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A Further Perspective

Joe Biden Makes History

By on 10.15.12 @ 6:09AM

Though not in the way he intended — and which will allow the legend of Paul Ryan to grow.

Joe Biden’s antics against Paul Ryan have taken a few days to sink in, and should take longer still.

For starters, try to imagine being Paul Ryan last Thursday: a young politician in the hot seat, the eyes of the world pressing upon him, as he tries to make careful and succinct statements in a most-intense environment, while all along, literally nearly every minute — Biden interrupted Ryan 80-plus times — his opponent smirks, scoffs, laughs uncontrollably, flaps his arms, and, generally, acts like a petulant child. I ask readers: Could you have endured what Paul Ryan handled? Given what he was up against, Paul Ryan’s debate performance was truly remarkable. It was extraordinary. For poise alone, Ryan won hands down.

As for Joe Biden, his disrespectfulness was of historic proportions. Anyone but the blindest partisan Democrat concedes that the man was obnoxious. Only really, really angry liberals — granted, there are many — liked what Biden did.

“I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a debate where one candidate was as openly disrespectful… and openly contemptuous,” observed a stunned Chris Wallace, a veteran reporter who has watched every presidential and vice-presidential debate since Kennedy v. Nixon in 1960.

Wallace’s observation brings me to this thought: I can’t help but think of the historic dimensions of what happened last Thursday evening. Consider the following, from the perspectives of both Paul Ryan and Joe Biden:

As for Ryan, imagine if he someday rises to the rank of not just vice president but president. Imagine if this young man in his early 40s becomes a dominant face on the American scene for the next 40 years. And then imagine Paul Ryan at, say, age 80-something, withdrawing from the public stage after a long, accomplished, heralded career. If that indeed transpires, then the world will look back at that moment with Joe Biden as historic. The Biden-Ryan footage will be played again and again, rebroadcast and rebroadcast, on TVs, computer screens, museums, perhaps even presidential libraries: the young-looking, politically green Ryan vs. the scoffing, mocking, nasty senior pol, with Ryan calmly holding his own. Those watching the video in, say, the year 2052, born after the 2012 political season, will look at the young Ryan and smile in nostalgic appreciation, and will look at Joe Biden and say, “Who’s that blowhard? Wow, that guy is obnoxious! Whatever happened to him?”

As I grapple for historical parallel, here are two analogies:

In July 1959, a young Richard Nixon, vice president of the United States, was unfortunate victim of an impromptu debate with an old, bald, bombastic, horse’s rear-end named Nikita Khrushchev. The two went at it vigorously, with Khrushchev acting like an idiot, pleasing (at best) only the hardest communist apparatchiks, and with Nixon, many years younger, trying to make thoughtful statements while getting continually shouted at — but ably holding his own.

“Never before had a head of government met me with a tirade of four-letter words,” said Nixon after first meeting Khrushchev. “His vehemence… had been a shock. When God created Khrushchev (something Khrushchev would deny), He broke the mold.”

If Paul Ryan rises to the level Richard Nixon did, we’ll think of his debate with Biden as we do Nixon’s showdown with Khrushchev — a defining marker in his career. At the same time, Ryan will not crash and burn like Nixon, because Ryan is much more of a people person and has greater character and integrity. Despite the Left’s never-ending attempts to demonize Paul Ryan, most Americans will like him — which brings me to my other analogy, Ronald Reagan.

In October 1947, a young and green Ronald Reagan appeared before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. The actor was president of the Screen Actors Guild. His youth was not lost on Newsweek, which said that the pink-cheeked and sandy-haired Reagan looked so boyish that when he stood to speak the room was filled with “oh’s and ah’s,” especially from the contingent of star-struck girls who came to ogle him.

