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Political Hay
Old Smirkin’ Joe:
Paul Ryan readies for the Biden Treatment.
I’d like to share a story on Senator Joe Biden that happened 31 years ago, and may be relevant to Biden’s Thursday evening debate with Paul Ryan. It involved Biden’s international humiliation of a good man, and it became a habit for Biden. I’m confident Biden may aim to repeat the performance with Paul Ryan in the vice-presidential debate, looking to “Quayle” the youthful Wisconsin congressman in a way worse than Lloyd Bentsen might have done.
The “good man” I’m referring to is William P. “Bill” Clark, also known as Judge Clark. Clark, now 80 years old, living in Paso Robles, California, was Ronald Reagan’s confidant, closest aide, and single most important adviser in the effort to take down the Soviet Union. He was widely heralded from left to right, from the likes of Maureen Dowd to Lou Cannon to Edmund Morris to Cap Weinberger to Michael Reagan. But before Clark could do the crucial work he did for President Reagan, he had to survive confirmation hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in February 1981.
Reagan had just succeeded in convincing Clark to give up his California Supreme Court seat — to which Governor Reagan had appointed him — to help him come to Washington to run the State Department. Reagan wanted an “America Desk” at State, someone loyal who could ensure the department would be an asset, not a liability. He needed a second-in-command there to help keep an eye on Secretary of State Al Haig. He wanted someone who was not known as a foreign-policy expert but was a sure-thing to get things done, to keep order, and to truly run the department. He knew he could trust Clark completely.
Unfortunately for Clark, the post required Senate approval, where, at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a grinning Joe Biden was poised to embarrass Reagan’s new guy. So, on February 2, 1981, Clark took questions from the senators, including Biden, who launched into what the Washington Post would call, “The Interrogation of Justice Clark.”
Biden began by patronizing Clark for his ability to put himself through school as the son of a poor rancher. “I, for one, think it admirable the way in which you have conducted yourself in getting to and through school,” began Biden. “I have a great deal of admiration for you.”
Biden then expressed his admiration by placing Clark in the stockade, asking him a series of specific questions he knew the judge would not be able to answer.
“I sincerely hope you can answer these questions,” averred Biden. “Let me begin with southern Africa — not South Africa, but southern Africa, such as Namibia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Mozambique, Angola and so on…. Can you tell me who is the prime minister of South Africa?” Clark answered: “No, sir, I cannot.”
As the cameras clicked and the evening-news crews started salivating, Biden pressed on: “Can you tell me who the prime minister of Zimbabwe is?” Clark: “It would be a guess.”
Senator Biden then ran through other policy specifics, curiously avoiding the Soviet-Cold War issues that Clark knew well. As he did, Biden inter-mixed his questions with feigned apologies. Biden: “I really don’t like doing this, Justice Clark, but I don’t know how else to get at the point.” And a second time:
I really apologize, Mr. Justice. I know you are on the spot, and I don’t know how else I can do my job. This is one of the most distasteful question-and-answer periods in which I have participated. And, by the way, no one but me, not my staff, suggested that I use this approach… But this issue with regard to you, justice, in my opinion, is not whether or not you are bright. I think you are a bright man…. I have incredible regard for you. I really mean that.
As this went on, Clark’s family, which sat nearby, absorbed each Biden jab like a punch to the gut. “I was absolutely fried, furious,” said Clark’s son Colin. “I turned purple with rage.” Another son who was there, Pete, a tough, literal cowboy, intensely proud of his father, to this day recalls how the episode “still hurts.”
In fact, Biden “admired” Clark so much, with such “incredible regard,” that he finished the grilling by announcing that he would not be supporting his nomination.
For his part, Clark was a paragon of restraint and civility, calmly telling Biden, “I respect that position, senator,” before adding, “I just have one point to make.” Clark then explained, as he had in his opening statement, that President Reagan did not bring him on board as a policy expert, particularly on individual issue areas. “Regarding making policy,” said Clark, “I have discussed this with both the president and the secretary [Al Haig]. Perhaps I did not make that clear, or maybe you came in a little after my description of what we consider to be the role. My position will not be involved in making policy, but rather in coordinating and implementing in the position as deputy secretary of state.”
Clark had indeed made that clear, as did the other senators, who jumped in to reiterate the fact. Even the ultra-liberal Senator Alan Cranston (D-CA) rushed to Clark’s defense. Biden didn’t care.
