Biden confuses “brigades” with “battalions” — for the third time in a week
posted at 3:54 pm on September 3, 2008 by Allahpundit
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Another confidence-building moment from our would-be regent, there to provide a steady hand while the young king finds his way.
[H]eralding his own experience, Biden also said he “know(s) as much as anyone in government about” national security and foreign policy.
And for the third time since his acceptance speech a week ago, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee confused battalions and brigades.
“Over a year and a half ago,” Biden said of Obama. “He said we need two more combat battalions in Afghanistan.”
Actually, Obama called for two more combat brigades.
A brigade is bigger than a battalion — a brigade, in fact, is composed of a varying number of battalions.
Ed rapped him the first time he did this a few days ago, which I thought at the time was a bit harsh for what surely must have been a simple misstatement. Nope: Turns out he really doesn’t know the difference. If Palin made this same mistake, of course, she’d be finished, as it would prove conclusively that she has no firmer grasp of military matters than, um, a six-term U.S. Senator.
More at the link, including an attack on Fred Thompson and Biden’s second “slip” in three days accidentally placing himself at the top of the Democratic ticket. Exit question: How hard do we want to be on him today? In light of some other choice stories I’m seeing around the ’sphere, I’m thinking not very.
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I love Biden. I think it’s great Obama chose him.
lorien1973 on September 3, 2008 at 3:56 PM
We’re past confusion and into “he just doesn’t know the difference” and far be it from any of his or Obama’s advisers to know the difference since they threw Wesley Clark under the bus.
Dusty on September 3, 2008 at 3:57 PM
We wouldn’t want to let getting some truth about Biden out get in the way of moaning about Palin’s made-up negatives, would we?
MrScribbler on September 3, 2008 at 3:58 PM
Once Palin is done, let’s get an ad out about Obama’s stupidity in Biden.
Sakaki on September 3, 2008 at 3:59 PM
His plugs are too deep.
ronsfi on September 3, 2008 at 3:59 PM
Democrats confuse stupidity with intelligence, which is why they nominated Obama and Biden.
NoFanofLibs on September 3, 2008 at 3:59 PM
Shhhh! Don’t tell him.
carbon_footprint on September 3, 2008 at 4:00 PM
Obama/Biden: The Gaffe Ticket
Kronos on September 3, 2008 at 4:00 PM
AP, you certainly have a way with words. The image I have of Grandpa Biden bouncing king Barack on his knee is priceless.
JeffC_95 on September 3, 2008 at 4:01 PM
Joe’s excuse…”Well, that’s what Neil Kinnock said!!”
120pages on September 3, 2008 at 4:02 PM
I this is a knee slapper from yesterday
Topsecretk9 on September 3, 2008 at 4:02 PM
brigade/battalion. what’s the difference to old buddy Joe.
And Iraq/Iran, what’s the differnce? Did old Joe want to partition Iran into 3 states, or was it Iraq he was talking about? At least he knows more about foreign affairs than Obambi. And Joe has strong white teeth. :)
poxoma on September 3, 2008 at 4:03 PM
Let’s not make a fuss about this, and hopefully he’ll do it again in the debate.
BadgerHawk on September 3, 2008 at 4:04 PM
Biden says Isreal will just have to live with a Nuk. Iran
They will also let Russia take back the Baltic states. This they will say is above their pay grades to do anything about it.
Rick007 on September 3, 2008 at 4:04 PM
Hey, one of Palin’s children just broke a nail, what kind of mother is she?
No time to cover Biden’s unvetted incompetence.
NoDonkey on September 3, 2008 at 4:04 PM
We need to put a few thousand more platoons in there.
Akzed on September 3, 2008 at 4:04 PM
Joe Biden needs to introduce a puppet show into his speeches, then he can blame Leeroy, the Puppet for all the gaffes
JoeBrooks on September 3, 2008 at 4:05 PM
Is this the part where we’re supposed to screech about Eagleton?
Jim Treacher on September 3, 2008 at 4:06 PM
Biden sure likes to bullshit. I’m reckoning he’s not nearly one quarter as smart as he thinks he is.
