Friday Fun Headline Self-Parody: Joe Biden Is a "Non-Embarrassment"?

From Timothy Noah, in the freshly Obama-Facebooked New Republic:

Second Thoughts
The surprising non-embarrassment that is Joe Biden.

I'm so glad I don't live on that planet.

Some Reason skepticism about our Real Veep of Genius:

"Biden Opens His Government Aperture and Says Something Puzzling About Drug Legalization," by Jacob Sullum

"VP Attends Closed Door Meeting on Transparency," by Katherine Mangu-Ward

"'They about had an orgasm in Biden's office when we mentioned Solyndra,'" by Tim Cavanaugh

"Ener1 = The Next Solyndra," by Ronald Bailey

"Biden: Tyranny Is Fiscally Unsustainable, Bad for the Economy," by Jacob Sullum

"Obama's Super-Train in Vain," by Nick Gillespie

"Biden: Every Great American Idea 'has required government vision and government incentive,'" by Matt Welch

"Joe Biden's Stimulus Fantasies," by Nick Gillespie

"Joe Biden on the Stimulus: 'Come see what I see,'" by Amanda Carey

Joe!

Comments

[snort some right wing KOCH]

I FEEL GREAT!

[pmp]

Seriously, what would Timothy Noah know about being a non-embarrassment?

[Shpip]

"By the standards of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Joe Biden has been a non-embarrassment compared to Dan Quayle." Or something like that.

This from the party that gives us Hank "the island's gonna tip over" Johnson and Corrinne "Go Gata" Brown.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Good old Hank, isn't it comforting to know that he's the co-chair of the Rare Earth Caucus on rare earth element trading?

He's so qualified and intelligent.

[Sheila Jackson Lee]

Did we ever get the flag back that the astronauts planted on Mars?

[anon]

Hey, at least he's proof that literally anyone can earn receive large sums of monies in America!

[Ted S.]

The Rare Earth Caucus?

[fish]

Joe Biden: The Gift that keeps on Giving!

[Killazontherun]

Obama picked Biden because he didn't want to make the GHWB mistake of picking a guy with little experience and no qualifications for the office like Dan Quayle.

[Pro Libertate]

There are many different paths to being unqualified.

[KDN]

he didn't want to make the GHWB mistake of picking a guy with little experience and no qualifications for the office like Dan Quayle.

Instead he picked that guy for the Presidency.

[Pro Libertate]

Yeah, weird, huh? I remember thinking the same thing when lefties were assaulting Palin for her inexperience. Yes, that's right, their VP candidate has slightly more experience than your presidential candidate.

I still find it odd that the 2008 Obama campaign is considered anything other than inept but lucky.

[Marshall Gill]

Racist?

[Pro Libertate]

Isn't that assumed?

[Brett L]

Maybe Tim Noah thinks The Onion's Joe Biden is the real Joe Biden.

[Suki]

The Onion Joe Biden is more tolerable.

[Fist of Etiquette]

He's smarter than most of us, and certainly more knowledgeable, but never takes on airs about that, or about his lofty positions over the years.

He hides it well.

[From the comments at TNR.]

[Lord Humungus]

so the regular TNR posters are of a better quality than our trolls?

[Ken Shultz]

The Obama Campaign couldn't possibly be looking forward to a vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden and...anybody.

Biden's slightly more charismatic than President Cheney was, which means he's a huge liability this time around.

If I were Obama, I'd dump Mumbly Joe and name Hillary Clinton as my vice-president--sooner rather than later. If Obama waits too long to make the switch, he'll look like he's flailing.

[Pro Libertate]

She's not popular or particularly competent, either. If he dumps Joe, he should seek someone with a little more political oomph.

[Ken Shultz]

He can't make it look like he's doing it for just PR reasons. Hillary has this oomph as Secretary of State now. She's legit. It's a, "Joe wants to spend more time with his family, so we're promoting from within" kinda thing.

She's more popular than you think, too. She makes Obama look more moderate for being associated with her. And you know she wants it. It makes her the default Democrat nominee in 4 years.

Joe Biden's mug scares children; he isn't going to do well against anybody. But I still think Romney will pick Nikki Haley. Watching old man Joe go up against photogenic Nikki Haley isn't gonna be pretty for the Obama campaign.

