Who put Joe in charge of the lights?
posted at 8:52 am on July 7, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
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Rarely has any administration had to spend as much time issuing public corrections to statements made by a Vice President as the Obama adminstration. In fact, the White House has probably spent less time contradicting Dick Cheney than its own Veep, Joe Biden. Late yesterday, the Obama administration disavowed Biden’s apparent green light to Israel for an attack on Iran:
The Obama administration poured cold water Monday on any notion it is giving Israel the green light to attack Iran or that it is reconsidering plans to engage diplomatically with the Islamic republic.
Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview broadcast Sunday that the United States would not stand in the way of Israel in its dealings with Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
But State Department spokesman Ian Kelly rebuffed suggestions from reporters that Biden could be seen as giving the Jewish state a green light to attack Iran, which it views as an existential threat.
When Obama picked Joe Biden, we laughed aloud, anticipating the cottage industry in blog posts Biden would generate. He hasn’t disappointed, either. This last weekend’s admission that the Obama administration botched its economic analysis might have been the nadir, or perhaps Biden reached that during the swine-flu outbreak, when he called public transportation a danger to people’s health. It could also have been when Biden told reporters that he couldn’t answer economic questions about Porkulus despite having been appointed to lead the program by Obama.
In this case, though, let’s recall why Obama picked Biden. After Obama fumbled his response to the Russian invasion of Georgia, Obama needed someone to give him foreign policy credibility.
How’s that working out for you, President Obama? So far, it’s working out well for us.
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rob verdi on July 7, 2009 at 8:54 AM
The amazing thing about him is that he’s too stupid to realize how stupid he is.
ProfessorMiao on July 7, 2009 at 8:54 AM
he will be the scape goat over the stimulus failure.
rob verdi on July 7, 2009 at 8:55 AM
Maybe Joe’s simply color blind.
Shy Guy on July 7, 2009 at 8:56 AM
We are sooooooo screwed now that the adults are in charge.
doriangrey on July 7, 2009 at 8:57 AM
and the Israeli attack on Iran.
elduende on July 7, 2009 at 8:57 AM
Palin messes up a couple questions with Katie Couric = She’s the most unqualified person in the world!!!
Biden gives green light for Mideast warfare = Nothing to see here, folks.
BPD on July 7, 2009 at 8:58 AM
Well, in this case anybody would have a tough time trying to pin down Obama’s stand with respect to everything from taxes to foreign policy. When you try to express the view of someone voting PRESENT, you do have a problem…
Danzo on July 7, 2009 at 8:58 AM
We’ll soon be hearing how he easily gets confused and may be in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. ;o)
Speaking of Obama and Russia, I understand he got schooled this morning for more than hour on the history of the Cold War by Putin. Bwah!
NoLeftTurn on July 7, 2009 at 8:58 AM
Which makes him even more dangerous.
Thunderstorm129 on July 7, 2009 at 8:58 AM
That’s an interesting theory. Biden has no real economic expertise, yet Obama put him in charge of the stimulus bill. That does make it very convenient if the administration needs a fall guy now that it’s been a complete waste of $800 billion.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Obama also tries to throw Hillary under the bus. Only problem there is she won’t go down without taking his entire Presidency with her.
Doughboy on July 7, 2009 at 8:58 AM
Maybe, just maybe, Biden and other long time Senators-politicians feel the need to throw some obstacles in the path of this man for the sake of the country…
O.K., I’ll drink more coffee and stop dreaming.
Keemo on July 7, 2009 at 8:58 AM
but isn’t biden fun to watch? yes, those aneurysms have eroded his brain power & that is unfortunate, but he is wild to listen to.
kelley in virginia on July 7, 2009 at 8:59 AM
Is Hillary still among the missing?
ladyingray on July 7, 2009 at 8:59 AM
Why put Joe Biden in charge of ANYTHING?
therightwinger on July 7, 2009 at 9:00 AM
Poor Joe is trying to predict which side of Obama’s waffle is buttered? God love ya, Joe.
cyclown on July 7, 2009 at 9:00 AM
If Biden weren’t an absolutely worthless, incompetent and corrupt Democrat, he would already be a national punchline.
