Crazy Uncle Joe

[Geee]

American Spectator:

Vice President Joe Biden took Americans on a one-way trip to Malarkey-ville last night, with a weirdly aggressive debate performance in which, according to one count, he interrupted his Republican rival 86 times. Even many of those who generally approved of what Democrat spinners referred to as Biden's "happy warrior" act expressed concern that the vice president was, to quote CNN's Gloria Borger, "condescending at times" toward Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan.

 

Make that "condescending at all times," and you may have a consensus that would include even the debate's liberal moderator, Martha Raddatz of ABC News. Biden's behavior resembled the hypomanic phase of bipolar disorder, as he grinned incongruously or faked laughter in reaction to Ryan's answers, rudely scoffed at the Republican's policy proposals as "bluster" and "loose talk," and bulldozed past whatever feeble attempts Raddatz made to halt his repeated filibusters.

 

Arrogant? Overbearing? Angry? If those are your ideal qualities in a vice president, Biden's your man. In the inevitable post-debate panel discussions over who "won" the debate, even conservative discussants generally credited Biden with having accomplished his basic mission, namely to counteract the demoralization among Democrats caused by President Obama's tepid and listless debate performance last week against Mitt Romney. (See "Mitt's Biggest Turnaround Yet," Oct. 4.) Biden's aggressive tactics against Ryan were cheered by the Democratic "base," by which term of course I mean, Chris Matthews.

[Geee]

Bluster and Loose Talk

 

 

Joe Biden decried the "bluster" and "loose talk" of his opponent at Thursday's debate, repeating the phrase several times. Coming from Biden, one of the most blustery pols in American history, the charge was particularly rich. Paul Ryan's unflashy sobriety in contrast to Biden's smirking theatrics made the vice president's complaint even less credible.

 

Biden spent much of the evening flashing his toothy grin in faux-amusement at supposed whoppers from Ryan. And when the vice president wasn't smirking, he was faking up anger. A pol who vacillates between amusement and anger within a few seconds shouldn't be taken very seriously.

 

Biden was clearly instructed by Axelrod and company to come out swinging, and he complied dutifully. But he mostly hit air. This debate probably won't make the slightest bit of difference in the race. Desperate for a morale boost after Obama's anemic performance, liberals no doubt found Biden's aggressive approach welcome. But they can hardly claim victory. A debater who has to sigh and smirk that much can't be winning.

Biden was the supposed elder statesman in the room, but the undignified theatrics undercut that image. They bordered on buffoonery. The foolish hothead in the debate was not the young congressman but the aged vice president, too restless and rude to let his opponent finish an answer. The fool who persists in his folly becomes wise, said the poet William Blake. Not in Joe Biden's case. He remains the old fool. Ryan at one point even had to calm Biden down. Ryan told him to stop interrupting and took a dig at the post-Obama debate "duress" that explained his rude and hyperactive behavior.

 

http://spectator.org/archives/2012/10/12/bluster-and-loose-talk

[Geee]

Style to Ryan, Substance to Ryan

 

 

The pop-up wisdom among the pundits immediately following the vice-presidential debate is that Paul Ryan won on style and it was a draw on substance. (The exception is MSNBC, where the main anchors are still covered in champagne.)

 

The style half is certainly true. Joe Biden came off as a loony, condescending vulgarian, grinning smugly during Ryan's answers, rolling his eyes, interrupting constantly. There was a telling moment at the beginning of the debate when Ryan was trying to discuss the president's foreign policy. "With all due respect, that's a bunch of malarkey," Biden jumped in. On CNN, where they had swing voters hooked up to approval dials, Biden's rating plummeted.

 

Another low point came when Ryan was discussing how cutting taxes and broadening the base had worked in the past. He cited President Kennedy's tax breaks as an example. "Oh so now you're Jack Kennedy? This is amazing!" Biden said. He constantly cut into Ryan's substantive arguments with cheap sneers and one-liners. By the end, he sounded like one of the old-man Muppets that sit in a balcony above the show and lob down smarmy remarks.