By all accounts, from left to right, Reagan’s testimony was mature. He was first questioned by Robert Stripling, the House Committee’s tough chief investigator, and then by Chairman J. Parnell Thomas. Other committee members declined to pose questions, including, ironically, young Congressman Richard Nixon. (Only a crazy-person watching that hearing would have predicted that the two people sitting in the room who would one day become president were Nixon and Reagan.)

Reagan did remarkably well under the lights, cameras, and intense pressure. In fact, Chairman Thomas immediately followed Reagan’s closing line by conceding: “We agree with that. Thank you very much.” At the other end of the spectrum, among liberals, James Loeb, executive secretary of Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), dubbed Reagan’s testimony “by all odds, the most honest and forthright,” saying he was “really magnificent.” Loeb called Reagan “the hero” of the Washington hearings.

This, too, was a decisive marker in Reagan’s ultimate political rise. We watch the footage in every documentary on Reagan — as we will Paul Ryan’s trial with Joe Biden.

And what about Joe Biden? How does all of this fit into the big picture historically for him?

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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.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (68) |

oldeham| 10.15.12 @ 6:30AM

How about as a stupid, old, has-been, ignorant, low class union bully? He is uninformed, incompetent who thinks he is the center of the universe but is closer to whale dung on the bottom of the ocean.

Kitty | 10.15.12 @ 6:40AM

I hear media pundits rave about Biden being a "nice guy," no doubt bamboozled by his phony sentiments, theatrics, and ability to emote.

You can easily substitute Obama for Biden, because in truth, a genuinely nice guy wouldn't do what Obama is doing to America and Americans. Long after those two have been voted out of office, we'll be burdened with trying to repair the damage, while those two live off the public teat for the rest of their lives.

Von Mises Jr| 10.15.12 @ 8:08AM

Seventy million tuned into the Romney Obama Debate, and half returned for the Ryan "Bite Me" fiasco. Those that did not see these events first-hand have seen and heard of the folly since.
What they must realize at least sub-conscientiously is that Obama and "Bite Me" are not only rude and obnoxious, but they were totally outmatched.
Obama's specious straw man arguments with false choices and irrelevant logic were duds when facing Mitt Romney, and "Bite Me" was not even lucid enough to make a logical case that holds water.
It is one thing to be a mistaken. It is completely another to be demonstrably incompetent or dishonest.

MainelyDoc| 10.15.12 @ 6:42AM

Yes. I thought also, after hearing some of the pundits say that Biden is a "really nice man", that he ISN'T.

spike59| 10.15.12 @ 6:47AM

there is nothing remotely 'nice' about biden; he's a classless turd who even used the tragic deaths of his first wife and daughter for political gain, and slandered and hounded a good man in doing so

Occam's Tool| 10.15.12 @ 12:30PM

Ryan should have asked him what the unemployment rate in Scranton was. Joe walked into a perfect "pow."

Biden, like his boss, is truly a heinous anus.

Appleby| 10.15.12 @ 6:58AM

My mother kept saying, "I wonder what his wife is saying right now? I wonder what she thinks of this?" And more than one person said that their children observed, "Mom, that man is really rude!"

I think that is probably one of the more egregious displays I have seen from a politician, or in fact from anybody. It's clear that Mr. Biden is a crackpot of the first water. Thanks be to God we have only one vice presidential debate.

drudge ette obama| 10.15.12 @ 7:10AM

I am sure that Biden is saying the same thing - it's his last VP debate ever and what a debate it was - loon versus lean.

PolishKnight| 10.15.12 @ 10:57AM

Happy Monday Appleby.

One of my high school alums who loved Obama gushed after the debate: "Take that boy!" with a picture of Ryan's eyes looking vulnerable.

Other posts from them and other friends who are Obama supporters usually tend to be outraged and harsh that Republicans are to run for election. "Why can't "bigots" just shut up and accept that they're wrong already?" is the thought going through their minds.

So it's no wonder they loved Biden's performance. This is how they're been debating for years in backyard BBQ's, etc.