Then again, if Biden weren’t a Democrat, he wouldn’t be this stupid.
NoDonkey on July 7, 2009 at 9:00 AM
Luckily we have a strong and vocal Secretary of the State to correct these things….don’t we?
Where’s
WaldoHilary…right2bright on July 7, 2009 at 9:01 AM
DON’T MESS WITH JOE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
blatantblue on July 7, 2009 at 9:01 AM
Oh please Obama could school Putin on the official Russian version of the cold war.
doriangrey on July 7, 2009 at 9:01 AM
Wondering if there isn’t some ‘dumb like a fox’ going on here…
Biden’s job is to inflate the trial balloons — if they fly, it’s all good — if not, it’s a hand-slap & move on to the next insanity.
The useful idiot, no?
CaveatEmpty on July 7, 2009 at 9:01 AM
LEAVE JOE ALOOOOOOOONEEEEE!!
blatantblue on July 7, 2009 at 9:01 AM
“So far, it’s working out well for us.” I don’t think it’s working out well for anyone, it is amature time at the White House.
Rode Werk on July 7, 2009 at 9:01 AM
Palin could never do his job, he’s special.
the_nile on July 7, 2009 at 9:02 AM
And here we thought no one would ever top Dan Quayle. Way to go Joe!
Thunderstorm129 on July 7, 2009 at 9:02 AM
Isn’t that Lindsey Graham in the background doing his lapdog routine? Biden and Graham are both sub-human specimens that are parasites on the American public. Graham is like Obama. He only says what the people in front of him want to here. Joe, on the other hand, doesn’t know what he is saying until it comes out and somebody tells him what he just said.
volsense on July 7, 2009 at 9:03 AM
I swear there has to be another reason Obama picked Biden, but darned if I can figure out what it is…
ladyingray on July 7, 2009 at 9:03 AM
Ding Ding Ding!
correct answer…
this adminstration is utterly useless….
cmsinaz on July 7, 2009 at 9:03 AM
I would still take Joe as POTUS over Ogabe.
Bishop on July 7, 2009 at 9:03 AM
So,the Liberals are back to,
‘We were for it,and now were against it!
GaffeBiden must be taken tips,from John
Kerry!!
canopfor on July 7, 2009 at 9:03 AM
Actually, no, it’s not, if by “us” you mean “Americans.”
Beo on July 7, 2009 at 9:04 AM
it does make you wonder….
cmsinaz on July 7, 2009 at 9:04 AM
You know on this one I’m going to say the State department and Obama gaffed, not Biden. It would have been correct to let Biden’s statement on Israel stand and even backed it up.
lowandslow on July 7, 2009 at 9:04 AM
Heck’uva job joe.
the_nile on July 7, 2009 at 9:04 AM
I love “Nobody Messes with Joe” Biden. He is the biggest moron of them all in D.C. And considering the morons who infest D.C., that’s pretty difficult.
Well, Putin would know about the Cold War, wouldn’t he? And that is frigging awesome. Smarter power and diplomacy indeed.
mjk on July 7, 2009 at 9:05 AM
Me too. Biden would be content to run his stupid mouth during press conferences everyday. It would be comedy gold.
Obama’s actually trying to enact his disastrous agenda.
Stupid people who are also persistant are much more dangerous than stupid people who are lazy.
NoDonkey on July 7, 2009 at 9:05 AM
In private maybe, but this is not what you say in public.
Thunderstorm129 on July 7, 2009 at 9:06 AM
We need more Joe Biden out and about giving interviews and speeches. He is always good for a laugh or two.
albill on July 7, 2009 at 9:06 AM
the problem is: That’s not how the Obama administration feels about Israel. It’s “be nice to your adversaries/enemies and let your allies twist in the wind” time at the White House.
mjk on July 7, 2009 at 9:07 AM
When the president and the vice president are in direct conflict with each other on the international stage, it proves to the world that American leadership is in a state of total confusion. Of course you would have to be a complete brainwashed lemming to think otherwise. When will we know when we are at rock bottom?
volsense on July 7, 2009 at 9:08 AM
With Capt. Joe handling the stimulus package to ensure our economy will rebound quickly. We can look forward to smooth sailing and sleep good at night.