Like Obama, he’s all mouth and trousers.
LimeyGeek on September 3, 2008 at 4:06 PM
Biden
I would say the confusion over brigade and battalion are the least of his worries. Why just hit Oh-Bama over the head with the failed surge meme.
jdkchem on September 3, 2008 at 4:07 PM
heheh– the gall bladder srory is hilarious and
Biden is comedy gold.
Topsecretk9 on September 3, 2008 at 4:07 PM
“Alls we cans say is”, look out Joe Biden.
carbon_footprint on September 3, 2008 at 4:08 PM
Merciless. He’s a pea-brained blowhard.
None of Joe Biden’s past runs at the national level has had a natural end. He’s had to pull out each time. Tick … tock … tick … tock …
progressoverpeace on September 3, 2008 at 4:08 PM
HAH!
Topsecretk9 on September 3, 2008 at 4:08 PM
http://www.tmz.com/2008/09/02/barack-makes-his-tory-with-his-two-dads/
Too funny! Historical, for sure.
Qzsusy on September 3, 2008 at 4:09 PM
Not Gaffes, it’s ignorance. How many “gaffes” have Obama and Biden made in this short campaign so far, that the mdeia WILL NOT COVER?
McCain got raked over the coals on 2 “gaffes”, Obama has had at least what 100, and Biden has already had like a dozen maybe more, heck Obama and Biden both of then even made “gaffes” while announcing Biden!
Chakra Hammer on September 3, 2008 at 4:09 PM
This is not a small error, this is like confusing a city with a state.
Or a candidate who should go back to being a community organizer, with a candidate with the heft to be President.
NoDonkey on September 3, 2008 at 4:10 PM
EXPERIENCE. Awesome.
I like the RNC’s “Biden Gaff Counter” btw… tough to keep track.
ChipDWood on September 3, 2008 at 4:10 PM
Brigade, Battalion, Italian Stallion.
Whatever.
“Is this microphone on?”
fogw on September 3, 2008 at 4:11 PM
He knows more about national security and foreign policy than anyone. That is why he supported the war, opposed the surge, wanted to divide the country into 3 countries based on ethnicity. He doesn’t have the judgement to lead, but obviously has the judgement to follow.
bopbottle on September 3, 2008 at 4:11 PM
Gaffe. Whatever. Clearly I am not experienced enough to run for such an esteemed office.
ChipDWood on September 3, 2008 at 4:11 PM
Juicy ones, too.
progressoverpeace on September 3, 2008 at 4:11 PM
Repeat:
Let’s not make a fuss about this, and hopefully he’ll do it again in the debate.
Don’t focus on Biden at all. Keep showing how our number two is better than their number one. She can destroy Biden at the debate, but we need to focus all of our attention on The One.
BadgerHawk on September 3, 2008 at 4:11 PM
Obviously Biden’s advanced age is getting the best of him. Right? Isn’t that the meme this year? Buehler? Buehler? Anyone???
Sugar Land on September 3, 2008 at 4:11 PM
This brings me back to the little joke session we used to have about the unit structure where each person would should out the following in succession:
Army!
Division!
Brigade!
Battalion!
Company!
Platoon!
Squad!
Team!
Me!
So Biden means to tell us that as a high-ranking government official, he lacks the ability to distinguish the same simple concepts that even the lowest of enlisted soldiers can distinguish.
The duality of the left’s elitism and idiocy never ceases to amaze me.
leetpriest on September 3, 2008 at 4:12 PM
Even I know the difference. And I’m a military idjit.
mjk on September 3, 2008 at 4:13 PM
Hey, how long before Biden gets Eagletoned for Wes “New York Money People” Clark?
omriceren on September 3, 2008 at 4:16 PM
Regiment?
Akzed on September 3, 2008 at 4:16 PM
Legion?