 

This had to be intentional. Biden is capable of controlling himself in an argument. His interactions with Sarah Palin four years ago were much more restrained. But after Obama's passive performance in the last debate, restraint wasn't the order of the day. The liberal base wanted blood and the vice president had to provide what the president couldn't.

http://spectator.org/archives/2012/10/12/style-to-ryan-substance-to-rya

[Geee]

GOP, Democrats catalog errors by Biden, Ryan after VP debate

 

 

Advocates on both sides of America’s political divide are touting political flubs and fact-challenged claims supposedly committed by their rivals during the vice presidential debate Thursday night in Danville, Kentucky.

 

Republicans argued that Joe Biden turned off swing voters with repeated rudeness toward Ryan, by deceiving viewers, and by claiming ignorance about security officials’ pre-attack pleas for better protection of the Benghazi diplomatic facility in Libya.

In turn, Democrats claimed Paul Ryan alienated middle-ground voters by describing and defending his pro-life position, and by suggesting that U.S. forces could be reinforced in Afghanistan.

 

Ryan “opened the door to putting additional forces in Afghanistan. … It was a remarkable moment for me,” said the vice president’s son, Beau Biden.

 

 

Democrats also crowed over Ryan’s opposition to the Supreme Court’s 39-year control over abortion policy, and his endorsement of legislative compromises. “I understand this is a difficult issue … but the policy of a Romney administration will be to oppose abortions with the exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother,” Ryan said during the debate.

 

“I think this may be the voting issue,” MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews claimed afterward.

 

 

Democrats also said Ryan’s decision to not explicitly disavow changes to personal income tax deductions for mortgage interest created another vulnerability for Gov. Mitt Romney’s campaign.

 

http://dailycaller.com/2012/10/12/gop-democrats-catalog-errors-by-biden-ryan-after-vp-debate/

[Geee]

Joe Biden Unhinged

 

 

As I observed the words and demeanor of Vice President Joe Biden all throughout last night’s debate a line from Hamlet kept running through my mind.

 

“That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain,” William Shakespeare wrote. How better to sum up the most unctuous, disingenuous vice president in this writer’s lifetime?

 

The radical left-wing Delawarean showed the same loathsome traits that he displayed during his debate with Sarah Palin four years ago. But this time, because he wasn’t facing a woman he wasn’t walking on eggshells, terrified of offending female voters. This allowed his worst characteristics to rise to the surface, unburdened by natural inhibitions.

 

While his opponent, Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), was relatively relaxed, Biden was everyone’s obnoxious, overbearing, opinionated relative who makes up for the weakness of his arguments by making them loudly. As conservative comedian Brian Sack tweeted, the debate was “Too Chill Boy vs. Obnoxious Grandaddy.”

Throughout the debate Biden made no attempt to conceal his contempt for Ryan. It is hard to say if Biden showed greater disdain for his adversary than President Obama showed for Mitt Romney in the Colorado conversation last week.

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/matthew-vadum/joe-biden-unhinged/

[Geee]

JOE BIDEN: MR. MALARKEY

 

 

On Thursday night, Paul Ryan showed up to debate Joe. Smiley Joe. Laughing Joe. Subdued Joe. Heartfelt Joe … and many others.

 

For the most part, though, a smug Vice President Joe Biden, using a contemptuous tone and a smirk, attempted to deflect Ryan’s attacks on the administration’s economic record as “malarkey.” Ryan, conceding that Barack Obama had inherited a deep recession, argued that the administration had given us the weakest economic bounce-back in American history.

 

 

“This is not what a real recovery looks like,” Ryan said.

 

Since Ryan’s strength is fiscal policy, however, a debate concentrated on foreign policy put him at somewhat of a disadvantage. And moderator Martha Raddatz, ABC’s chief international correspondent, did little to blunt Biden’s most effective debate weapon: incessantly interrupting Ryan.

 

 

Stylistically speaking, the vice president – between dismissive laughter and head shaking – made broad emotional and sometimes personal appeals to the middle class. A senator since 1973, Biden played the man of the people, attempted to portray Mitt Romney as an uncaring plutocrat, out of touch with the average American.