The damage to Clark was done. Joe Biden may have been “sorry, Judge, really,” but he had so humiliated Clark that the judge became the laughing stock of the world, as the international press lampooned him. Most appreciative of Biden’s performance were the Soviets, who turned Biden’s work into basically a TASS press release.
About the Author
Paul Kengor is professor of political science and executive director of The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. He is author of the new book The Communist: Frank Marshall Davis, The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mentor. His other books include The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism and Dupes: How America’s Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century.
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Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 10.10.12 @ 6:29AM
I can hear Biden now. "Those Sesame Street characters have been buried for four years. The Republicans put them in chains."
Von Mises Jr| 10.10.12 @ 7:37AM
The irony, my friend Bill, is that it is the Democrats that wish to put the Middle Class in chains.
One of the arguments of liberals/socialist is that one cannot be free if he is enslaved by material necessity. In other words, if you must schruggle to eat and stay protected from the elements, you can do nothing else but be slave to that necessity.
So by destroying the Middle Class and creating a two tier system of ruler and proletariat, the result is that everyone except the rulers becomes dependent on the ruler's benevolence. This is why socialism is slavery.
PolishKnight| 10.10.12 @ 10:25AM
A Polish anti-communist friend of mine likes to joke that leftist propaganda and advertising have one thing in common: they are designed to tell you the opposite of what is true or obvious otherwise, why spend money and effort bothering to spread a message everyone already knows?
So airlines advertise their economy plus seats are "like being in a spa" when that is so obviously laughably not true. Or that drinking a beer will make you sexy.
So when the left and my leftist friends prattle on about their concern for "the middle class" and outsourcing, I can be sure of two things:
1) They are out to shaft the middle class.
2) They love outsourcing because it means more money for their non-European foreign and domestic contributors.
Al Adab| 10.10.12 @ 11:52AM
Should not Ryan ask Old Joe why he believes any non-profit ( PBS, Planned Parenthood, United Way, Big Brothers, etc.) deserves to be on the receiving end of taxpayer dollars? After all is the cause is a good one, Make-a-Wish comes to mind, it can raise all the money it needs from donors without reliance on taxpayers and government redistribution.
Since the answer is likely to be how deserving they are and what good work they do, the follow up is who gets to decide which ones do "good work".
Boar Hunter| 10.10.12 @ 3:56PM
One need look no further than the lady yelling "OBAMA PHONE!" or read the recent tweet's by people openly promoting riots and the shooting of Mitt Romney to see that many American's are already living in chains.
Amazingly, as if by some Jedi mind trick, the Democrats, who placed a yoke of poverty and ignorance around these same peoples necks and bound them to their cause with the stout chain of entitlement, have somehow convinced these poor ignorant savages that it is the evil Bush-Hitler Republicans who are trying to enslave them.
The only difference between these peasants of today and those of by-gone yesteryear is that the peasants of old produced something other than a vote.
As I write this I am convinced that Democrats are in fact truly evil.
spike59| 10.11.12 @ 6:22AM
there's no 'Jedi mind trick' involved; it's simple racism. the Democrats have based their 'philosophy' on their belief that blacks are inferior and cannot possibly succeed on their own without Massa Gubmint propping them up and financially supporting them at every turn-it's all the've been telling them since JFK/LBJ, over and over. a lot of blacks have not heard anything else from their 'champions', so it's relatively simple to scare them by saying 'those eeeeeeevill Republicans is gonna cut y'all off...and you'll DIE"
TNcracker | 10.11.12 @ 3:21PM
That fact has become so obvious to the most casual observer. It truly is evil we are up against, and it includes the entirety of the mainstream media. This country is in great peril.
KyMouse| 10.10.12 @ 2:55PM
The Biden-Clark incident happened 31 years ago. A generation ago.
Biden is now 69. As a true believer in his own publicity, he may be puffed up enough to think that he's still got it.
Paul Ryan is 42 -- young enough to be Biden's son -- and nobody's fool, from what I've seen.
"Senator Biden, can you tell us the definition of 'hubris'?"
PCC| 10.10.12 @ 7:05AM
Nice article. Good warm-up for the Veep debate.
DTOM| 10.10.12 @ 9:42AM
Justice Clark should have responded to Senator Biden, "Gosh, no, I can't. Who IS the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe?" And then firmly shut his mouth and let Biden stammer away.
Surely at some point Biden will try to channel Lloyd Bensten's ad hominem attack on Dan Quayle, his "I knew Jack Kennedy and you're no Jack Kennedy" crack. I hope that the coaches have developed a riposte for that...Actually Ryan has referred to Jack Kennedy's tax rate cutting activities in the past. It would not surprise me if he uses it to lure Biden into that very attack so that he can deliver a blistering riposte!
