Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates sharply questions President Obama's "passion" for military matters in his forthcoming memoir, and claims that practically the only time he saw that in the president was during his push to repeal "don't ask, don't tell."RELATED: What Gates' book gets right, wrong about Obama, Biden, Afghanistan
The former Pentagon chief said in an interview aired Sunday that he was "disturbed" by Obama's "absence of passion" when it came to his military strategy. But in the book, "Duty," reviewed by Fox News, Gates hit Obama harder -- and in personal terms -- by contrasting his style with that of former President George W. Bush.
"One quality I missed in Obama was passion, especially when it came to the two wars," Gates wrote. "In my presence, Bush -- very unlike his father -- was pretty unsentimental. But he was passionate about the war in Iraq; on occasion, at a Medal of Honor ceremony or the like, I would see his eyes well up. I worked for Obama longer than Bush, and I never saw his eyes well up."
Gates went on to suggest that the president was far more emotional about repealing "don't ask, don't tell" -- the policy barring openly gay people from serving in the military -- and passing the health care bill.
He wrote that "the only military matter, apart from leaks, about which I ever sensed deep passion on his part was 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.' For him, changing the law seemed to be the inevitable next step in the civil rights movement. He presumably was also passionate about health care reform, but I wasn't present for those discussions."
Why, then, did he decide to snicker, chuckle, grin, smirk and shake his head at the one GOP nominee for national office in the last 50 years that even partisan Democrats acknowledge as a serious, substantive, and formidable guy?
The rap on Paul Ryan has always been that he might prove too wonkish, numbers-driven and detail-oriented to connect with average Americans, not that he counted as some sort of laughing stock who’s beneath contempt.
It’s actually Biden himself who has inspired gales of bipartisan laughter with his potent parade of gaffes over the duration of his long political career. In fact, his strange strategy may have amounted to an attempt to take personal control of all the giggles in the room before they could be turned against him.
The oddest aspect of his patronizing performance involved the complete disconnect between his derisive laughter and anything that Paul Ryan actually said. Where, exactly, did the GOP nominee make some point so ridiculous, or express himself so clumsily, that the only appropriate response would be the uncontrollable urge to titter or chortle?
If the purpose was to rattle Ryan it clearly didn’t work: the GOP contender remained calm (perhaps too calm), smooth, polite, and self-possessed while the vice president of the United States rudely interrupted him more than two dozen times.
The debate became queasy, unpleasant, uncomfortable to watch, not because Biden overpowered his opponent on substance (he emphatically did not), but because the normal, reassuring, ritualized sense of congeniality and decorum seemed altogether lacking. When TV professionals analyze the viewing audience in detail, I’d be surprised if a huge number of debate watchers didn’t tune out the broadcast in disgust or at least uneasiness after the first half hour.
I watched the proceedings on a big screen together with 250 listeners from the Seattle flagship station for my radio show. In the discussion afterward, one of the women present said that Biden made her cringe by reminding her precisely of her abusive ex-husband. Another 23-year-old came up to me afterward and emphatically agreed, saying she had just left her own abusive relationship and that watching Biden’s antics gave her the creeps in the same way that her former boyfriend’s dismissive snickering always made her feel inadequate.
Admittedly, they watched the proceedings from a conservative perspective and wouldn’t have voted for Obama-Biden anyway, but will the vice president’s nasty star turn ultimately work well with undecided voters who are, after all, disproportionately female?
To this point, the Delaware doofus always seemed cloaked in an invincible air of likeability. Good Old Joe might say outrageous and stupid things but he could easily be forgiven because he seemed warm-hearted and well-intentioned, like an old-fashioned, back-slapping neighborhood pol. No one worried too much over silly stunts or ludicrous remarks because he was, after all, just Good Old Joe and nobody takes vice presidents seriously anyway.
But his visibly arrogant behavior on his biggest stage to date may dent that armor permanently. Why did he take the risk?
Perhaps, in overcompensation for President Obama’s lackadaisical performance in Denver, he resolved to rally the base with his angry, aggrieved, condescending demeanor. No, it wasn’t presidential (Ryan definitely won by that standard) but no one expects vice presidents to act presidential until the unthinkable occurs and new circumstances require it.
Eight days after Obama looked far more listless and weary than Romney despite the fact that he is 14 years younger, Biden seemed vastly more adolescent and immature than Ryan despite the fact that he is 27 years older.