 

http://www.humanevents.com/2012/10/12/biden-mr-malarkey-on-the-economy/

[Geee]

The VP Debate

 

I think both candidates basically did what they needed to do in the vice presidential debate, which leaves the Republican ticket in a slightly better position—since Biden’s goal was damage control with the base and Ryan’s was reinforcing a positive impression with persuadable voters.

After the calamity they experienced in last week’s presidential debate, liberals needed to be bucked up by the Obama campaign, and I think they got that tonight. It probably came at a real cost—I have a feeling that Biden’s hyper-aggressive and at times buffoonish performance (and perhaps especially his Joker grin, which seemed to me as much a product of nervousness as of intent) hurt the ticket some with independent voters and especially with women—but it was a price the Obama campaign is probably quite willing to pay given the situation they’re now in. This debate didn’t help them win persuadable voters, and it probably won’t move the polls in their direction, but it will calm liberals down and it was absolutely essential for them to do that. The MSNBC types needed someone to be a jerk toward Paul Ryan to his face, and they got it.

Biden gave them what they needed by behaving the way liberals think Mitt Romney behaved in last week’s debate—basically like a strident bully who just says whatever he needs to say to shut down his opponent. The Left wished Obama had done that, and now they got to see Biden doing it. The trouble for them is that Romney didn’t actually do that. He won by appealing to moderate voters through substantive arguments. Biden (and therefore Obama) won’t gain that appeal from this debate.

For Paul Ryan, this was an important night. He didn’t shine the way Romney did last week, but that’s never really an option for the running mate. His job was to reinforce Romney’s case and to pass the bar of presidential credibility himself, and he certainly did that. In his biggest moment on the national stage to date, he was calm, clear, thoughtful, and serious. That’s the image the Romney campaign needs to project in these final weeks, and it’s the image Ryan wants to project. He did it in part by not pressing every potential opportunity he had (whether intentionally or by truly missing those opportunities), so that for those of us who spend our days mired in the minutia of these policy debates it was sometimes frustrating to think that here was Ryan, who could basically make Joe Biden look like a fool on this or that issue, instead making a more general point and returning to the basic economic case. He had to decide on the fly how to handle Biden’s strange behavior, and he probably made the right choice. Ryan was easily the more presidential figure on the stage (I might have said “more vice presidential,” but that would seem like an insult), and his command of the foreign policy issues that came up should go a long way toward putting to rest any concern about his expertise on that front.

 

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/330203/vp-debate-yuval-levin

[Geee]

And It’s Joe Biden for the … Laugh

 

Last week, both left and right agreed that the debate was a wash for President Obama.

This week, the most agreement was that the sparring between Vice President Joe Biden and VP candidate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), seated at a table in Danville, Ky., was a real debate.

Complete with emotion, interruptions, accusations, stat-dropping, and — in the “Big Bird moment” of this debate — the smiling.

 

In some rather inappropriate moments — like talking about the deadly attack on the Benghazi consulate or Iran’s nuclear program — the dispassionate, staring-at-the-podium Obama was replaced by incredulous, animated, smirking-his-pearly-whites Biden.

But point for point, smirk for smirk, zinger for zinger — and both men got their share in — there was clear partisan divide on who the winner was, leaving how the middle received the face-off for the pollsters to judge.

 

“I have to say that Biden did to Ryan what Cheney did to Edwards in style and demeanor and authoritah,” wrote The Daily Beast’s Andrew Sullivan, who ripped Obama’s performance last week.

 

 

“My CNN colleagues all seem to think it was a draw. I don’t agree. Biden clearly the winner,” tweeted Piers Morgan, who early in the night chided the veep, “Joe, seriously, STOP SMIRKING. This is serious stuff. Be Vice-Presidential.”

 

“Biden smiling when nothing is funny,” noted Roger Ebert.