LimeyGeek on September 3, 2008 at 4:20 PM
Worse Biden promised that Obama will pursue charges against Bush administration after the election
William Amos on September 3, 2008 at 4:20 PM
I didn’t include regiment because I never really served in a regiment during my career, with the exception of basic training. I believe it still exists as an applicable unit, but I’ve never seen one outside of training.
But, when you’re right, you’re right. I stand corrected.
leetpriest on September 3, 2008 at 4:22 PM
During the 2008 Democratic Presidential primary in Biden’s home state of Delaware (population 800,000+), Biden received ONLY 2,863 votes.
Biden is so popular with voters that he received in TOTAL about 9,000 votes in all of the 2008 Democratic Presidential primaries.
albill on September 3, 2008 at 4:22 PM
That would depend a great deal on if he was talking about Regular Army or Special Forces.
BDU-33 on September 3, 2008 at 4:23 PM
Ah, c’mon, that’s a simple mistake anybody could make. Twice.
Three times, I think, shows an inability to learn.
Tony737 on September 3, 2008 at 4:23 PM
Hey, BDU-33, what’s up my AMMO brutha?!
Tony737 on September 3, 2008 at 4:24 PM
Sleep well America, because if anything happens to the Braggart-in-Chief, the Vice-Braggart will be there.
Loxodonta on September 3, 2008 at 4:24 PM
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/oh-that-joe-n-2.html
I don’t think Governor Palin has anything to worry about when it comes to the debates.
Stumbling, stuttering Joe is still an ol’ gaffe machine. He called Obama Osama.
Enoxo on September 3, 2008 at 4:26 PM
I wonder if plugs knows how many spittoons are in a battalion?
txdoc on September 3, 2008 at 4:28 PM
Does a special forces brigade exist in the U.S. Army? If so, which brigade is it?
Also, I don’t think that we have an entire brigade or even a battalion of SF soldiers in Iraq at this time, speaking in terms of the entire unit as a whole.
leetpriest on September 3, 2008 at 4:29 PM
To be fair, all the speeches he plagiarized said battalion as well.
Chuck Schick on September 3, 2008 at 4:31 PM
Comedy gold, as expected. Thanks Obama!
spmat on September 3, 2008 at 4:35 PM
Who is this “Biden” clown…………?
Seven Percent Solution on September 3, 2008 at 4:37 PM
Remember this one folks because Gov. Palin will never get away with saying something like this without the MSM screaming “See! See! We told you she couldn’t handle blah blah blah blah blah…
Overstating there a little Joey? Worried much about our “Steel
MagnoliaForget-Me-Not“?Brat on September 3, 2008 at 4:39 PM
Joe, repeat after me, “brigade big, battalion much smaller”.
Harpoon on September 3, 2008 at 4:41 PM
Biden is a putz.
[But he's from Scranton.]
leetpriest on September 3, 2008 at 4:29 PM –
As for special operations brigades…guess it depends. The 95th Civil Affairs Brigade is part of the US Army Special Operations Command. [There are at least seven US Army Reserve Civil Affairs Brigades, with elements deployed around the world. The normal unit found within SpecOps are the group [roughly regiment to brigade size], the battalion [two or more companies], or detachment. But, deploying as an entire Brigade? Haven’t seen that happen yet, and we probably won’t.
But, in any case, you’d think that after 35 years dealing with the subject matter, Biden would get it right.
But, he’s from Scranton…so guess he gets a pass…again.
coldwarrior on September 3, 2008 at 4:42 PM
another Republican supporting Barry and Biden being their nominee….
hey Joe….
2 brigades=s 7500-11,000 soldiers
2 Batts=s 650-2300 soldiers
Nuance Joe, nuance….
I’ve just tried to be a military advisor, if I keep trying for two more years am I qualified?
sven10077 on September 3, 2008 at 4:43 PM
I’ve never heard of any.
SF sometimes can be combined into a battalion. There is the 5th SF Battalion that I know of. I also think that the Rangers up at Princlik(SP?)for Provide Comfort around 92 or 93 was battalion size at times. But I’m not to sure about that we only saw them when the Turks closed the boarder so they could go pound some Kurds.