Maybe this fulfilled some diabolical master plan, proving that Biden will remain youthful enough to win the presidential run he has repeatedly hinted he plans to make, regardless of reaching age 74 just days after the election of 2016. In pleasing loyal Democrats by going after the opposition with such sneering ferocity, he may have cemented his role as frontrunner for the next nomination, regardless of the outcome of this incurably close election.
The biggest winner of this encounter?
Neither Biden nor Ryan, but probably Mitt Romney. As one physician (and former political candidate himself) noted to our enthusiastic debate crowd, Biden mentioned Obama only in passing, scarcely touching on his achievements, his inspiring leadership, or any grand new plans (what new plans?) for the future. Instead, he emphasized his own dubious role in major events. Ryan, by contrast, repeatedly spoke of Romney, warmly praising his qualifications, his character, his vision, and his five-point platform for recovery.RELATED: ABC, NBC Morning Shows Decline to Fact Check Biden Whoppers
Vice President Joe Biden is once again proving to be a great asset to the Republicans.
First there was his ‘”put y’all back in chains” remark, which led to Republicans joking that he should attend the Republican National Convention and campaign on their behalf.
Now, the Romney-Ryan ticket is thanking the Vice President for making their point about the middle class.
At an event in Charlotte, N.C. yesterday, Biden questioned how Republican presidential nominee could justify raising taxes on the middle class that is suffering:RELATED: Study: Obama’s big budget deficits could mean a $4,000 a year middle-class tax hike
“This is deadly earnest, man. This is deadly earnest. How can they justify raising taxes on the middle class that’s been buried the last four years? How in the Lord’s name can they justify raising their taxes with these tax cuts?”It did not escape the Republicans that Biden had limited that statement to the last four years, an error that he corrected at a later campaign stop by saying that the last four years were a consequence of President Bush’s policies ” that Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney supported.”
While Biden was working on dialing back his misstep, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan used Biden’s statement to his advantage. “Vice President Biden, just today, said that the middle class, over the last four years, has been buried. We agree. That means we need to stop digging by electing Mitt Romney the next President of the United States,” he told the crowd in Burlington, Iowa.
Day before, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney tweeted: “Another term for @BarackObama will only bring more of the same policies that have devastated the middle class.” Biden’s comment played right into this rhetoric and the campaign didn’t hesitate to tweet that they agree with the current Vice President.
Pointed assertions from Vice President Joe Biden this week have reignited discussion of whether he distracts from his party's message or reinforces it, a question that has arisen periodically since President Barack Obama chose him as his running mate four years ago.
Mr. Biden drew sharp criticism from Republicans after telling a Virginia audience, which included a large number of African-Americans, that GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney wants to "put you all back in chains" by rolling back new Wall Street regulations.
Mr. Romney, who has called for repealing the Dodd-Frank financial-regulation law, said Wednesday the metaphor was "divisive'' and that Mr. Biden's remarks diminished the White House. "Comments of this nature sink the White House just a little lower," Mr. Romney told CBS.
Mr. Obama defended the sentiment Mr. Biden intended to convey with his remark, that Wall Street overhauls should remain in place to protect consumers and the economy. But the president, in an interview on television show "Entertainment Tonight," also said, "His phrasing is a distraction for what is at stake" in the election.
The Obama campaign accused Mr. Romney of feigning outrage over a twist on a phrase that Mr. Biden regularly uses in his stump speech, in which he faults Republicans for wanting to "unshackle" Wall Street.
Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said there would be no change in how the campaign uses Mr. Biden.
Mr. Biden, who has earned a reputation for rhetorical miscues and likes to speak off the cuff, also told some Virginia seniors this week he could "guarantee" Mr. Obama wouldn't make any changes to Social Security.RELATED: Giuliani On Biden’s ‘Free Pass’: Had Republican Made ‘Chains’ Remark, It Would Make NYT Front Page
It is a promise that could be difficult for Mr. Obama to keep if he wins a second term, given that the president has been open to changes in Social Security as part of past deficit-reduction talks if the savings were used to shore up the retirement program. The two parties are expected to make another attempt at such a deal after the election.
Mr. Biden's aides said he was speaking to voters old enough that they wouldn't be affected by any Social Security changes the White House would support.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee, took the firmest stance after Mr. Biden's remarks, telling Fox News he should be replaced on the Democratic ticket by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Mr. Obama dismissed Ms. Palin's suggestion that he change his running mate.
During an appearance on Meet the Press earlier today, Vice President Joe Biden argued passionately in favor of full same-sex marriage rights, indicating a shift in position for the VP. Biden made sure to clarify that these were his personal views and not necessarily the views of the Obama administration, but he did talk at some length about how perceptions of gay people have changed over time thanks to TV shows like Will & Grace.