 

http://pjmedia.com/blog/and-its-joe-biden-for-the-laugh/

[Geee]

Blustering Biden, Serene Ryan Exchange Barbs in Fiery 90-Minute Debate

 

It was crystal clear tonight that Vice President Biden was determined not to reprise the president's passive performance in Denver. In that, he succeeded. He also succeeded in interrupting his opponent constantly, repeatedly laughing at strange moments, and playing the 'loud anger' card frequently. Rep. Paul Ryan's serenity in the face of the Vice President's behavior was almost supernatural. On actual talking points, the two men battled to a draw. Ryan excelled on economic issues, gave a fabulous answer on abortion and closed strong. He also held his own on foreign policy. Biden scored on Afghanistan and by pointing out that Ryan requested stimulus funds for his district after the law passed. On style, I'd imagine Biden delighted the Left-wing base, but put-off most others. He was boorish, dismissive, bullying and rude. Ryan was occasionally too timid; a strong demand that Biden stop interrupting him would have done him some good, but he came across as pleasant and informed. I gather than CNN's independent viewer "dials" were fairly unkind to Biden throughout the evening, and flat-lined during some of the lengthy foreign policy exchanges. There's no question that international affairs are awfully important (one of the Vice President's biggest mistakes was claiming that the administration didn't know that American security forces had requested reinforcements in Benghazi, an outright falsehood), but most Americans are concerned about jobs, economic growth, and the spiraling debt. Precious few of the questions addressed those core concerns, which was a major shortcoming of moderator Martha Raddatz. She also seemed to ask tougher follow-ups to Ryan (not to mention cutting him off in the middle of important points), but he handled it pretty well. He did not whine -- unlike Biden, who seemed to think he was getting cheated (!) on talking time. The talk clock confirmed that he ultimately talked more than his opponent, and clearly interjected far more often.

 

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2012/10/11/blustering_biden_serene_ryan_exchange_barbs_in_fiery_90minute_debate

[Geee]

Thoughts on the vice presidential debate - Michael Barone

 

 

Joe Biden appealed to Democratic partisans, firing them up by attacking and, even more often, smirking at Paul Ryan’s arguments. But smirks only work when your audience starts off agreeing with you. That would be the case with strong Democratic partisans, but it’s not at all that clear that it appeals to Independents, or to those who are undecided or moveable. He was trying to dismiss Ryan’s arguments as ridiculous, in line with Democratic talking points that no rational person could possibly agree with him, but I think that only works with people who are already convinced. He may have increased Democratic voters’ enthusiasm—down in the dumps after Barack Obama’s performance eight days ago—but he didn’t do much in the way of converting those who are not already converted.

 

http://washingtonexaminer.com/thoughts-on-the-vice-presidential-debate/article/2510553#.UHgAohx7GjQ

[Geee]

Biden cracks up at the vice presidential debate

 

Say whatever you want about last night’s debate, there is one thing we can all agree on. Joe Biden sure was happy.

 

How happy was the vice president? He looked happier than Bill Clinton with a bottle of Viagra and an intern.

 

 

All night long, Mr. Biden was just grinning like a jackass eating some cactus.

 

Republican Paul Ryan was over there talking about the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran. Mr. Biden smiled so wide, it looked like his dentures might pop loose.

 

 

Mr. Ryan started talking about the crushing, double-digit unemployment in Mr. Biden’s hometown of Scranton, Pa.

 

Mr. Biden just started grinning like a possum in a trashcan giving us alligator mouth.

 

 

Mr. Ryan studiously warned of the grave importance of getting “this debt and deficit under control to prevent a crisis.” Mr. Biden couldn’t mask the hilarity. He started chuckling audibly.

 

Then Mr. Ryan began painting a drastic picture of President Obama and Mr. Biden cutting $800 billion out of Medicare. Pure Biden sniggering.

 

 

Mr. Ryan warned how Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden want to throttle small businesses with a 44.8 percent tax rate, drawing shuddering laughter from the vice president.

 

At one point, Mr. Biden got so worked up he offered a joke of his own about “death panels” in Obamacare. It cracked himself up good.

