One of journalists’ favorite pastimes during the Bush years was
to poke fun at the president’s frequently bumbled speech
patterns. Bush’s less-than-stellar oratorical moments — such as
“Is our children learning?” and “They misunderestimate me” —
were proof, they said, that he was just plain stupid.
Enter Obama. From the moment he delivered a “rock star”
performance at the Democrats’ 2004 convention, inside-the-beltway
pundits were enrapt with his speechifying. Witness Chris
Matthews’ leg thrill,
David Brooks’ pant crease
fetish, and ABC News’ calling a meeting with Obama a
“religious
experience.”
The fact that Obama can’t survive two minutes without a
teleprompter doesn’t matter. It only matters that he dazzles —
and that he’s liberal.
That, in truth, is the key. Ronald Reagan, after all, could
dazzle. But he was a conservative. Because he used his rhetorical
abilities to advocate smaller government and greater individual
responsibility, the media viewed that talent as a weapon, not an
asset.
Thus, journalists assailed the Gipper as a simpleton and a moron
while lauding the “genius credentials” of Walter Mondale, a
politician better suited to connecting with a dining room table
(hat tip
to Barney Frank) than the American people.
The hypocrisy continues today, nowhere more evident than in the
media’s treatment of Vice President Joe Biden. Bush might have
struggled with syntax and word choice; Biden struggles with
foot-in-mouth disease, a far worse malady for an individual once
removed from the presidency.
Similar to Bush’s verbal foibles, Biden’s most widely circulated
gaffes have no lasting impact on the welfare of the nation. It’s
embarrassing that Biden would ask a guy in a wheelchair to
stand up; it’s humorous that he
considers J-O-B-S a three-letter word; and it’s revealing
that he
called Obama the first “mainstream,” “clean” African-American
presidential candidate.
But none of those have the impact of Biden’s “October surprise”
in the waning days of the general election campaign last year. At
a fundraiser in Seattle, Biden
warned a crowd of supporters that America would face “an
international crisis, a generated crisis” within the first six
months of Obama’s administration “to test the mettle of this
guy.”
As it turns out, Biden wasn’t exactly channeling Nostradamus in
that prediction. Eight months have passed since Obama was sworn
in, and no major foreign policy crisis so far. In other words,
add another gaffe to Biden’s growing list.
Given the timing of Biden’s foreign policy warning — two weeks
before the election — it’s reasonable to assume that it was more
about campaign theatre than anything else. And historically,
Biden placed a safe bet by predicting a major international event
in the first few months of Obama’s presidency. That’s happened
with many, but not all, presidents before.
Even so, Biden’s emphatic assurance — “mark my words,” he said
— that a crisis would erupt calls into question his judgment.
The fact that he didn’t soften his prediction with a qualifier
shows once again that he shoots firsts and asks questions later,
a dangerous trait for nation’s No. 2 man.
The media, true to form, have ignored Biden’s botched prediction.
If Bush or Sarah Palin had forecast a similar apocalyptic
thunderstorm that ended up a drizzle, it would be front-page
news. Or, as Biden might put it, a “storybook.” But it’s only a
story if the gaffe or failed prediction proceeds from the mouth
of a conservative. Biden not only gets a pass, he gets praised
for being honest and straightforward.
Obama has already been forced to publicly chide his vice
president. In fact, a frequent refrain from the White House has
become, “What Joe really meant to say…” Can the president can
rein in his veep before Biden actually does cause an
international incident?