Dick Gregory started by noting that Biden has previously gone on record saying he is not in favor of gay marriage, but he asked the vice president if his views have evolved since then. Biden spoke from the heart about why he now believes that gay and lesbian Americans deserve all the same rights as everyone else.
“As more and more Americans come to understand what this is all about, it’s a simple proposition. Who do you love? Who do you love? And will you be loyal to the person you love? And that’s what people are finding out and it’s what all marriages at their root are about, whether they’re marriages of lesbians or gay men or heterosexuals.”Biden clarified that President Obama sets the White House’s policy agenda, but he said that he personally believes that gays and lesbians should be granted “the same exact rights” as everyone else. He defended Obama’s record on gay rights, including striking down Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
The vice president also brought up the changing cultural and social mores surrounding gay people in American society, especially from our sources of entertainment. Biden name-dropped Will & Grace as an example of a show that “did more to educate the American public” about gay people than what most others have been able to do.
Some MF Global Inc. employees fired in New York and Chicago learned of their fate from news reports that the trustee liquidating the broker-dealer had decided to terminate all 1,066 of them, according to three people familiar with the matter.RELATED: VP Biden says he called Jon Corzine for advice
Trustee James Giddens distributed a statement yesterday announcing the firings at the unit of bankrupt MF Global Holdings Ltd. It was reported by the news media before many employees were notified, said one person familiar with the release who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about it. Two employees who declined to be named because they said it may damage their job prospects also said they heard of the firings through the media.
“We were well into the process of notifying employees and were attempting to personally reach as many employees as possible when the release went out,” said Kent Jarrell, a spokesman for Giddens. Tiffany Galvin, a spokeswoman for MF Global, declined to comment on the trustee’s decision.
MF Global Holdings filed for bankruptcy Oct. 31 after a $6.3 billion bet on the bonds of some of Europe’s most indebted nations prompted regulator concerns and a credit rating downgrade. Giddens, overseeing the liquidation of the bankrupt company’s brokerage unit, is managing the subsidiary’s wind-down under the Securities Investor Protection Act.
Last week, Vice President Joe Biden warned that more people would likely be raped and murdered if President Obama's jobs bill is not passed. "In 2008, when Flint had 265 sworn officers on their police force, there were 35 murders and 91 rapes in this city," Biden said at an event in Flint, Michigan. "In 2010, when Flint had only 144 police officers, the murder rate climbed to 65 and rapes--just to pick two categories--climbed to 229. In 2011, you now only have 125 shields. God only knows what the numbers will be this year for Flint if we don't rectify it."
Today, Biden reiterated his warning at an event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.“The other thing I’ve heard from my friends who oppose this – this whole jobs bill and this – that this is just temporary," Biden said. "Well let me tell you, it’s not temporary when that 911 call comes in and a woman’s being raped if a cop shows up in time to prevent the rape, it’s not temporary to that woman. It’s not temporary to the guy whose store is being held up and a gun is being pointed to his head. If a cop shows up and he’s not killed, that’s not temporary to that store owner. Give me a break, temporary! I wish these guys that thought it was temporary, I wish they had some notion what it’s like to be on the other side of a gun or a 200 pound man standing over you telling you to submit. Folks, it matters. It matters!”
Ratcheting up the rhetoric in the Washington budget battle, Vice President Biden on Friday likened the Republican strategy of seeking to slash federal spending while championing tax breaks for the wealthy to rape victims being blamed for the rape.
At a lavish Philadelphia fundraising luncheon that raised $400,000 for Democratic congressional campaigns, Biden began his attack on Republicans by crediting the 1994 Violence Against Women Act that he and former Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter (who was in attendance) authored for changing society's attitude about blaming rape victims.
"When a woman got raped, blame her because she was wearing a skirt too short, she looked the wrong way or she wasn't home in time to make dinner," he said. "We've gotten by that."
Then Biden turned his focus to the current spending debate in which Democrats and Republicans are fighting over how much to cut from the federal budget.
"But it's amazing how these Republicans, the right wing of this party – whose philosophy threw us into this godawful hole we're in, gave us the tremendous deficit we've inherited – that they're now using the very economic condition they have created to blame the victim – whether it's organized labor or ordinary middle-class working men and women," he said.
"It's bizarre," he added.
The Republican National Committee condemned Biden's remarks.