Anthony| 10.15.12 @ 7:04AM

Unfortunately, this is what American politics has devolved into thanks to the morally and intellectually bankrupt Democrat Party. The '60s generation have indeed left their mark on American culture. Bitme is a graduate of the SDS student debating society, al al Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin. Biteme peformed as if he was back in the Chicago 7 trial.
Throw in the fact that the "media" are total and complete whores for these '60 Democrats, and we have a receipt for arnarchy.
Unfortunately, given how the Washington establishment has insured that this political oligarchy of pols and media remains in power, the American people are left with eliminating these bums the old fashioned way, when God finally has had enough.
Arlen Spector has given up the ghost, quickly after his political defeat, but sadly, still a bit too late, and has finally freed America from his decades of self absorbed politics.
If this is what happens when one is finally defeated in politics, we owe it to all Americans to insure that this was indeed Biteme's last debate.

drudge ette obama| 10.15.12 @ 7:09AM

I have waited a day out of respect, but Spector's wildly swinging political opinions that never quite meshed into an understandable viewpoint must mean nothing more than he was no idealist; rather, he was vain, self-absorbed and maybe nuts. That he sold out and switched parties at one of the most important junctures of this country's future was unforgivable, as was his nixing Bork. While his family will surely mourn his loss, the country has already said goodbye in the last election.

tankrtrash| 10.15.12 @ 8:07AM

I think the fundamental problem with people like Biden, Spector, or any other career politician for that matter, is that they hate giving up the power of the office. That all consuming need transcends party loyalty or any concern for doing the will of their constituents.
Part of turning all this big government. federal behemoth around and downsizing to something more manageable will have to include term limits of some sort.

SUBVET| 10.15.12 @ 8:53AM

No it's because they would have to get a real JOB in the private sector. These life time POS polititions are the ruin of our country.

Term limits I say.......term limits.

PolishKnight| 10.15.12 @ 2:04PM

Sadly, leftist friends in college demonstrated that a short term as a congressional staffer could "payback" (or "kickback") over a lifetime. After their short career in politics where they acquired a rolodex (for those of you who know what that means!) of contacts and favors they had earned, they could go into the private sector as "diversity consultants" or simply "consultants" as lobbyists and make good change for the rest of their lives.

In the case of Obama, he started out as a "community organizer" which is basically a lobbyist/hustler and that naturally worked in politics. In other words, they never really leave politics but get employed in the private sector as "crony capitalists" which they claim to deplore, but secretly can't wait to get back to. Look at Michelle Obama's gig!

However... term limits can help in this regard: Keeping people moving in and out of different positions, quickly, helps to devalue these contacts similar to flooding a market with outside labor. With so many people having contacts, they might as well put them up on a wiki page.

Anthony| 10.15.12 @ 8:56AM

May I suggest that that "all consuming need" transcends not just constituents, but more to the point, what is best for America.
For as we have seen from these professional pols, nothing gets between them and their desire to maintain power.
The recently deceased ambassador from Lybia and three other Americans are examples of what happens to those caught between whorish pols and their power.
Obozo and Hillary have blood on their hands, and I hope, Arlen Spector is facing his day of reckoning.

tankrtrash| 10.15.12 @ 9:43AM

"what is best for America", you're exactly right.
No one should be allowed to run for congress or the senate without, at least 10 yrs. experience in the private sector and military service of some sort.

Alej| 10.15.12 @ 10:12AM

Sad to say, Tanker, law degrees outnumber DD-214s in Congress by a 30:1 margin. And the results reflect that pitiful fact.

mike 3/505| 10.15.12 @ 11:47AM

Great way to put it. Can I steal that from you for use elsewhere? "JD's vs DD214's."

Occam's Tool| 10.15.12 @ 12:32PM

Unfortunately, those that have both, like Webb, tend to think with their JDs. And you know what I think of lawyers---they're fine with enough BBQ sauce!