Jeff from WI on July 7, 2009 at 9:08 AM
When the shootin’ war starts, will someone remind Joe…business end towards the enemy.
Thunderstorm129 on July 7, 2009 at 9:08 AM
Bring the popcorn.
NoLeftTurn on July 7, 2009 at 9:08 AM
Biden resigns for health reasons in 5 … 4 … 3 …
Michelle Obama appointed VP in 3 … 2 … 1 …
And you thought the Bushes created a dynasty, you ain’t seen nothingyet. elections? We don’t need no stinking elections, we’ve got The Obamas, his and hers Saviors.
johnsteele on July 7, 2009 at 9:09 AM
I see a moderate to severe aneurysm in sheriff joe’s near future…..anyone taking odds?
Ris4victory on July 7, 2009 at 9:11 AM
really, why is Obama keeping Biden around? is it just too early in the administration yet to fire him?
kelley in virginia on July 7, 2009 at 9:11 AM
I doubt either one of them could give an accurate, unbiased account of the Cold War. I just find it amusing that he was apparently manhandled, at least according to Fox.
NoLeftTurn on July 7, 2009 at 9:11 AM
I laughed out loud at the pick of Biden too, but now I am thinking it is not funny.
Ocommie picked Joe Biden because he knows he is an egotistical fool who is too stupid to realize what is really going on and because he provides a perfect distraction while we march toward Socialism.
maryo on July 7, 2009 at 9:11 AM
Ladyingray, there was a reason Obama picked a chump like Biden for VP. As long as Biden is second in line to lead, no one on the face of the earth would do anything to Obama to allow Biden to ever be in charge. Biden is the perfect insurance.
volsense on July 7, 2009 at 9:11 AM
Drudge has Biden’s and Obama’s contradictory statements at the top of his page. Ha.
I would not be surprised if Biden resigns before 2012 because of an illness or some “extenuating circumstances.”
conservative pilgrim on July 7, 2009 at 9:11 AM
LOL
Ocommie!!
love it
blatantblue on July 7, 2009 at 9:12 AM
and i predict Obambi will keep hillary on as SoS as long as she is willing to serve as the whipping girl in that position.
kelley in virginia on July 7, 2009 at 9:12 AM
I’m picturing Putin & Medeved busting a gut laughing at Biden. What a buffoon.
Jeff from WI on July 7, 2009 at 9:13 AM
It also makes the rainy day Republicans like Colin Powell and Chris Buckley who claim to have voted for Obama because they thought Palin was “too inexperienced” look pretty foolish.
ProfessorMiao on July 7, 2009 at 9:13 AM
We probably have to go back to the 19th Century to find someone this stupid holding the office of VP. I offer a one-finger salute to the people of Deleware for foisting this idiot off on the rest of us.
RobertE on July 7, 2009 at 9:14 AM
I wonder if every gaffe is accidental. I get the impression Biden really hates Obama.
Daggett on July 7, 2009 at 9:14 AM
Putin lived the Cold War. and would thereby be a student of int’l relations (from the Soviet viewpoint). yes, i would say that Putin knows more about foreign relations that bambi.
what? Putin didn’t go to an Ivy League school?
kelley in virginia on July 7, 2009 at 9:14 AM
He picked Biden because no one else wanted the job. Obama’s ego was (is) too massive for him to have picked La Clinton.
SouthernGent on July 7, 2009 at 9:14 AM
Two things:
1. Pray for the continued health of Barack Obama. If anything happens to him, it’s President Plugs.
2. Hillary! will resign w/in the next six months to do the Sarah thing. This Moscow trip had to be the last straw. She was kept home with a duster and a dustpan. Bush never would have dreamed of treating Condi this way.
victor82 on July 7, 2009 at 9:15 AM
putin is also laughing at obama. i suspect he wanted to laugh at bush, but bush wasn’t afraid to send troops.
kelley in virginia on July 7, 2009 at 9:15 AM
Joe’s only in his first semester of New Speak classes. He was caught in a moment of lucidity and spoke common sense out of old habit.
katy on July 7, 2009 at 9:16 AM
If Biden was ever thrown under the bus, who in their right mind would want to be VP for this administration?
cmsinaz on July 7, 2009 at 9:16 AM
Bush realized that Condi knew alot more than he about many foreign policy matters.
kelley in virginia on July 7, 2009 at 9:16 AM
“Barry Obama: Judgment to Lead.”