Better get out now. Right about now, I imagine the Obama campaign has a call in to The Human Fund, asking them if they're interested in hiring Joe Biden as their new CEO.

[Romulus Augustus]

Haley, mmh? Interesting. How does she compare with Palin (experience,
charisma, skeletons in closet, probable
positions on major issues)??

[Ken Shultz]

They did a job on Palin, no doubt. For one, I don't think Palin had a lot of experience with the media before she made VP nominee--at least not outside of Alaska.

Google image search Haley and see all the media she's done already.

Also, look at it this way... Who's Romney's ideal candidate? It would be someone from the South, who gives him credibility as a conservative. It would be someone was ethnically diverse, to give him credibility with urban voters outside of the South. It would be someone with Tea Party credibility. Despite the way women are savaged by partisans on both sides, I still think being a woman is a net plus if you're a candidate like Romney who comes across a little robotic a la Al Gore 5000.

So, who fits that bill?

Also, remember that Romney's endorsement was crucial to her gaining the nomination in South Carolina.

[pmp]

I would bet everything I have, up to and including my life and those of my friends and family, that Nikki Haley will not be nominated for VP.

If her extremely shady personal finances weren't bad enough, what about the married mother-of-two's well-documented affair with her campaign manager?

[Ken Shultz]

I already answered that, and so did she.

It's a non-issue.

It's been a non-issue for two years.

[Ken Shultz]

In terms of skeletons in the closet, she was accused of adultery, but being accused of stuff like that is apparently pretty standard in South Carolina primaries, where dirty tricks are the norm. .l..especially when they come out at the last minute.

"In a June 2010 interview, Haley said that if she were elected governor and the claims were later validated she would resign the office.[53]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N.....of_affairs

[jdkchem]

As far as the craps are concerned being accused of something is as good as being guilty.

[Ken Shultz]

They elected her governor.

[Ice Nine]

Watching old man Joe go up against photogenic Nikki Haley isn't gonna be pretty for the Obama campaign.

Old lady Hillary would be better?

[Ken Shultz]

Than Joe Biden?

Absolutely from an aesthetics standpoint.

Hillary would portray herself as the serious candidate, and try to paint Haley as being another lightweight like Palin.

Biden tries something like that, against Haley who is both a woman and a minority? He's gonna end up looking like a jerk to an awful lot of people.

[Ice Nine]

In pitching the case for Hillary as VP candidate you made a point to contrast Biden's "old" appearance with that of Haley's - a point I agree with. That pitch however flies in the face of Hillary's "old" appearance, which some would even argue is "worse" than Biden's.

[Ken Shultz]

I'm not saying it SHOULD be the case that being an old white man in a suit is perceived differently by urban swing voters; I'm saying I think that's the way it is.

Women like Hillary aren't necessarily perceived that way.

[db]

I was under the impressikn that the job of Vice President primarily entails "spending time witg the family" on junkets to foreign lands and all over the country in support of the administrations goals. It's like a vacation in itself.

[Ken Shultz]

Every time somebody gets 'moted, the standard line in the press release says that he or she "wants to spend more time with his or her family".

It's just code for--"got 'moted".

Sometimes it's "to pursue other interests", but it all means the same thing.

[Brandon]

Bill Clinton?

[T]

I'm not embarassed by Joe Biden. I didn't vote for him.

In the pantheon of embarassing politicians, Boden's pretty far down the list, well after all the ones that spend their time actively trying to shred the Constitution.

[Suki]

Secret Biden conversation exposed, along with Biden's torso

[P Brooks]

Hillary has this oomph as Secretary of State now. She's legit.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

What else can one say?

[Pro Libertate]

I agree. She's not well-respected as SoS, and she's made some pretty big mistakes. Naturally, having no foreign policy experience or qualifications whatsoever.

[Tony]

How's life inside the bubble? She's one of the most--if not the most--respected public figures in America/the world. Bother looking at a poll before you came to your opinion?

[Marshall Gill]

And she is also the smartest woman in the world, right, Tony?

[fried wylie]

of course she is. what are you, some kind of racist sexist?