 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/11/hurt-biden-cracks-vice-presidential-debate/

[clearvision]

Thanks for all the debate reviews.

[Geee]

FACT CHECK: TOP TEN WORST LIES BY JOE BIDEN IN VP DEBATE

Once again, Joe Biden lied his way through a Vice Presidential debate--just as he did in his contest with Sarah Palin in 2008. This time, the media caught a few of Biden's worst "malarkey" moments--as did his opponent, Paul Ryan, when he could get a word in edgewise.

Here are the top ten worst lies told by Biden during the debate:

 

10. "With all due respect, that’s a bunch of malarkey....not a single thing he said is accurate." At the outset of the debate, Biden tried to paint Ryan as a liar--when Biden, in fact, was the one lying. Ryan had pointed out: 1) that the White House had distanced itself from the Cairo embassy's apologies on 9/11; 2) that Obama had failed to speak up for Iranian protestors in 2009; 3) that the Obama administration called Syria's dictator a "reformer"; 4) and that the Obama administration is imposing defense cuts and projecting weakness. All of that is true.

 

9. "The president has met with Bibi [Netanyahu] a dozen times....This is a bunch of stuff." While they have met several times--not a dozen--that includes a meeting at which Obama made the Israeli prime minister enter the White House through a back entrance, refused to take a picture with him, and left him on his own for dinner. Specifically, Ryan had criticized Obama's refusal to meet Netanyahu in New York last month, and to tape talk show interviews instead--a clear snub that sent the wrong signal, again, to Israel's enemies.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/10/12/Fact-Check-Top-Ten-Worst-Lies-by-Joe-Biden-in-VP-Debate

[Geee]

Thanks for all the debate reviews.

 

My pleasure @clearvision. I am shaking my head today at how many Dem pundits are excusing his ludicrous behavior as 'just Joe'. That excuses his interrupting 82 times and acting like he was a drunk at a party. I also read that the 'moderator' interrupted Ryan 32 times I guess they were both afraid for him to actually get to introduce himself and his ideas to the American people.

[Pepper]

@Geee thanks for the clips!

[Rheo]

Peggy Noonan

 

There were fireworks all the way, and plenty of drama. Each candidate could claim a win in one area or another, but by the end it looked to me like this: For the second time in two weeks, the Democrat came out and defeated himself. In both cases the Republican was strong and the Democrat somewhat disturbing.

 

Another way to say it is the old man tried to patronize the kid and the kid stood his ground. The old man pushed, and the kid pushed back.

[Draggingtree]

FACT CHECK: TOP TEN WORST LIES BY JOE BIDEN IN VP DEBATE

Once again, Joe Biden lied his way through a Vice Presidential debate--just as he did in his contest with Sarah Palin in 2008. This time, the media caught a few of Biden's worst "malarkey" moments--as did his opponent, Paul Ryan, when he could get a word in edgewise.

Here are the top ten worst lies told by Biden during the debate:

 

10. "With all due respect, that’s a bunch of malarkey....not a single thing he said is accurate." At the outset of the debate, Biden tried to paint Ryan as a liar--when Biden, in fact, was the one lying. Ryan had pointed out: 1) that the White House had distanced itself from the Cairo embassy's apologies on 9/11; 2) that Obama had failed to speak up for Iranian protestors in 2009; 3) that the Obama administration called Syria's dictator a "reformer"; 4) and that the Obama administration is imposing defense cuts and projecting weakness. All of that is true.

 

9. "The president has met with Bibi [Netanyahu] a dozen times....This is a bunch of stuff." While they have met several times--not a dozen--that includes a meeting at which Obama made the Israeli prime minister enter the White House through a back entrance, refused to take a picture with him, and left him on his own for dinner. Specifically, Ryan had criticized Obama's refusal to meet Netanyahu in New York last month, and to tape talk show interviews instead--a clear snub that sent the wrong signal, again, to Israel's enemies.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/10/12/Fact-Check-Top-Ten-Worst-Lies-by-Joe-Biden-in-VP-Debate

Another fact check via Yid with Lid: Joe Biden Has Never Been a Big Friend Of Israel:

When Biden was in the Senate and the upper-body sent out “non-binding letters supporting Israel, Biden support was missing:

• November 2001, Bond/Schumer Letter Urging President Not to Meet with Arafat until the Violence Ends, 89 Signers: Sen. Biden did not sign this letter urging President Bush not to meet with Arafat until Palestinian violence ceased. The letter had 89 signers.
  