Anthony| 10.15.12 @ 2:26PM

Em Um, I just wuv wrosted wayers. haaaaaa.

Dai Alanye | 10.15.12 @ 1:49PM

A worthy amendment to the Constitution would forbid lawyers who practice, or have practiced, from standing for Congress. A second clause would forbid them going into practice after a term as legislator.

And yes, I'm quite serious. As for accountants, I haven't yet decided.

PolishKnight| 10.15.12 @ 2:14PM

There's a wonderful line in the film "Trading Places" where Eddie Murphy's street hustler character is about to get nabbed by the police in the middle of a snobby, crony capitalist elite area and he cries:

"Is there a lawyer in the house?"

And EVERYONE looks away and pretends to not hear him...

chuck| 10.15.12 @ 8:52PM

I'm sure someone loved Arlen Specter. I'm also sure it was not as much as he loved himself.

He was the 60th vote for Obamacare. For his he can go to Hell.

Fortunately for Snarlin' Arlen, it's not my judgement that counts.

Burlington| 10.15.12 @ 8:01AM

Anthony---You are right on! If you want to see how they did it look at the 17 min. 1984 interview of KGB defector Yuri Bezmenov. Google "dailymotion Bezmenov"

I like Proverbs 29:9 that has been tacked onto the fool.
”If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet,”

drudge ette obama| 10.15.12 @ 7:05AM

I am glad that Ryan didn't take the bait leaving Biden to act out more and more. Had Ryan called Biden on Biden's bad behavior, then you can bet Biden would have had some remark waiting. Ryan's comment that he thought more could be accomplished without interrupting did two things. First, it relayed that Ryan was aware of Biden's bad behavior. Two, Ryan took the high road slam (let's try not to interrupt eachother) rather than the low road slam (what's so funny, old crazy man?)

chuck| 10.15.12 @ 8:56PM

Or the road I would have taken, that would be to stand up, walk over to Biteme, and bitch-slap the shit-eating grin off his face.

Just think of the applause Ryan would have gotten!

Martin kzovich| 10.15.12 @ 7:29AM

Biden's performance shows how disgusting the Communist(formerly called the Democratic Party ) and there supporters really are. I suspect that Obama one way or the other will behave inappropriately and I also believe that Romeny observing Biden's behavior knowing Obama's personality and mannerisms as well as his rhetoric and lies is prepared to do battle in a more
assertive manner than i think the Obama camp will be ready for this jack ass president we have.

Nancy in NC| 10.15.12 @ 7:34AM

After watching the Democrat convention and the debates, I have concluded Democrats are not quite human. And the MSM is their water carrier.

Albert Constantine Jr.| 10.15.12 @ 7:44AM

In light of this most recent Debate spectacle, it bears reviewing what Biden helped accomplish in 36 years in the Senate. Much of the Violence Against Women Act that he championed was found to be unconstitutional. The 1994 Omnibus Crime Bill was a joke for its midnight basketball provisions, and for an assault weapons ban that didn’t ban weapons which weren’t assault weapons, and was wisely not renewed. He voted on the wrong side of history in almost critical vote in foreign affairs during the Cold War.

As a Vice President, he was the gaffe master-in-chief, who was placed in charge of ensuring the stimulus money was well spent “because nobody messes with Joe”.

What he managed to accomplish on Thursday was to eliminate the possibility that when a thinking person was confronted with his record of legislative and executive failure, they could respond with “Well, he’s a Nice Guy”, and still be taken seriously.

Al Adab| 10.15.12 @ 9:32AM

Biden finally managed, if there was any doubt remaining, to prove himself the most despicable VP in our history. His demagogic "put y'all back in chains' diatribe is the perfect example of what a man will do to maintain his own position and power. No lie is beyond the limits for after all, these people (as they know) are our betters and the ends justify the means when power is the game.

