obama’s health, can you imagine “President Biden”? And they mocked Sarah Palin.
Comment by John in Dublin Ca — February 1, 2009 @ 7:57 pm - February 1, 2009
Maybe the strategy is that a simpleton like Obama looks smarter next to a complete idiot like Biden.
Comment by V the K — February 1, 2009 @ 8:26 pm - February 1, 2009
Sarah Palin is still an anti-intellectual moron. On inauguration day, she was on television attacking elite schools and the people that go to them.
This is the only place on the whole internets of tubes that I see that the President had some difficult days in office. You should really get this ‘news’ out there.
Comment by jimmy — February 1, 2009 @ 9:14 pm - February 1, 2009
When Dan Quayle was VP, some people published a quarterly mag called “The Quayle Quarterly”. Its motto was :”Keep Bush Healthy. Maybe we should start a publication called “The Biden Biweekly”. Keep Obama Healthy!
Comment by Jimbo — February 1, 2009 @ 9:33 pm - February 1, 2009
And again jimmy goes for deflection to pass on the fact that Joe Biden is as creative as, well, jimmy.
Comment by The Livewire — February 1, 2009 @ 9:38 pm - February 1, 2009
That poor man, having cared for a family member with dementia I can only have sympathy for his wife and the Biden family.
Obama should think about taking away Joe’s car keys and maybe have a sitter come in and watch Vice President Biden.
Comment by deadsteve — February 1, 2009 @ 10:21 pm - February 1, 2009
I am not clear, do you disagree with the statement that Cheney is “one of the most dangerous vice presidents” or do you just disagree with the messenger?
Comment by gillie — February 1, 2009 @ 10:50 pm - February 1, 2009
Funny the terrorists thought Bush and Cheney were the most dangerous people too. Hmmm interesting how the leftists are always on the same side of issues as the terrorists. Just a coincidence I suppose.
The Omama administration is the biggest collection of boobs, crooks, creeps and idiots.
Comment by Gene in Pennsylvania — February 1, 2009 @ 11:00 pm - February 1, 2009
Biden, after 36 years in the senate, on the judicial committee no less, claimed on live television that the first article of the constitution establishes the executive branch. It does not. It establishes the legislative branch in which he sat (and still sits) for 36 years.
Nothing Biden says should ever be confused with wisdom. The problem is, liberalism is defined by its rejection of wisdom, not the recognition of it, so they will always mistake pretty words (like Obamas) and seemingly authoritative bloviating (like Bidens) for wisdom.
Comment by American Elephant — February 1, 2009 @ 11:39 pm - February 1, 2009
Take Iraq. By his and Obama’s reckoning (not by mine), he was wrong to support Bush on the war. Later, by the reckoning of anyone who loves America, Biden was wrong to support the surge. And, by the reckoning of anyone who loves human life, he was wrong to support a partition of Iraq which would have ended in ethnic cleansing (a.k.a. genocide), victory for al Qaeda in the Sunni triangle and for Iran in the rest of Iraq. How is it possible for anyone to be so repeatedly wrong? Even if you oppose the Iraq war, Bush has been less wrong than Biden.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — February 2, 2009 @ 12:06 am - February 2, 2009
There’s a shock. Maybe if you got your shit for brains mucked out, you might have a chance.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — February 2, 2009 @ 12:42 am - February 2, 2009
Sorry, typo, meant to say “Later, by the reckoning of anyone who loves America, Biden was wrong to *oppose* the surge as he did.”
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — February 2, 2009 @ 3:36 am - February 2, 2009
LOL…you’re fun. VP Joe Biden is brilliant. I love the man, people can’t help it…he’s as honest as a politician comes, is plain spoken, is well-respected in the US and abroad. He’s one of the few politician to have stepped on Darfur soil. He is not an Washington insider, and that has always bothered people…makes them uncomfortable, probably kept him away from President. He doesn’t speak that DC language. Loves just about everybody. Smart: Chair of Senate Judiciary and Foreign Relations Committees etc. He does speak with painful honesty, when many love that “canned politico schpiel.” In his many years of service…and loves to serve America, instilling the same in his family…he has contributed so much to others. To meet him in person, one never leaves without knowing he or she is valuable and valued. Joe Biden is a good man, an excellent VP, one of Obama’s most loyal. I couldn’t ask for anyone better than Joe Biden to have my back, the back of our President, and the back of the United States.
Comment by Stewart — February 2, 2009 @ 5:25 am - February 2, 2009
@ilovecapitalism
Several of us enjoy debunking comments such as yours regarding the infamous Article 1 comment of Mr. Biden’s from the VP debate with Palin. A note: It has been found that there is a love affair with Cheney, so it will not surprise to find that no one on this blog corrects themselves, however:
Actually, Biden was correct during the debate. Here’s what he said.
BIDEN: “Vice President Cheney has been the most dangerous vice president we’ve had probably in American history. The idea he doesn’t realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that’s the Executive Branch. He works in the Executive Branch. He should understand that. Everyone should understand that.”
[Cheney works in the Executive Branch, he should understand that, but Cheney made VP role his own]
Biden didn’t say Article I defines the executive branch; he said Article I defines the role of vice president, an office that happens to be in the executive branch. And he’s right; Article I is the only place in the document where the VP’s role (president of the Senate) is defined. The mention of the VP in Article II deals with how the VP is elected and the line of succession. (It’s this very lack of definition of the VP’s role outside the Senate that allowed Cheney to make it up as he went along, but that seems to be okay here.)