BDU-33 on September 3, 2008 at 4:44 PM
“I’ve just tried to be a military advisor, if I keep trying for two more years am I qualified?”
If you played “cowboys and indians” as a child you’re more qualified than Obambi.
If you watched “Patton” in its entirety, you’re more qualified than Biden.
NoDonkey on September 3, 2008 at 4:45 PM
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. In “Tour of Duty,” John Kerry’s book, he has a photo with a caption describing his “Swift Boats” going up a river. They weren’t Swift Boats. They were PBR’s (Patrol Boat, River). If he has spent more than four months on the boat, he might have remembered what they looked like.
Star20 on September 3, 2008 at 4:48 PM
It’s obvious none of those hair plugs is anchored to a brain cell.
Cicero43 on September 3, 2008 at 4:48 PM
There is the 5th SF
BattalionGroupBDU-33 on September 3, 2008 at 4:48 PM
What an idiot. He should know better.
Just like McCain should not have messed up Iran/Iraq, Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia and Obama shouldn’t have said 57 states. It’s simply unacceptable to not have your sh*t together when bloggers analyze every syllable you speak.
May I assume that you’re all annoyed at all the candidates’ speaking fu*k ups?
Dave Rywall on September 3, 2008 at 4:49 PM
Here is Biden video stating that the Dems will go after the Bush Administration after Obama is elected
William Amos on September 3, 2008 at 4:50 PM
We need to hammer this home 24/7 to the American people between now and election day and go after his family to boot do THEY know what a brigade is? And if they’re not talking about I want to know WHY they’re not talking about it. For crying out loud, this guy is going to be a freaking heartbeat away from the Presidency, man, how can we afford this kind of gross incompetence!?!? Besides, this guy’s a super-duper gaff machine Obama must KICK HIM OFF THE TICKET NOW that’s the only way Obama can possibly win the election and you all know how desperately, terribly much I WANT Barack Obama to win the election right? ‘Cause I’d never tried to mislead people about that – ever not in a million billion years….
Hehe. Just kidding. I have no problem at all with this pick. Kudo’s, Mr. Obama on a job well done.
logis on September 3, 2008 at 4:51 PM
don’t worry we’ll go after you guys as soon as you’re sworn in….
Law is a funny thing about your son Joe and Barry’s buddies and funneling money to Michelle’s employers….
sven10077 on September 3, 2008 at 4:52 PM
Black flag,..all the way!
a capella on September 3, 2008 at 4:54 PM
Here in the rest of the Foreign Policy world we views these gaffes by Biden as a positive..
Maybe instead of 100 F15s we can buy 1000!
Or instead of 250 BDU-33s we can pick up 25,000!!! Yeeeha!
I can almost taste the good headlines.
“Arms Shipment to Israel seem to have risen dramatically in 2010 so far..”
saus on September 3, 2008 at 4:54 PM
If you earned a grade above C in any of your college courses, you’re more qualified than Biden.
If you finished in the top 90% of your law school class, you’re more qualified than Biden.
AZCoyote on September 3, 2008 at 4:55 PM
That’s true, I didn’t think of that, 5th SF and the combination that is, I’m used to seeing a few of them attached to different units here and there.
Yeah these days it seems that the Army likes to organize what should be a 300 or 400 soldier unit into a 90-100 soldier unit. I’ve been in a few Sig. units like that, it sucked.
By the way, from soldier to soldier, thanks for your service.
leetpriest on September 3, 2008 at 4:55 PM
Exactly! It would have been good for Palin to call him out on it.
nottakingsides on September 3, 2008 at 4:57 PM
Dave, you’re not supposed to let us see you sweat. Just think, if The One is elected, Biden will be one heartbeat away from the presidency.
a capella on September 3, 2008 at 4:58 PM
Biden’s 21-year old daughter was arrested in a bar brawl a few years ago.
Doesn’t that prove that Biden’s an unfit parent who has neglected to teach his kids proper values, and therefore is clearly not qualified to be “a heartbeat away” from the presidency?