CJW| 10.15.12 @ 11:12AM

Albert and Al Adab
Biden gets away with his nonsense because everybody says "that's Biden," as if he cannot help the way he acts. He takes advantage of his reputation to act as he does and say what he says. Obama picked Biden for these reasons plus anyone elese would have made Obama look stupid by comparison. There is no chance of that with Biden. Maybe Obama outsmarted himeself, and Biden will cost him votes among the independents. Only the brain dead Obamadolts could like how Biden acted during the debate.

Albert: This weekend while buying books for my daughter I found the Robertson book on the Rockford Files at a used book store. I read all the telephone messages at the beginning of each show, and they are hilarious.

Albert Constantine Jr.| 10.15.12 @ 11:38AM

The African goats theme that runs through several are particularly amusing, though I thought the best one was when the company called and said they were glad to see he was using the machine, now how about paying for it.

CJW| 10.15.12 @ 11:43AM

I liked that, and the stewardess who asked if virgo was rising, and his buddy who said "you're two hours late with the forks, lasagna ain't finger food." Very creative, well written series. Thanks for the tip.
Biden could have been a regular without any need for a script, just let him be "Joe."

Albert Constantine Jr.| 10.15.12 @ 1:20PM

He would have been the guy that made Angel Martin look worthy of redemption (hey, he's not as bad as Joe).

Butch| 10.15.12 @ 2:22PM

I'm not disagreeing with you, Al, but don't forget Al Gore in bestowing that honor. He created the constitutional crisis that Nixon wouldn't by suing Florida for not changing the rules after the game was over. I believe that event led to the poisonous political environment we are still experiencing today.

PolishKnight| 10.15.12 @ 11:12AM

What especially made the VAWA so slimy was that he claimed his older sister used to beat him up. Was this some kind of joke to belittle male victims of DV (a wife hit her husband from behind with a blunt object. "haha!") or did it demonstrate a kind of non-sequitur for him to dismiss male victims of DV via his own experience similar to him calling someone "friend" before going for their jugular? Joe comes across as a sociopath.

In the meantime, the VAWA has encouraged women to file false accusations either to get free housing or favorable terms in a divorce. Women victims of DV are offered free housing and assistance. Men who are victims of either abuse, false accusations, or both get nothing and thrown out of their own homes. That's "nice guy" Joe for you.

MelvinNC| 10.15.12 @ 8:02AM

A certain Yiddish term comes to mind when looking for a apt description of Joe Biden's career. Joe Biden is a utter and contemptible Putz.
First impressions mean everything as the saying goes, how can we imagine a foreign dignitary meeting and dealing with such an obnoxious individual.
Joe Biden is the kind of person that you want to be polite and get away from, but he keeps following trying to be Chris Rock.
The man for lack of a better description is a clown, White House Court Jester, village idiot, moron, azz-hole, horses azz, or a combination of everything.
I remember when Joe went to Afghanistan for something and he got off the plane with a leather aviators jacket and pilots sun glasses trying his best to look like a Air Force top gun.
The man is just a complete fake.

Pecos Pete| 10.15.12 @ 8:38AM

Joe (the clown) Biden has said:

" They're going to put y'all back in chains."

"This is a big xxx deal!"

"You know, I'm embarrassed. Do you know the Web site number?"

"... a three-letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S, jobs"

"When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television."

And we are supposed to believe this clown is qualified to be vice president? He is the king of the village idiots.

Von Mises Jr| 10.15.12 @ 8:46AM

If Obama whom visited all 57 states, gives kudos to the fallen troops in the audience, wishes he could speak Austrian and loves our corpse-men is president, what the hell should we expect from his subordinate.

Albert Constantine Jr.| 10.15.12 @ 9:07AM

...and the Press and the Left mocked Dan Quayle for adding an extra "e" to potato.

CJW| 10.15.12 @ 11:24AM

Biden plagiarized the bio of Neil Kinnock, the British Labor leader, during the 1988 primaries. Biden spoke how his family were all hard working coal miners and he was the first to attend college.