Anyway, for what it’s worth. And you can find this and other attempts at fibs on other sites. Enjoy your lives.
Comment by Stewart — February 2, 2009 @ 5:34 am - February 2, 2009
Those of us who lived in Pennsylvania knew all along about Joe Biden’s incompetence. We tried to tell people, but no one wanted to listen. You are correct, he will be the comic relief of this administration, However is this what we need?
Comment by PatriotMom — February 2, 2009 @ 7:44 am - February 2, 2009
Ancient history here, but Joe Biden conducting a seminar on Natural Law in the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings was like listening to Alcee Hastings talk about judicial ethics.
Biden is not a wizened Senator, but he tries to play one.
Littleletterpeople gillie notes that Biden declared Cheney to be “one of the most dangerous vice presidents†and then failed to tell us who the other most dangerous vice presidents were and just what made Cheney so darn dangerous in the first place. Should we still hide from him? Is his aura still toxic and imbued with a long half-life?
I doubt that Biden is an idiot, but he has taken no positive action to remove his name from the “certified fool” list. Why wouldn’t a fool be fairly dangerous if he were to get his hands on the controls?
If you had to choose who you would trust to bring this economy down for a soft landing on water with no motors working, would you choose Biden? Or Obama, for that matter.
Comment by heliotrope — February 2, 2009 @ 9:52 am - February 2, 2009
Biden reminds me of Coach from Cheers without the common sense. Obama is Sam without the humility. They make a great team–for bartenders.
Comment by Ashpenaz — February 2, 2009 @ 10:45 am - February 2, 2009
“My impression is Obama thinks that if we leave, somehow the Iraqis are going to have an epiphany of peaceful coexistence among warring sects. I’ve seen zero evidence of that.” – Joe Biden, on Obama’s Iraq plan, September 13 2007
Comment by V the K — February 2, 2009 @ 10:48 am - February 2, 2009
Stewart in #13, Here’s what that article I says relevant to your comment, “The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.”
I simply don’t see how you can spin Biden’s words to suggest he was saying Article I was not the Executive Branch.
And here’s some more of what BIden said that you didn’t quote: “The only authority the vice president has from the legislative standpoint is the vote, only when there is a tie vote. He has no authority relative to the Congress.” No authority? Doesn’t the constitution define him as president of the Senate?
So, given the obsession some people have with hating Cheney (what’s the opposite of love affair?), I guess we shouldn’t be surprised when you don’t correct yourself.
(And since you’ve said that no one on this blog corrects themselves, please indicate where we’ve erred so we can fix any mistakes.)
All that said, would you please identify the particular error you’re addressing in ILC’s comment.
Comment by GayPatriotWest — February 2, 2009 @ 11:40 am - February 2, 2009
Sorry Stewart,
You didnt debunk squat. Indeed, youre the only one lying here.
To illustrate it, let’s quote what you so conveniently left out, which was Gwen Ifill’s question to Palin, defining the nature of their disagreement, to which Biden was responding:
Biden was clearly trying to rebut the idea that the Vice President is part of the legislative branch by claiming Article 1, which establishes and defines the legislative branch, is actually concerned with the executive.
And sorry, Biden was flat wrong about the nature of the vice presidency as well. The VP’s only constitutional role in the executive it to sit around and wait for the president to kick the bucket or get shot. Which is, no role at all, unless he chooses to take on other roles individual presidents request him to. But Article I gives him a DAILY role as president of the Senate. It is only because he delegates this duty to the President Pro Temore (in lieu of) that he is able to perform any functions for the president.
Your ill informed argument is akin to arguing the Speaker of the House is really not part of the House because he or she is third in line of succession.
By the way, I’d also point out that it is precisely because of his role as President of the Senate that it is the Speaker of the House, and the Vice President, not the Majority leader, who sit behind the president at the state of the union. That way the heads of all three elected bodies are represented.
Now go read your constitution again. You have much to learn.
Comment by American Elephant — February 2, 2009 @ 1:10 pm - February 2, 2009
…and Michelle is Dianne or Carla in this scenario?
Comment by American Elephant — February 2, 2009 @ 1:14 pm - February 2, 2009
aww, filtered
Comment by American Elephant — February 2, 2009 @ 1:14 pm - February 2, 2009
Just because I don’t think that Biden would be a good VP, doesn’t mean that I believe that Cheney was a good choice for Bush’s VP. I am so tired of being accused that if I am not supporting either a candidate or a political position that I am automatically FOR the opposing side! I never thought Cheney was a good choice, although I did vote for Bush both times.
Comment by Mokey — February 2, 2009 @ 6:53 pm - February 2, 2009
Ann Coulter had the perfect epigram for the nomination of Joe Biden as VP: assassination insurance.
‘Nuff said.
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — February 3, 2009 @ 12:49 pm - February 3, 2009
Stewart in #13, you have got to be kidding me. Joe Biden, honest as they come?
Did you watch the vice-presidential debate where he “rattled off a string of falsehoods and gasbaggeries.” (Follow that link to get a flavor of his falsehoods.) Here’s another piece addressing his problems with the truth in that debate.
I’ll grant you that he’s a nice guy. I’ve met him and appreciate his kindness and decency, but he is a total Washington Insider. Can you give an example of where he’s offered an insight at odds with his Democratic peers?
I think you’re mistaking his kindness for intelligence and leadership. And ignoring all his gaffes, primarily examples of him trying too hard to ingratiate himself with purveyors of the conventional wisdom.
Comment by GayPatriotWest — February 14, 2009 @ 2:36 am - February 14, 2009