R n R have clearly gotten inside of Obama's OODA loop - witness the Big Bird fiasco, the Libya fiasco, etc. I'm thinking that the Ryan debate prep team have worked out a couple of Duesies for Biden to fall into...
But I also bet that Paul Ryan will sprint out of the starting gate, as did Mitt Romney last week, startling and further confusing the most confused politician in the Western Hemisphere.
DTOM
TLP| 10.10.12 @ 2:04PM
So, Ryan should be on the lookout for Specifics from The Village Idiot?
Is that what Mr. Kengor is saying?
My rebuttal to any such Stratagem from Vice President Moron would be: Mr. Biden. Do you realize that JOBS has 4 letters, not 3?
I would ask him if he thought that his Vote to Stab the South Vietnamese in the back, by Cutting of the Arms that we PROMISED THEM, so they could Defend themselves from the Vietcong, was the right thing to do.
I would ask him if he thought that his Votes against Putting Medium Range Nuclear Missiles in Germany, to Counteract the Medium Range Nukes that the Soviets placed in the Warsaw Pact Nations, was the right thing to do.
What about his Votes against Greneda, Panama, and the First Gulf War, when Saddam Hussein had Invaded Kuwait?
What about his 180 on the Second Iraq War, after having Voted TWICE, for a Resolution to Use Force against Saddam Hussein, when things got tough?
Ask him why he's so persistent that the Terrorists in Gitmo, recieve Teddy Bears and Roses, as well as a Civilian Trial, that the Geneva Convention Explicitly Denies them?
What he did to Judge Clark was 35 Years ago.
He's now 35 Years STUPIDER than he was back then.
Plus he's got a RECORD, now.
When this is over?
Judge Clark will Enjoy his Revenge, which is best Served Cold.
A Fosters Oil Can, perhaps?
Al Adab| 10.10.12 @ 3:52PM
TLP:
The best repate' I can recall happened during an interrogation of Sec. of State Haig by Ted Kennedy about the Falklands war. Kennedy kept postulating hypothetical scenarios while Haigs frustration continued to grow. Finally in exasperation Haig remarked, "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it Senator". Audible gasp as the entire room fell silent. Kennedy glowered and replied, "No more questions". Game, set and match to Haig.
Joellen| 10.10.12 @ 4:32PM
Tim, I give thanks to GOD you're on our side.
TLP| 10.10.12 @ 7:54PM
So do I.
drudge ette obama| 10.10.12 @ 7:07AM
Biden frosts me. So does Peggy "hypnotic voice" Noonan, who recently wrote in a WSJ op-ed that she wouldn't stand for any attack on Biden because he stood for a ast symbolic Democrat Party (I paraphrase here).
Who gives a damn what Peggy Noonan says or refuses to allow? As for Biden, Ryan needs a steady onslaught on Biden to take him out of that comfortable grinning position and into a real fight where his grin is reduced to a street fighter's grimace.
C. Vernon Crisler | 10.10.12 @ 1:39PM
I think Ryan should take out his intellectual rapier and skewer Biden. Ryan shouldn't let this airheaded politician get away with anything.
Biden has been a hateful Democrat for years, and it's about time somebody stomped on this silly ass of a politician, just as Sarah did in her debate with him.
TLP| 10.10.12 @ 2:07PM
Peggy Noonan is DEAD.
At least the Peggy Noonan that we USED to know.
She's like a Female Joe - Sling Blade - Scarborough.
JmsA| 10.10.12 @ 3:21PM
Thank you, TLP.
TLP| 10.10.12 @ 3:30PM
Contest on Friday.
spike59| 10.11.12 @ 6:17AM
Noonan has been dining out for years on her past work as a speechwiter for Reagan...she's the liberals' favorite RINO
Kwan| 10.10.12 @ 7:08AM
Biden and Obama cannot run on their abysmal record of failure, therefore they must try to convince the electorate that Romney and Ryan are bigger and more incompetent idiots than they themselves are. A real uphill climb. Ryan should be alert to the gaffe-prone Biden's missteps such as his comment that the middle-class has been buried for the last four years and pounce on it.
Stephie| 10.10.12 @ 11:45AM
The thing is Kwan, those that would vote for the status quo, don't see their fearless leader as incompetent idiots. That is the frightening part. I just watched a short film on weazelzippers of Romney signs being destroyed, stolen and feces being smeared on them. This is the mentality of the electorate who would vote for this empty suit and his grinning arrogant side kick.