Anthony| 10.15.12 @ 11:55AM

CJW, Judging from what we have seen of this moron over the decades, I demand to see Bitme's college and law school transcripts to confirm his attendance.
I bet we'll find out he was also President of the Acme University Law Review and got into law school as a foreign national from Uranus.
He also published a biography entitled "Wet Dreams".

CJW| 10.15.12 @ 12:19PM

Anthony
Joey graduated 91 of 96 from Syracuse. He was reprimanded for submitting a term paper that was copied, plagiarized, from a law review article. He should have been expelled, as Teddy the Swimmer was expelled from Harvard for having another student take his Spanish test.

Obama was president of the Harvard Law Review, an elected position. He did not have an article published. There are two explanations. One is he wrote an article and it was so bad it was not published even though he was the president of the law review. The second explanation is he did not write one, which would be unusual for the president of a law review.

BTW, did you say you are from Connecticut? I have been to Harford numerous times.

Anthony| 10.15.12 @ 1:54PM

Thanks CJW, I knew it wasn't Acme U. Joey got into Syracuse Law on a football scholarship, but he too played without a helmet, hence they kicked him up into the Law School.
At Syracuse, Joey demonstrated that he was indeed a 1%er, with 99% of the rest of his class outdoing the Ethel Merman of the Democrat Party.
If Obozo did offer up an article to the HLR, perhaps it was rejected because Harvard wasn't yet into the beneficence of Sharia Law.
I am glad to see that you survived your many trips to Hartford. One should't temp fate, get my drift?

CJW| 10.15.12 @ 4:05PM

Went to Franklin Pizza for a hoagie and pizza. They gave me a grinder. Great pizza and hoagie.

Anthony| 10.15.12 @ 6:04PM

Yes it is, Franklin Giant Grinder is indeed a funky place. My first house was 4 blocks north off of Franklin Ave. Good times, decades ago.
They don't use the term hoagie in CT, that's a term I first learned in the midwest, but I'm glad you enjoyed the distinctive Italian atmosphere the boys offered up.
The best Italian restaurant in Hartford was called Casa Loma, it's gone now, but they served two dishs called Chicken Stone and Chicken Casa Loma that I have never seen at any other restaurant.
I'm a fair cook, and I have tried to duplicate, but I never have been able to do so.

CJW| 10.15.12 @ 7:55PM

Anthony
I also remember a "bar" that served cappuccino/espresso, and an Italian grocery store, on the same side of Franklin as the Grinder, about a block or two towards downtown.
Was Casa Loma across the street on Frankling but several blocks towards town? Name sounds familiar. If you lived on Franklin you must be Sicilian. I was on Winship St near Franklin.

Occam's Tool| 10.15.12 @ 12:35PM

Anthony: he was in the bottom quartile of his class at University of Delaware. Then his sparkling performance at Syracuse.

Then he brags about his IQ.

Anthony| 10.15.12 @ 2:00PM

Thanks OT, but you gotta admit, you docs love having a moron like Biteme as a lawyer.
It sets the entire legal profession up as a penata for you docs at your annual meetings.
Am I right?

Leathersmith| 10.15.12 @ 8:52AM

Biden's behavior during the debate was not just disruptive. It will be remembered as an absolute degradation of the high office to which he was elected. Fitting punishment for his unprofessional demeanor will be that this performance will be his most notable mention in history.

I simply could not believe I was watching the Vice President of the United States of America.

PolishKnight| 10.15.12 @ 2:11PM

Even as the left loves to play victim while acting the bully, the right often seems to forget how mean their opponents are. Look at what happened with "moderates" such as McCain and Dole! Both were career politicians who were used to reaching across the aisle to get things done (or more often, scratching each others' backs) and then the moment they ran for the coveted presidential office, the media and leftists that had drank with them in Georgetown sharing JFK stories stabbed them in the backs. Dole was portrayed as a mean, nasty person (the same guy who later made Viagra commercials! How can THAT guy be the uptight jerk they portrayed?) McCain won the primary due to leftists cynically putting him in and then cutting him loose.

