Even more revealing, in its own way, is Biden’s “it’s nothing personal, pal” semi-apology to Doocy. This is of a piece with how Biden’s “part of the process” response when supporters of his agenda chased Kyrsten Sinema into a bathroom, or his mockery of Mitt Romney for taking offense at his “back in chains” remark. Biden really does think it’s nothing personal; this is just how politics is, and you don’t have to mean things to say them, even if they smear or insult other people or incite your supporters to confront them. The only time Biden got genuinely upset at something done by his own side was when the Obama campaign ran an ad attacking John McCain’s facility with technological devices — Biden called it “terrible” — and the campaign withdrew it after it was pointed out that they were effectively mocking McCain for having war injuries that made it hard for him to type on a Blackberry. Why did Biden care that time? Because McCain was a Senate colleague, and the people he served with in the Senate were in the club. In a similar vein, Biden has never seen the problem with cozying up to segregationists who were his Senate colleagues; they were in the club, so whatever he might say about others who had the same ideas never applied to them.