Boar Hunter| 10.10.12 @ 4:03PM
OBAMA PHONE! OBAMA PHONE! ROMNEY SUCKS BAD!!!!
Sadly after hundreds of years in our modern "enlightened" society, a huge portion of our populace is still comprised of savages enthralled by shiny beads and trinkets.
Kwan| 10.10.12 @ 7:27PM
Stephie so-called experts believe that 35% of the vote is locked in for Obama and 35% of the vote is locked in for ABO (Anyone But Obama). The other 30% is the independents who will decide on November 6th if Obama is reelected, or thrown out of office. It is this 30 % that both candidates are fighting for.
Alan| 10.10.12 @ 7:21AM
That picture above says it all, a witless dotard one heartbeat away from the presidency. The dolt can't open his trap without sticking another part of his body into it.
WRTolkas| 10.10.12 @ 8:09AM
This election is historic - a choice - a path this country will follow. I will fast starting tonight at midnight and pray for Mr. Ryan and total victory. Yep, this election is that important to me.
DTOM| 10.10.12 @ 9:44AM
Why don't you eat a hearty meal and then go to a GOP Victory center and volunteer for eight hours. That'd do more good....
Stephie| 10.10.12 @ 11:46AM
DAMN RIGHT!!! Get out and make a difference!
WRTolkas| 10.10.12 @ 5:05PM
Both of you are right! I've been working with my local Tea Party group. I guess I'm doing internal and external work for my convictions.
R Martin| 10.10.12 @ 8:11AM
Biden is a vile little man with a nasty temper and an inflated ego. He represents exactly how politicians have put this country in such a hole—too much power in incompetent hands. He is an embarrassment to Delaware and the country as a whole.
Anthony| 10.10.12 @ 10:29AM
100% on the money, R. Martin.
Boar Hunter| 10.10.12 @ 4:05PM
Maybe Ryan could ask him if he needs him to repeat what he just said using a slight Indian accent or if he would prefer the almost no Negro dialect version.
Louis Jenkins| 10.10.12 @ 8:30AM
I believe Ryan will do just fine. Perhaps better than Romney.
Joellen| 10.10.12 @ 8:30AM
The other day I was listening to FOXNEWs and Bret Bear stated that Biden bested Palin in the last VP debate. SAY WHAT - I know what I saw and what I heard and Sara wiped the grinning fool all over the floor. I am confident Paul Ryan will do the same with this two faced, CINO. As for Peggy Noonan, she too is a two face RINO and she has been passe for years now. Just keep praying folks, cause they are desperate and they will do what ever they can to "change the narrative" their way (I am with you WRTolkas).
C. Vernon Crisler | 10.10.12 @ 1:41PM
Yes, Bret Bear must have been watching a different debate. Biden made so many gaffes in that debate, he became a laughing stock.
Terrible Ted| 10.10.12 @ 10:14PM
Interestingly, Peggy Noonan thought Palin won the 2008 VP debate, saying "she killed" to Brian Williams immediately following.
http://chatterboxchronicles.bl.....ebate.html
Pecos Pete| 10.10.12 @ 8:55AM
To Paul Ryan: Google "joe biden gaffes" and then enjoy the debate.
My forecast: Paul Ryan wins, in horse racing terminology, by 18 lengths. Or maybe Uncle Joe shows up drugged and the debate is cancelled.
Occam's Tool| 10.11.12 @ 8:59PM
If you recall, I suggested that Paul Ryan use Teller (of Penn and Teller) at the debates to silently plug in neon signs of Joe's greatest gaffes.
MarkJeff| 10.10.12 @ 8:55AM
While your article did not take sides, it clearly demonstrated who I'd rather have in charge if needed. It's not Biden.
Hardcard| 10.10.12 @ 8:58AM
biteme is an oldtime crooked political hack and will do or say anything to save his bread and butter, someone look into his wheel$ and deal$ in Delaware and DC, payoff$ and bribe$ abound. this POS would make bernie madoff look honest.
Stan Redmond| 10.10.12 @ 9:07AM
Mr. Biden, can you find your ass using one hand? Both?
Mr. Biden, without using your fingers can you tell me what number comes between 3 and 5?
Mr. Biden, how many letters are in the word "JOBS?"
Mr. Biden, can you name the governor and capital of the 57th state?
Anthony| 10.10.12 @ 10:27AM
"God love ya Stan, but jeez you ask hard questions, I was expecting multiple choice questions.