Reagan knew that these guys often would put their cherished marxist and leftist dogma aside for one thing: self interest. Appeal to that, and you can deal with them but CAREFULLY. Sure to be fireworks in the debate this week. "47%" was the keyword for Biden last time. Expect the term "Bain capital" to be bantered about every 5 minutes and Romney better have a good comeback. I'm thinking one would be that if outsourcing was so bad, then why did the stimulous send so much money to China?

joinamerica| 10.15.12 @ 9:16AM

Biden reminded me of Khrushchev too. The too of them, bullying old leftists force feeding their failed ideologies down the throat of their opponent. Totally offensive.

RJ| 10.15.12 @ 9:18AM

Paul - I too thought of Nikita Khrushchev during the "debate." I kept wondering when we were going to see/hear Joe Biden repeatedly hit the desk with his shoe. We can tell from his performance what the Democratic leadership thinks appeals to their base.

Kwan| 10.15.12 @ 10:36AM

Biden appeared to be employing some type of Rope-a-Dope strategy in his debate with Ryan. Unfortunately for him he came off looking like a Big Dope, while a cool and collected Ryan tried to inform the electorate what must be done to get the country back on track. Remember Biden and Obama cannot run on their record of incompetence and failure, they must use the Big Lie to counter any attempt to expose them both as Manchurian Candidates, who are working 24/7 to fundamentally transform the United States into a Totalitarian Socialist State.

Who Knows?| 10.15.12 @ 10:42AM

What must Biden’s WIFE have thought about her hubby’s behavior?

How about the majority of voters of Delaware, who kept that moron as their senator, for decades?

I live out west, in Oregon---the conservative leaning southern part---and it’s always been painful to accept, every election cycle, the lock the jackass party has on states in the east. What’s wrong with those people???

It’s NOT just location, location, location. It’s time, time, time, as well.

America was created by people escaping the “old world” rigidity, and it was in the eastern US that they rooted. Over time, “Go west, young man!” inspired another kind of “escape”, and what remains in the eastern US of 2012 closely resembles that of Europe circa 1800-1900-NOW.

IMHO, then, for most of the people stuck in their milieu, including a majority of Delawareans, they’ve essentially accepted their lives as inmates, in the jail of liberalism. Poor people!

Tightly packed cities, Portland, Oregon included, engender anything BUT a love of individualism. The lack of wide open spaces, living like sardines in a liberal can, necessarily entails conflict with OTHERS!

And, to boot, there will always be more losers than winners, and here comes the redistributionists!

Thus do I explain “Joe Biden”, a typical winning “sardine”.

Albert Constantine Jr.| 10.15.12 @ 10:57AM

As I’ve posted here before, Biden’s wife was married to Bill Stevenson, a Newark, DE nightclub owner when she started dating the widower junior Senator from Delaware. Though it is sometimes written that Bill and Jill were in the process of a contentious divorce when Joe and Jill met, Jill hoped to get a better cash settlement, and the divorce was not finalized for years as a result. My understanding is that she did not get the cash, as Stevenson lost the club (known as the Stone Balloon), and wound up serving brief state and federal jail terms for tax and drug charges.

Ironically, whenever I see a story on Bill, Joe or Jill these days, none of this sordid history is brought up, but given the circumstances under which she and Biden met, and how he has behaved the entire time, I can’t imagine that there is much that she disapproves of if there is something in it for her.

benny havens| 10.15.12 @ 11:21AM

According to the Catholic Church, Joe is living in sin.

I guess that’s another Church Law that Joe doesn’t give a rats rump about.