  

• March 2004, Schumer-Hatch-Clinton-Smith Letter Urging Kofi Annan to Reverse Support for ICJ Hearings on the Security Fence, 79 Signers: Sen. Biden did not sign this letter urging Kofi Annan to reverse support for the International Court of Justice Hearings on the Security fence which ultimately had 79 signers.
  
  

• December 2005,Talent/Nelson Letter Urging Pres. Bush to Press Palestinian Leadership to Bar Terrorist Groups from Participating in Palestinian Legislative Elections, 73 co-signers: Sen. Biden did not sign this letter barring ter
  
  
• ror groups from participating in Palestinian elections which ultimately had 73 co-signers.
  
  

[Pepper]

From HOT AIR

 

Vice President Joe Biden’s repeated laughter during Thursday’s debate was a reflection of the “enormous amount of passion and joy” he brings to the job of serving the American people, White House press secretary Jay Carney said on Friday…

 

“The person I saw up there last night is somebody who is absolutely passionate about fighting for and defending the middle class… and who comes to his job — this many years in to serving his country in the Senate and now to the White House — with an enormous amount of passion and joy,” Carney said…

 

[SrWoodchuck]

How Biden could become Romney’s VP

 

A Nightmarish Scenario: http://washingtonexaminer.com/how-biden-could-become-romneys-vp/article/2510613#.UHnnfIZn0bl

 

......there are plausible scenarios under which next month’s election could result in a 269–269 electoral vote tie, which would send the presidential election over to the House of Representatives. Such an outcome would favor Romney over President Obama, according to an analysis by the Washington Examiner.

But in such a case, it would fall on the Senate to choose the vice president, with each Senator getting a vote. Given that it’s quite possible (arguably likely) that Democrats will retain control of the Senate, it means that they could vote for Biden to remain on as VP, even if the House elects Romney as president.

In theory, if the election outcome is a 50-50 Senate, Biden could be the tie-breaking vote for himself. This would allow him to remain on as VP and for the Democrats to retain effective control of the Senate. It would also usher in the Romney-Biden administration.

 

 

Go to post for an even scarier possibility.......

[Rheo]

NO!

[Pepper]

How Biden could become Romney’s VP

 

A Nightmarish Scenario: http://washingtonexa...13#.UHnnfIZn0bl

 

......there are plausible scenarios under which next month’s election could result in a 269–269 electoral vote tie, which would send the presidential election over to the House of Representatives. Such an outcome would favor Romney over President Obama, according to an analysis by the Washington Examiner.

But in such a case, it would fall on the Senate to choose the vice president, with each Senator getting a vote. Given that it’s quite possible (arguably likely) that Democrats will retain control of the Senate, it means that they could vote for Biden to remain on as VP, even if the House elects Romney as president.

In theory, if the election outcome is a 50-50 Senate, Biden could be the tie-breaking vote for himself. This would allow him to remain on as VP and for the Democrats to retain effective control of the Senate. It would also usher in the Romney-Biden administration.

 

 

Go to post for an even scarier possibility.......

 

I'd take a Romney win with Biden as VP over Obama and Biden any day of the week. Then put Biden in charge of latrines at Yellowstone NP and bring Ryan in to head Treasury

[SrWoodchuck]

Every ruling clique should have a fool to remove tension........eh, @Pepper?

[Geee]

Every ruling clique should have a fool to remove tension........eh, @Pepper?

 

You mean like the court jester?

[SrWoodchuck]

Every ruling clique should have a fool to remove tension........eh, @Pepper?

 

You mean like the court jester?

'Xactly, Sweet @Geee!