Hey have you heard, Romney is gonna put y'all in chains? Osama's dead, G.M's alive" V.P. Joe Biteme, the 2nd most smartest man in Washington.
Stan Redmond| 10.10.12 @ 12:45PM
OBAMAPHONE
TSD| 10.10.12 @ 10:18AM
It is high time someone sucker punches Joe "the dope" Biden in his underhanded political world.... let's all hope Paul Ryan does that in this debate. It is time these low lifers get kicked out of US politics!!
Anthony| 10.10.12 @ 10:20AM
Biteme will need all the help he can get from the whores in the MSM and the debate moderator will fill the bill nicely.
According to Drudge, Obozo attended her wedding in 1991 and was a Harvard classmate of her husband, who he then appointed to a plumb government job.
Yep, the revolving door between leftist political whores and leftist media whores just keeps spinning.
I'm not going to blame the Romney folks for not knowing this, but it really is sickening how the left have infiltrated and corrupted all our major institutions.
While Romney's people should have know this, it really dosn't make a hill of difference; throw a dart at any MSM outlet and you'll find a lefty whore staring you in the face.
Ryan had better be ready to throw this in her face if she gets protective of Biteme.
And of course, he best be ready to kick Biteme's pathetic ass, early and often.
Bill8472| 10.10.12 @ 10:22AM
If Biden says "I hate to ask these questions...," aside from informing that a debate is not a Congressional advise-and-consent confirmation hearing, Mr. Ryan might simply ask, "Well, if you hate to ask those questions, why don't you refrain from asking them?" Or "Why are you doing what you hate to do?"
ColoradoWest| 10.10.12 @ 10:25AM
Should the opportunity arise, Ryan should ask Biden where the fastest-healing cells are in the body (answer: in the mouth). Then point out that's a good thing since Biden's mouth appears to need all the help it can get.
PolishKnight| 10.10.12 @ 10:30AM
The difference between a congressional hearing and a debate is that in the former the interrogated may feel like a job interview applicant and a need to put up with abuse. It shocks people that during job interviews, when someone is giving me that kind of abuse (especially in a group setting), I push back. And the room gasps. The bully quickly backs off and I own the room.
Ryan is supposed to be capable of handling himself and the bar is set pretty high for this debate but that's no reason to expect he won't get a similar positive result to last week's debate if he meets it. Biden is a saavy, slimy jerk with what appears to be a fixed moderator on his side. But perhaps that's his weakness as well.
Who Knows?| 10.10.12 @ 10:32AM
Give Obama the Bird!
That’s my advice.
Make HIS day.
Since The One, the Legend in his own mind, actually thought he’d won the debate, obviously he’s severely ignorant. So, he direly NEEDS The Bird.
That is, even though he’s 51 years old, he must find time to watch Sesame Street, and learn whatever the Bird can teach him. There’s no doubt he missed some oh-so-human lessons, at the essential preschool level.
Seriously, though, with Intrade holding around 63% that BHO will win, I’m resolved to another four more years of worsening hell.
Logic does seem to imply that Obama is Carter redux, and that he should lose to Romney. However, there are still way too many powerful reasons to wonder.
Don’t forget voter fraud.
The main stream media is STILL committed to Obama.
He is the incumbent.
Many voters are ignorant or/and stupid.
Obama has blacks and women in his pocket.
It’s going to be tough to beat him.
I DO hope Romney-Ryan and their supporters squeeze, press, and beat over the head the phony Obama! Wouldn’t it be a great precedent, if the next four weeks they do the political equivalent of pouring salt on a defenseless slug.
Have you ever done that?
They writhe and shrivel up, and practically dissolve, right before your eyes.
Just do it!
Vic| 10.10.12 @ 12:18PM
Don't worry "who knows?". Biden will be delivered the same lynching that was afforded to Obozo by Romney. Sit back, relax, have a beer and watch the debate tomorrow. Obozo and his crony Biden's lies and mismanagement will be called out again!!
Al Adab| 10.10.12 @ 12:57PM
Reports this morning that Obama attended the Raddatz wedding and appointed her husband as Head of the FCC. Hmmm, wonder what side she might take. Husbands job depends on pleasure of the President, hmmm.
Boar Hunter| 10.10.12 @ 4:33PM
As a "Do you still beat your wife" question, Ryan should ask the moderator, "Did Obama appoint your husband to his job before or after he attended you wedding?" and "does the privilege of the job he now holds at the president's discretion have any bearing on the one you are doing at this moment?"
I would ask if anyone mentioned the tenuous nature of the job he now holds, but to paraphrase Sean Connery, He didn't have to ask. It's my responsibility to remember.