[Mr. FIFY]

Apparently, Tony is scolding us because we're supposed to love Hillary no matter what.

Welcome to the future.

[jdkchem]

I don't need the affirmation of others to come to the conclusion that Madame Pantsuit is an incompetent screeching harpy.

[Danno]

I have trouble sleeping at night knowing this buffoon is a heartbeat away from the Presidency.

[sloopyinca]

Try drinking more. It helps, trust me.

[Tim]

The job of the modern VP is not to upstage the President by appearing more intelligent or a better leader. The VP is there for comic relief.

[P Brooks]

I have trouble sleeping at night knowing this buffoon is a heartbeat away from the Presidency.

It's buffoons all the way down.

[Satan]

HEY!!

[RU Watch]

OT -- there's a verdict in the Rutgers spy-cam case...

[RU Watch]

Guilty on almost all counts -- not on highest-level bias intimidation ones.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.s.....rdict.html

[RU Watch]

Better link.

[sloopyinca]

Well, I wanted to give an update on the basketball pick-em for day 1, but I've typed it in twice and the fucking server won't let me leave a comment.

I'm posting this without my e-mail address to see if it will work that way, as I am apparently being flagged for spam and the webmaster will not correct it for even answer my e-mails asking for help. Now, it's even fucking over my modified e-mail address.

I guess I shouldn't have mentioned I was a Christian last weekend. The purge seemed to start then.

[Troy]

I don't care bro. Now if you were Irish. Then I would never speak of your name. Jeeeeez, a bunch of drunk crackers get their own fucking day. What kind of shit is that?

[Brett L]

Fuck Irish Amateur Night.

[Brett L]

The short version is that the Big 12 North is fucking me, but its all good as long as they lose in the next round.

[Troy]

I want Hillary nominated just so I can watch certain heads explode.

[Bill Clinton]

Sorry, my man. That happens in private.

[Chuck]

Stand up, Joe! God love ya!

[sloopyinca]

I guess my shit works when I use internet explorer instead of chrome.

Fuck. Why does Google hate God?

[T]

It's that whole "Don't be Evil" thing.

[Joe M]

Student found not guilty of thoughtcrime.

[RU Watch]

Best typo:

Ravi, 20, was found guilty of bias

[Marshall Gill]

Thank Science. This guy may deserve some minor punishment for invasion of privacy but the thoughtcrime part was fucking Orwellian.

I was concerned that this jury was going to have to go on my list of "People to kill when I go postal"
As if it wasn't long enough already.

[Science]

Sorry, dude. He was found guilty of bias intimidation.

[jdkchem]

If he would have intimidated everyone equally that would have been just fine.

[Marshall Gill]

Yep, I misread that. Will have to update my list of possible targets when I go postal. I mean, shit, it is bound to happen, the only real question is "when".

[sloopyinca]

Nosiree. There's no such thing as a double standard. I'm sure a non-cop that fondled his genitals and made lewd comments to the victim of a burglary that was caught on video wouldn't get charged or put on the sex offender registry either.

Oh, and he didn't get fired for it either.

[Brett L]

Cop: "Well, you see, I was conducting an invesigation"
Review Board Chairman: "Investigation?"
Cop: "Yeah, I was investigatin' whether or not she was willing to screw me."
RBC: "Not guilty!"

[P Brooks]

Bother looking at a poll before you came to your opinion?

Why, no. No, I didn't.

I do not engage in consensus-based judgements.

[Pro Libertate]

They aren't judgments. It's consensus-based reality. That's what people mean when they talk about a "reality-based community."

[buzz]

Yeah, that was a stupid question.

[Gilbert Martin]

Well it's usually leftists who spout that,so it's really merely a consensus of what liberals consider reality.

Which is, of course, even MORE removed from actual reality than what anyone other than liberals think reality is.

[Marshall Gill]

I do not engage in consensus-based judgements.

Whaaat? You do not make decisions based upon what other people think? Monster!

[ptl]

No seats available for Obama and Biden at the next MENSA meeting.

[Abercrombie Deutschland]

The blog is absolutely fantastic. Lots of great information and inspiration, both of which we all need. Thanks.

[Regina]

I don't care. I LOVE Biden, even if his "filter" is broken. I wish other politicians were as honest.