Sorry, Joe -- all of them! The only thing I've gotten right so far is that I -- we -- need a straightjacket!<div><br></div><div>My propensity for ad hominem arguments -- especially guilt by association -- this together with my nasty habit of making unsupported charges against people I don't even know, has reached an all-time high today. What further proof does one need that I am out of my mind? Please avoid my posts.<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 2:58 AM, No Weatherman <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:no.weatherman@gmail.com">no.weatherman@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
Unqualified<br>
Let's talk about Joe Biden.<br>
<br>
By Mark Goldblatt<br>
Given the media drumbeat highlighting Alaska governor Sarah Palin's<br>
lack of international policy experience and the corollary proposition<br>
that she's unfit to be a heartbeat from the presidency, it might seem<br>
heretical to suggest that she's the more qualified of the two<br>
vice-presidential hopefuls to assume the position of president should<br>
the need arise.<br>
<br>
Yet Senator Joe Biden's performance on the campaign trail over the<br>
last several months must give even the casual observer pause. Unlike<br>
Palin, whose tentative interview responses often seem like a<br>
recognition that she's still on a learning curve, and whose default<br>
mode is discretion until she has the necessary facts, Biden has made a<br>
career of running his mouth — even when he has no idea what he's<br>
saying.<br>
<br>
I'm not talking about Biden's comic gaffes — which were legendary even<br>
before Barack Obama tapped him as his running mate. To be sure, Biden<br>
hasn't disappointed on this score: "John [McCain]'s last minute<br>
economic plan does nothing to tackle the number one job facing the<br>
middle class. And it happens to be, as Barack says, a three-letter<br>
word: Jobs. J-O-B-S. Jobs."<br>
<br>
"Part of what a leader does to instill confidence is demonstrate that<br>
he or she knows what they're talking about. . . . When the stock<br>
market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on television and didn't just<br>
talk about 'the princes of greed.' He said, 'Look, here's what<br>
happened.'" (Except FDR wasn't president when the market crashed in<br>
1929, and broadcast television wasn't widely available until the<br>
1940s.)<br>
<br>
"Look, all you have to do is go down Union Street with me in<br>
Wilmington and go to Katie's Restaurant or walk into Home Depot with<br>
me where I spend a lot of time and you ask anybody in there whether or<br>
not the economic and foreign policy of this administration has made<br>
them better off in the last eight years." (Except it turns out Katie's<br>
Restaurant hasn't existed on Union Street in Wilmington for decades.)<br>
<br>
During a speech before a large crowd in Columbia, MO., Biden<br>
acknowledged State Senator Chuck Graham: "Chuck, stand up, let the<br>
people see you." It took him a second to realize Graham was<br>
wheelchair-bound, at which point Biden tried to cover: "Oh, God love<br>
you. What am I talking about? I'll tell you what, you're making<br>
everybody else stand up, old pal. I'll tell you what, everybody else<br>
stand up for Chuck. Stand up for Chuck!"<br>
<br>
More troubling than Biden's blooper reel, however, is his habit of<br>
pontificating from a position of ignorance or outright error: "Vice<br>
President Cheney's been the most dangerous vice president we've had<br>
probably in American history. He has — he has — the idea he doesn't<br>
realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the<br>
vice president of the United States, that's the executive — he works<br>
in the executive branch. He should understand that. Everyone should<br>
understand that." (Except Article II, not Article I, of the<br>
Constitution defines the executive role of the vice president; indeed,<br>
the only mention of the vice president in Article I is to designate<br>
his legislative duty to break tie votes in the Senate. And, oh, by the<br>
way, does Biden's assessment of Cheney as the most dangerous vice<br>
president include Aaron Burr, who killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel,<br>
and, after being forced from office, possibly committed treason by<br>
trying to set up an independent republic in the Louisiana<br>
territories?)<br>
<br>
"When we kicked — along with France — we kicked Hezbollah out of<br>
Lebanon, I said, and Barack said, 'Move NATO forces in there. Fill the<br>
vacuum, because if you don't know — if you don't, Hezbollah will<br>
control it.' Now what's happened? Hezbollah is a legitimate part of<br>
the government in the country immediately to the north of Israel."<br>
(Except neither the U.S. or France ever kicked Hezbollah out of<br>
Lebanon; in fact, Hezbollah is still there, as Biden himself correctly<br>
notes. But if Biden meant to say Syria, not Hezbollah, got kicked out<br>
of Lebanon, then he's wrong again since the Lebanese people kicked<br>
Syria out, not the U.S. or France.)<br>
<br>
"With regard to arms control and weapons, nuclear weapons require a<br>
nuclear-arms-control regime. John McCain voted against a Comprehensive<br>
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty that every Republican has supported." (Except<br>
49 other Republican senators voted against the treaty Biden is<br>
referencing.)<br>
<br>
"Pakistan already has nuclear weapons. Pakistan already has deployed<br>
nuclear weapons. Pakistan's weapons can already hit Israel and the<br>
Mediterranean." (Except the most powerful missile currently in<br>
Pakistan's arsenal, the Ghauri, can carry a nuclear warhead 1,000<br>
miles . . . with poor accuracy; Israel is over 2000 miles from<br>
Pakistan, so Biden's off by at least 1,000 miles . . . unless he has<br>
access to classified intelligence about Pakistan's missile systems, in<br>
which case why would he mention that in public?)<br>
<br>
Such factual blunders could perhaps be written off to the exhaustion<br>
of the campaign trail. But no charitable interpretation can account<br>
for Biden's recent prediction of the consequences of an Obama victory<br>
in November: "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack<br>
Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to<br>
elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States<br>
of America. Remember, I said it standing here if you don't remember<br>
anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis,<br>
a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."<br>
<br>
Even if Biden actually believes that America's enemies are more likely<br>
to provoke a confrontation with a young and inexperienced president<br>
than they might be with an old hand in the White House, why would he<br>
want to advertise that belief to the world? Why underscore the<br>
inconvenient truth that the next executive decision Obama makes will<br>
be his first? To prep the American people for the idea that his<br>
administration might initially seem to screw up? Or, in Biden's own<br>
words, "We're gonna need you to use your influence, your influence<br>
within the community, to stand with him, because it's not gonna be<br>
apparent initially, it's not gonna be apparent that we're right."<br>
<br>
Why is Biden massaging public opinion in advance of a hypothetical<br>
crisis before he and Obama have even been elected?<br>
<br>
For all the questions that have been raised about Sarah Palin's<br>
qualifications to serve as vice president, Biden now seems like the<br>
riskier running mate. After all, experience comes with time. Knowledge<br>
is acquired through study. But temperament doesn't change.<br>
<br>
Does Biden's temperament disqualify him?<br>
— Mark Goldblatt is the author of the novel Africa Speaks.<br>
<a href="http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MmM0YzJjMGRkM2NlNDUxNjg2OWYyNjM5MWE0NzgzZjU=" target="_blank">http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MmM0YzJjMGRkM2NlNDUxNjg2OWYyNjM5MWE0NzgzZjU=</a><br>
<br>
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