Fair and unbiased media my hairy white ass.
Occam's Tool| 10.11.12 @ 8:56PM
Yup. Time for the slap around. I hope Ryan does it, the first time she gets out of line. Lots of fun.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 10.10.12 @ 1:00PM
“I'd like to share a story on Senator Joe Biden that happened 31 years ago…”
As I have written before, I actually encountered Biden the first time on the doorstep of my next door neighbor when he was campaigning for New Castle County Council in 1970. While my general default for most people that I meet is neutral to positive, I immediately developed a negative feeling toward him from the insincerity and lack of good character I perceived, even at my young age. I’ve been in his company a number of times since then, and I’ve tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but he has continuously reinforced the negative first impression in the 42 years since that meeting, which was that he was a blowhard hack of limited talent and boundless ego.
Occam's Tool| 10.11.12 @ 8:57PM
Dear Albert:
you poor thing. The worst I've had to endure is commentary from Bill Richardson's office when Gov of NM on how to treat various scumbag inmates.
gene| 10.10.12 @ 1:00PM
Vice-President Biden is famous for his ability to put both feet in his mouth. However, if he can avoid that, it is also true that he is a debater who should not be taken lightly. If he gains any slight advantage whatsoever, the MSM will scream victory every day until Election Day. Ryan needs to be on guard. Be ready to pounce, and borrow Romney's "magic hankerchief" that he alledgedly cheated with at the first debate. Biden is a man who needs to be kept off balance. He cannot be allowed to play his own game. If he is kept off balance and nailed early, he will lose his composure, get rattled, and promptly stuff both footsies in his mouth all the way up to the knees on Live TV. That is something that I would like to see. o:-D
Howard| 10.10.12 @ 3:04PM
I hope you are right!!
Kilgore Trout| 10.10.12 @ 1:07PM
Ryan should ask about the time President FDR went on TV to calm the nation after the stock market crashed... in 1929 as he told the nincompoop Katie Doofus. PLEASE do it! For me!
ElGordo| 10.10.12 @ 1:58PM
In the V.P.debate, as an economic expert, Ryan should challenge the reported 7.8% unemployment rate as false and explain why.
.
Ryan should also attack the Administration's Libyan foreign policy failure and its coverup.
Ronsch| 10.10.12 @ 2:11PM
Not a pithy comment, but...The picture of "Sloppy Joe" Biden reminds me of a zombie in the movies...Just saying...
Paul Ryan should do exactly what Mitt Romney did...Go on the offensive, take control of the debate out of the chute, and turn all of "Sloppy Joe's" comments back on him...Like, for example the remark about Kennedy...hell, paul ryan ought to come out with a zinger about how old and entrenched "Sloppy Joe" is...maybe with something like "gee, Mr. VP, I was not born yet, have you been entrenched in DC politics that long?" Maybe that will shut "Sloppy Joe" up...
Bill8472| 10.10.12 @ 2:31PM
If they only die when you wound them in the brain, what happens with somebody like Biden, where you can't find any brain?
ncatty| 10.10.12 @ 2:13PM
If Biden asks Ryan to name the prime minister of some obscure country, Ryna should say "no, but I know we have 50 States in the USA."
PolishKnight| 10.10.12 @ 2:16PM
That's funny to us ONLY because we know the reference (Obama said he toured 57 states) but the media has blanketed that pretty well so a lot of folks watching wouldn't "get it". Remember the number rule of comedy: A joke is only funny if your audience gets it, not you.
Bill8472| 10.10.12 @ 2:29PM
Oh, I don't know; it might be that the media would be all in a lather to explain that quip to the public and revive it for the public.
Also, I think that the "57 states" thingie is better-known among the public than you think.
PolishKnight| 10.10.12 @ 4:09PM
Keep in mind the format of the debate. Obama surrogate moderator asks Biden a question, he gets 3 minutes or so, then Ryan is given a chance to respond. Hence, no way for Biden to "score" a question like that without it getting drowned in other stuff he wants to say.
So Ryan has the luxury to "pick" what he wants to deal with. This is why Obama supporters are crying a river over Romney's "lies". Obama would go on about how Bush caused all the problems and rich getting richer, blah blah blah and then Romney came back with a zinger: "Trickle down government". Point and score!
My impression of the Palin debate and Palin overall is that she's smart but for some reason the public couldn't warm up to a woman in that role. Hillary Clinton, you're warned! The left threw women politicians under the bus based upon how they treated Palin. It was sexism they would have decried if it has been used against a woman but then again, if a republican did what Bill Clinton to women he would have been impeached within hours.