After all he did say that he would not impose his religious beliefs on anyone else. I guess that he includes himself.

benny havens| 10.15.12 @ 11:26AM

When the moderator asked the religion/abortion question, he should have left his so-called Catholic connection out of it.

Joe Biden is no Catholic.

Albert Constantine Jr.| 10.15.12 @ 11:34AM

As far as the majority of Delaware’s moron voters, a mention of the demographic of the First State is in order. Delaware has three counties with just under 900,000 people. The population is about 22% black, though it is closer to 25% black in New Castle County, which is urban/ suburban for the most part, and where over half of the population is (thereby making it either to a-get out the vote or b-commit election fraud, depending on how you view it).

When Biden starting running, there were two auto assembly plants and numerous other trade unions in New Castle County to augment the 20-25% of the vote he already had locked down through the black vote, together with the labor vote (and then these guys can’t understand what happened when the poor economic policies cause both plants to close during Obama’s term), all he had to do was peal off a few suburban moms (Violence Against Women Act) to create a majority. Having done that, he was successful for seven successive election cycles, though it bears mentioning that even though Obama won Delaware with about 62% of the vote in 2008, Biden got 65% in his Senate seat in the same race.

tallMel| 10.15.12 @ 7:20PM

Hey Who Knows, don't count all Oregonians in the tank for Obama. In my travels around NW Oregon and over to the beautiful central Oregon, I have seen far more RomneyRyan signs in yards than anything remotely mentioning Obama. I like the hand painted sign near Sisters "Need Jobs, Fire Obama" There is very little mention of enthusiasm for Obama, but lots for Romney.

Dodd2| 10.15.12 @ 12:21PM

And let's never forget that Blowhard Joe is a serial plagiarizer -- i.e., a liar.

Skippy| 10.15.12 @ 1:04PM

Your drunken Uncle at a family BBQ, who only gets louder and more inappropriate as the day wears on, lecturing anyone who hasn't run away about how smart he is and how wrong you are.
Biden is always the biggest asshole in any room.
Don't think America didn't take note of that.

JD| 10.15.12 @ 3:33PM

Does anyone here understand that there isn't a single Democrats OR "Independent" in the country who knows that Biden was the least bit inappropriate in the debate?

The truth means nothing if nobody hears it.

Joe D.| 10.15.12 @ 4:41PM

Excellent article and point. I do not know if I would have been able to control myself for 90 minutes with him. I stopped watching after 10 to 15 minutes. I could not take watching him any longer.

jlrlee| 10.15.12 @ 7:28PM

Eventually, when liberals do not control the media and academia, Joe Biden will be written about and remembered as one of those politicians most responsible for economic destruction of this country. In his tenure as a senator and vp, the national debt has gone from $340.9 billion to $16 trillion, growing 50 times what is was when he was a freshman senator. His record is one of disgrace. He and contemporary politicians are causing the death of this country. We will eventually get ourselves out of this mess he has caused, but not before a lot of pain is foisted on the citizens of this country. Of course, one could say, the citizens of this country brought the catastrophe on ourselves by continually voting for idiots like Biden.

Brenrett| 10.15.12 @ 9:11PM

I was thinking the same while it was going on! Some people just don't think ahead of what their actions or words will look like down the road. We all have foot-in-mouth moments, but we don't gloat over them and say we done good. And some of us actually apologize. Doubtful Biden will ever see the errors of his ways. Bravo to Ryan for living through it so gracefully!

Freedomfighter_99| 10.17.12 @ 5:44AM

I remember a journalist - I forget his name - talking about his first assignment in Wash. - to interview then-Sen. Joe Biden. He caught up with Joe on the steps of the Capitol Building and managed to get him to stop and talk. Biden flashed his grin. Casually looked around and with people passing within feet - and still grinning - threatened through clenched teeth, "You misquote me kid and I will destroy your career in this town, you hear me"? And he wasn't kidding, either! THAT was the quintecential Joe Biden.

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