Choosing brain-dead Biden as VP was Barry’s first major exercise of his “superior” executive judgment.
The jokes write themselves.
AZCoyote on July 7, 2009 at 9:16 AM
Yes….the old ‘your VP is dumber than my VP argument’. Except we now have proof which of them was actually stupid. Palin’s up north negotiating pipelines with oil execs and Joe’s down south trying to eat soup with a fork.
Thunderstorm129 on July 7, 2009 at 9:17 AM
hillary gets to meet with Zelaya, an up & coming Marxist leader. so maybe she doesn’t get to go to Russia, but she should be grabbing some headlines with that controversy.
kelley in virginia on July 7, 2009 at 9:18 AM
What seems to have been forgotten is there was a time last fall when it seemed Obama was having a hard time finding anybody who would agree to be his running mate. Obama was slipping in the polls compared to McCain and appeared to be headed for a loss. There was much speculation that a lot of potential running mates didn’t want to get on a sinking ship. Then Uncle Joe came to the rescue.
Obama and Biden can contradict each other till the cows come home, without either of them ever getting it right.
backwoods conservative on July 7, 2009 at 9:18 AM
G. Soros.
Thunderstorm129 on July 7, 2009 at 9:18 AM
Makes me proud to be an American. Yessiree.
Akzed on July 7, 2009 at 9:19 AM
A biden administration would unintentionally be the most transparent administration evah
Chiasmos on July 7, 2009 at 9:19 AM
With all these mixed signals out of the Obewon admin, maybe Israel should call the bombers back. Then again, maybe they should do their own thing. Wish he would just stick to running a car company.
Kissmygrits on July 7, 2009 at 9:19 AM
wouldn’t it be easy for any of us here to be bambi’s VP? we could recite every policy position that is unconstitutional & morally wrong & unAmerican; & we would be saying all the correct Bambi administration things.
how tough could that be?
kelley in virginia on July 7, 2009 at 9:21 AM
I wonder why Hillary didn’t go on this trip. Condi went on most, if not all, foreign trips with President Bush. I don’t remember Albright going on so many trips with Clinton or Powell with Bush in his first term. It still seems like a slap in the face to Hillary.
OTOH-I’m sure Michelle Obama doesn’t mind Hillary’s absence.
conservative pilgrim on July 7, 2009 at 9:21 AM
Joe is trying to drive the bus.
cobrakai99 on July 7, 2009 at 9:21 AM
And his Chief of Staff would have a heart attack after 6 months!
conservative pilgrim on July 7, 2009 at 9:22 AM
Biden’s doctors are attempting to dissuade the Vice President from trying to improve his intellectual reputation by copying the ideas of other former Democrat Presidents.
Doctors found it dangerous when Biden took literally Bill Clinton’s remark, “I didn’t inhale”.
Jeff from WI on July 7, 2009 at 9:22 AM
When I heard that, I thought that there is now way Obama is going to let that fly.
This is just too funny.
Joe Biden is America’s court jester and Obama’s thorn in his flesh.
therightscoop on July 7, 2009 at 9:23 AM
Biden is to visit Georgia and Ukraine beginning July 20. I assume this is because Obarfa promised Putin no real objection if Russia tries to get them back. Biden will reassure them that no deal was made. Within one year, my guess is we’ll see Russia act.
JiangxiDad on July 7, 2009 at 9:24 AM
Biden gaffes are always a direct reflection of the man who chose Biden.
LastRick on July 7, 2009 at 9:25 AM
Yep….hard to get excited when the inmates are running the asylum. Oh, we can laugh at this jerk and make fun of him, but it’s a private laugh amongst friends. Ask the majority of Obama voters who the VP is and you’ll see uncomfortable blank stares and hear their imitations of the One…..um….er…..ah…. The whole affair is becoming sadder by the day.
genso on July 7, 2009 at 9:25 AM
And Obama will praise the democratic process that reunited Putin and Georgia. And the media will applaud. And we’ll say “WTF, mate?” and they’ll say – you didn’t see what you thought you saw.