So Ryan isn't vulnerable in that regard and he's lean and mean. Should be fun to watch. Biden, like Obama, are used to "nice" "mannered" pols giving them white glove treatment. Obama just whined about it now that he's too "mannered". Hahaha!
John II| 10.10.12 @ 6:03PM
"I think that the '57 states' thingie is better-known among the public than you think."
Less known, probably, is that 57 happens to be the number of Muslim countries in the world. What WAS the Professor thinking?
Dr. Freud, call your office.
cicero| 10.10.12 @ 2:55PM
Know what you get when you put pearls on a pig? A pig with pearls on. The Dems have been serving up pretty despicable poeple for the past two decades. Run through the list - the Clintons; Gore; Kerry; and now Obama and Biden. Their only goal is to gain power and plunder the country from their positions. The whole list have been pretty awful. Biden is of a clothe with the rest of them, but just harder to dress. There is no doubt about him. My only wonder is how the press can continue to fawn over this group, and how the people of his state continue to vote for him. Oh, he keeps promising all that free stuff, that right?
R Martin| 10.10.12 @ 3:19PM
You forgot John Edwards. He is very much a part of that group.
John II| 10.10.12 @ 5:56PM
The late Edward Kennedy deserves credit for shaping the mold into which the others were poured before they emerged fully shaped in their clown-suits.
But you left out Shumer, Reid, Pelosi, Panetta, . . . a very long list of primary enablers.
Howard| 10.10.12 @ 3:02PM
Biden always plays the "gotcha game". He is an ahole who I am hopeful will get torn to shreds on Thursday night!
HBowen| 10.10.12 @ 3:31PM
Osama Sin Biden. What's in a name, anyway? The name Ryan has good connections, stemming from not only a great speaker and dynamic individual with encouraging and genuine statesmanlike hope that makes sense sound like truth, but also from an act by former Governor Ryan of Illinois. Corruption, both morally in the public at large, in the state house's of each state, and the Supreme Court, is rampant since Lady Liberty has sacrificed her brow to a bunch of snakes on a Gorgon's Head. This country is in dire need of at least returning to the Golden Rule.
PacRim Jim | 10.10.12 @ 6:14PM
The following seems apropos, mutatis mutandis:
Biden My Time, by George Gershwin 1930
Some fellers like to tip-toe through the tulips
Some fellers go on singin' in the rain
Some fellers keep on paintin' skies with rainbows
Some fellers go on singin' down the lane
But I'm Biden my time
'Cuz thats the kind of guy I'm
While other folks grow dizzy
I'll keep busy Biden my time
Next year, next year
Somethin's bound to happen
This year, this year
I'll just keep on nappin'
I'm Biden my time
That's the kind of guy I'm
There's no regretin' when I'm settin' Biden my time
Biding my time
Thats the kind of guy I'm
While other folks grow dizzy i keep busy
Biden, Biden my time
Next year, next year
Somethin's bound to happen
This year, this year
I'll just keep on nappin'
I'm Biden my time
That's the kind of guy I'm
There's no regretin' when I'm settin' Biden
Biden my time
John II| 10.10.12 @ 6:24PM
Mr. Biden, as an expert in public ethics, may we ask your opinion about plagiarism?
Mr. Biden, which of the Federalist Papers warn against the power of the state, and which of those do you explicitly disagree with?
Mr. Biden, what arguments exactly do you have against the moral teachings of the Catholic Church you claim to belong to?
Mr. Biden, can you cite three specific tenets of Keynesian economics that you agree with, and share with us the personal experiences that most contributed to your trust in those tenets?
Mr. Biden, without necessarily getting into naming leaders and capital cities, could you tell us one or two foreign policy successes over the past three and a half years that you're most satisfied with?
Mr. Biden, could we ask you to draw on your expertise in history and foreign affairs to tell us who was buried in Lenin's tomb?
Well--Mr. Biden, could we at least ask you to tell us who was buried in Grant's tomb?