AZCoyote on September 3, 2008 at 4:59 PM
If he had been a Governer and leader of a state’s National Guard like for example…..I dunno….Alaska! He would know the difference.
I am just saying
azcop on September 3, 2008 at 4:59 PM
Though shall not question the holy trinity!!!! So let it be written by NBC…..So let it be done by the rest of the media!
azcop on September 3, 2008 at 5:01 PM
Of course! The marxist media knows better than to get on the bad side of the The One or The Two.
leetpriest on September 3, 2008 at 5:01 PM
But, but, but has anyone mentioned he rides the train to work?
trs on September 3, 2008 at 5:05 PM
I heard Pat Sajak asked Biden if he wanted to buy a vowel.
TheHat on September 3, 2008 at 5:06 PM
Biden abandoned working-class blue-collar Scranton, PA when he was ten years old to end up in an elite up-scale non-working class, totally white-collar community outside Dover, Delaware. Can that be used to show he isn’t fit to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency?
(Sounds pretty stupid, doesn’t it?)
The Dems and the Left and the MSM opened that door on this “not fit” garbage. Biden, as a one-time erstwhile prosecutor, and Obama as a self-purported law professor (he wasn’t; was merely a part-time when convenient instructor) should have known this.
The Dems raised the issue, opened the door.
The Court of public opinion can use it to our advantage all we wish now.
Besides…what do they expect the GOP to do? Follow Dem Party advice on how to run a campaign? This is the idiocy of it all. The Left screaming to the rafters that the GOP can’t nominate any candidate we darn well please to be on our ticket?
coldwarrior on September 3, 2008 at 5:07 PM
Is it too late for Obama to employ the Eagleton option?
Mr_Magoo on September 3, 2008 at 5:08 PM
Me: Staunch conservative, white, male, Navy vet. And I don’t know the difference between a battalion and a brigade.
How many know the difference between a Squadron, Flotilla, Group, Fleet, Task Group and Task Force?
This is not on my list of things to worry about. BTW, somebody on the JCS certainly knows, and that’s who is supposed to know.
BobMbx on September 3, 2008 at 5:19 PM
BobMbx,
You are right that most of us don’t know the difference, but most of us aren’t running for VP, based on 30 years of vast foreign relations and military experience.
Star20 on September 3, 2008 at 5:22 PM
Star20 on September 3, 2008 at 5:22 PM
True enough, but had he used the words “more troops”, we wouldn’t be reading about it here.
Maybe we should scour the record and find how many instances where Ol’ Joe said “Xerox” instead of “photocopy”. Criminy, doesn’t he know the difference…we’ve only been using them like, since forever.
BobMbx on September 3, 2008 at 5:29 PM
.
Not very hard on him???
.
The screws need to be tightened daily with the whining liberal ticket. Does anyone in their right mind think that all the smears directed at Palin are not coming directly out of Obama’s campaign? Only the truly stupid. With smear mongers like Carville working the trash department, he’s queing up the media with one gem after another. All the while isolating “TheOne” enough to make him look like a moral saint by speaking against it.
stacman on September 3, 2008 at 5:31 PM
Biden has a memory issue.
Is he fit to president if need be? I think not.
I think he should drop out of the race.
madmonkphotog on September 3, 2008 at 5:42 PM
Clean, too. Right, Joe?
TinMan13 on September 3, 2008 at 7:56 PM
I believe it was Rudy that slammed him by saying that Palin had more votes for Mayor than Biden had for President!!!
Rawhide on September 3, 2008 at 11:52 PM
It has been
48, 12 hours since the last Biden gaffe…Cr4sh Dummy on September 4, 2008 at 4:07 AM
More of the ‘Blind leading the Blind’.
I bet he confuses a Wing in the USAF as those things that stick out from the sides of an airplane. He also things the a squadron is what an airplane flies.
Now I know why they are in favor of gun control. Give a lib a gun and they would look down the barrel, because they would never have a butt that close to the head, and ask what are those spiral grooves doing in there?
MSGTAS on September 4, 2008 at 10:53 AM
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