And down the drain we’ll continue to spin….
Thunderstorm129 on July 7, 2009 at 9:26 AM
Let’s not worry about Hillary’s absence, what everyone really wants to know is what is Michelle wearing on this trip? /sarc
cmsinaz on July 7, 2009 at 9:26 AM
What’s that saying? One heartbeat away. Yeah, that’s enough to scare the crap out of us all.
t.ferg on July 7, 2009 at 9:26 AM
During the primary campaign debates, I thought better of Biden’s foreign policy than the other DNC contenders. As a politician, Biden’s smile attracts a sense of sincerity that in comparison Obama’s lacks, for me at least. Biden likes people; Obama doesn’t.
Despite his buffoonery, Biden holds his allegiance with America, as the coming socialist US; yet he lacks the antipathetic streak for Americans that runs through Obama. For THAT, Obama will roll him under. Biden is just another whitey who’ll get his given circumstances that await from Obama.
$.02
maverick muse on July 7, 2009 at 9:30 AM
.
Seconded. Right now I’ll take gaffe over dangerous. A faux pas or two can be modified, clarified or recinded.
Americannodash on July 7, 2009 at 9:30 AM
Whoa! Looks like the hangover is finally over! Fresh from Rasmussen…
Overall, 52% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President’s performance so far. That, too, is a new low for the President. Forty-seen percent (47%) now disapprove. For other barometers of the President’s performance, see Obama By the Numbers or review recent demographic highlights from the tracking polls.
SouthernGent on July 7, 2009 at 9:30 AM
Seeing Graham in the background churns my stomach. They’re all in bed together. We are just pawns in their arrogant games they play.
Joe’s the neighborhood guy who thinks he knows everything but is so easily manipulated that everyone tolerates him while laughing behind his back. Lindsey sucks up to Joe, which tells you how low that wannabe is in the political spectrum.
Vince on July 7, 2009 at 9:31 AM
lol…Do these two ever talk to each other?
bridgetown on July 7, 2009 at 9:31 AM
That’s because he has no idea where Russia is.
Phoenician on July 7, 2009 at 9:31 AM
Stevie Wonder is driving the Obama bus.
thomasaur on July 7, 2009 at 9:31 AM
When asked by Major Garret in Moscow today re. Honduras, Garret reported the following:
JiangxiDad on July 7, 2009 at 9:31 AM
me too
cause as ive said in the past
if the proverbial sh*t hit the proverbial fan
i feel Joe Blow would eventually do whatever it takes to defend america
obarfy? i dont know — and thats scary
blatantblue on July 7, 2009 at 9:31 AM
Why would Soros downgrade his position to be Bambi’s VP?
NoDonkey on July 7, 2009 at 9:32 AM
Too late to turn back now. Obarfa set us down this road, and we’re going to it’s conclusion. Only a few people know that it leads to his destruction or ours, but what the hell.
JiangxiDad on July 7, 2009 at 9:33 AM
Biden’s smile reminds me of a used-car salesman. The difference between Biden and Obama is that Biden is indeed an idiot and Obama, while destructive, isn’t. It matters little to me whether he “likes people” or not.
genso on July 7, 2009 at 9:34 AM
Wait, let’s not lose sight that what Biden said – Israel can determine for itself — it’s a sovereign nation — what’s in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else. Whether we agree or not. They’re entitled to do that. Any sovereign nation is entitled to do that. – is exactly what this administration should be saying.
So the story then isn’t so that Biden is making yet another gaffe, but rather that Biden is the only one in this administration who is making any sense.
DarkKnight3565 on July 7, 2009 at 9:34 AM
Me thinks GaffeBiden should have his
lips registered as a deadly weapon!
He is going to get people killed,
when he speaks!(Sarc).
canopfor on July 7, 2009 at 9:34 AM
I suspect the decision to make Biden VP will be corrected shortly by Rahm Emmanuel.
sherry on July 7, 2009 at 9:35 AM
A new low for the American people I’d say.
katy on July 7, 2009 at 9:36 AM
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