Minuteman78| 10.10.12 @ 7:22PM
I'm sure Paul Ryan will do just fine. See, it's not 1980 anymore. Ryan KNOWS what a bunch of marxists these dolts are that have hijacked the Dumbocrat party. Ryan can flat turn on the blistering when he wants to, and I'd be astonished if, given Mitt's prep, he isn't totally ready for Joe Biteme. Here's a possible good comeback to the meatheaded VP: "Joe, how much has the national debt increased in the last 4 years? Oh, you don't know? That's OK, your clueless boss doesn't know either!"
daBear47| 10.10.12 @ 10:22PM
Some great comments here - I have a Biden story of my own. I found out first-hand how Joe came by his thuggish approach -- I met his daddy. I used to stop at a little local pub on my way home from work when I lived in Delaware. One afternoon, I was sitting at the bar, waiting for my sandwich, reading the newspaper, as usual. Noting an article in the paper, I spoke to the proprietor about it. "Did you see this in the paper today? Joe Biden cheated in law school -- he plagiarized at least one of his papers..."
At this point I was interrupted by a well-dressed older man sitting a couple of stools away, nursing a drink which was obviously not his first of the day. "Hey you, shut up. That's my son you're talkin' about!"
I said "And you're proud of that?" and he exploded into fussing and cussing, the major part of which was "I oughta punch you inna mouth!" as he got off his bar stool. I eased off of mine, and invited him to come ahead. I was a fairly healthy young woman then, at about 5'9" and 160 lb, hard from karate practice and many strenuous outdoor activities. After a few seconds of glaring, he left the bar, only to call there after a few minutes and ask the proprietor to relay his apology. The memory is always worth a chuckle.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 10.10.12 @ 10:38PM
Would that have been the old Coach House in Claymont, Delaware?
daBear47| 10.11.12 @ 8:38PM
Albert, I don't really remember the name of the place, but it was in a little corner shopping center at the intersection of 41 and 141, just outside the development where I lived. I still have some of the photos I took of the owners and their family one Christmas. It was a nice, homey little place with VERY good food! :)
Occam's Tool| 10.11.12 @ 8:54PM
Well, you know the Bidens are vermin, as I know the Clintons are, both from growing up near Hillary's Neighborhood (and going to her high school) and from working with her husband's chief of the Department of Mental Health when he was Governor of Arkansas.
I've got stories, none of them good.
spike59| 10.11.12 @ 6:10AM
No one, least of all Paul Ryan, should forget for a moment that there is nothing too low for Biden; this is a man who lied on the campaign trail for years about the tragic deaths of his wife and daughter in order to score sympathy votes...he is SCUM, and has used the old 'well, there goes joe again' image as cover for his mendacity and lack of basic human decency
PolishKnight| 10.11.12 @ 4:04PM
I was thinking about this Biden's comment to Clark "No hard feelings" after he had just done his best to attack Clark's reputation. It's a shocking thing to say and it's no wonder that Clark was at a loss for words. After a day to come up with a "the jerk store called and they're running out of you!" response, here goes:
Saying "no hard feelings" makes it worse. For Biden.
In a debate, for example, where the stakes are high and the lines are drawn, it's understandable, albeit perhaps dishonorable, to attack viciously and disingenuously. But in this case, there was NO REASON for him to do so. The Clark confirmation was a shoe-in. Everyone liked him. But Biden just decided to be mean because _that's who he is_. If he had "no hard feelings", then he was being cruel and vindictive simply for the sake of it.
Biden is like a child burning up ants on the sidewalk with a magnifying glass except he does this with human beings. A sociopath.
spike59| 10.11.12 @ 4:26PM
EXACTLY! i think that the Biden/ObaMao ENJOY the 'Joey Gaffes' reputation, and use it as a cover for the sheer vileness of the 'man'...
Occam's Tool| 10.11.12 @ 8:51PM
I think Ryan, being a wonk, will know all of those answers that Biden poses. Then it will be the turn of Biden to be tortured by the head of the House Budget Committee on budget minutiae.
The thing about Senate hearings is that you can't punch back as the witness. Biden, being a scum sucking dirtbag, is going to be pounded when his opponent can hit back, just as his boss was.
In short, as Mr. T would put it, my prediction for tonight's debate is enormous pain for Mr. Biden. He's going to be beaten up as though he were facing Glenbrook North, and any Chicago suburban high school debaters of a certain age knows what that means. As Jordan's Bulls were to basketball in their prime, so GBN was to high school debate in the 1970s.
Biden's going down faster than his boss on Soros.
RealityBroker| 10.12.12 @ 9:45AM
"If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet." Proverbs 29:9 ESV
Burlington| 10.12.12 @ 11:26AM
Biden pissed in his own soup all night. Not one "undecided" voter will go for Obama/Biden based on his smarmy performance.
Suzyqpie| 10.12.12 @ 12:15PM
The debate reminded me of an old adage, "Never impede the progress of a fool on the path to his own destruction."