"Using a rape analogy to describe one's political opponents is inexcusable & beneath the office of the Vice President," RNC Chairman Reince Priebus tweeted.
Biden's comments came on the same day that President Obama signed another stopgap measure to keep the government running for another three weeks. The measure cuts $6 billion in spending – on top of the $4 billion in cuts from a two-week extension passed earlier this month -- and buys the White House and congressional leaders more time to negotiate a larger bill to cover the daily operations of the government through the end of September.
As a thank-you to its most famous customer, Amtrak is renaming the train station in Wilmington, Del., after stimulus “sheriff” Vice President Joseph R. Biden - after the project received $20 million in stimulus money and came in $5.7 million over the initial announced budget.
Spokesmen for Mr. Biden, who said he personally fought for stimulus money for Amtrak, didn’t respond to messages Wednesday or Thursday.
But Amtrak said it alone made the decision to rename the station in honor of the vice president. The company also said its own budget projection was always greater than the $32 million the White House announced back in 2009 - though Amtrak itself also listed the $32 million cost that year, later raising the price tag to $37.7 million.
“The Wilmington station is owned by Amtrak, and Amtrak on its own made the determination to name the station,” said spokeswoman Danelle Hunter.
President Obama, soon after signing the Recovery Act in early 2009, designated Mr. Biden his “sheriff” overseeing [JUMP]the stimulus funds, charging him with regularly checking in with governors and mayors to try to prevent waste, fraud and abuse in the $821 billion economic recovery package.
On ABC’s Good Morning America this morning, Vice President Joe Biden said the Obama Administration–having just cut an historic tax cut deal with Republicans–will now “hold the line” when those tax cuts expire in two years.
And on another hot issue–one the president was pressed on in his last news conference before skipping town for a holiday trip to Hawaii–with DADT dead, where does gay marriage stand in the eyes of the Administration?
Biden says he, too, is experiencing an “evolution” in his thinking, and believes the next target will be DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act:
The vice president agreed with Obama’s comments that his position on gay marriage is “evolving.” Biden said there is an “inevitability for a national consensus on gay marriage.”
“I think the country’s evolving. And I think you’re going to see, you know, the next effort is probably going to be to deal with so called DOMA [Defense of Marriage Act],” he said.
The tax news–that despite an influx of Republicans to Capitol Hill in the new year–the Administration plans to stand firm on letting those just-renewed tax cuts expire the next time around, isn’t exactly a promise, as ABC’s George Stephanopoulos found:
“George, that’s why I think I felt confident in being asked by the President to negotiate a deal on taxes that the equities and the economic imperatives are going to be to not extend the high end tax cut, which would cost $700 billion over 10 years. And not extend this overly generous estate tax,” Vice President Joe Biden told me.
Is that a guarantee?
“Nothing’s a guarantee,” he said.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
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Vice President Joe Biden spoke with Stephen Colbert Wednesday night and took the opportunity to directly commend former President George W. Bush for his part in helping to usher in the end of combat operations in Iraq.It's about time they acknowledged and thanked the man who gave Iraq democracy.
"Mr. President, thank you," Biden said of Bush during his interview in a "Colbert Report" "Been There Won That" special. "You've honored these guys, you've honored these women, you've honored these troops. And I've known you your entire eight years as president. I've never known a time when you didn't CARE about happened. We disagreed on policy. But you deserve a lot of credit, Mr. President."
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. urged Democrats on Friday to shake away their pessimism about the midterm elections, declaring: “The reports of the death of the Democratic Party have been greatly exaggerated.”They're really banking on "Blame Bush" for a 3rd straight election, the only question is whether or not the American voters will actually be dumb enough to buy it again.
Mr. Biden reprised the famous quotation from Mark Twain as he sought to rally the spirits of party leaders gathering here at the summer meeting of the Democratic National Committee.
With 75 days remaining in an election campaign that will determine whether Republicans will win control of Congress or Democrats will hold their majority, the vice president touted the strength of the Democratic Party, speaking in Union Station with the Mississippi River less than a mile away.
“On Nov. 3, the day after the election, there will be a Democratic majority in the House and a Democratic majority in the Senate,” Mr. Biden said. “If it weren’t illegal, I’d make book on it.”
The vice president acknowledged the challenging political environment facing the party, but he argued that he and President Obama inherited a shrinking economy when they took office 19 months ago.
“Before we turned on our computers in the West Wing, we inherited an economy that was shrinking seven percent,” Mr. Biden said. “Before I lowered my hand on that cold day, we had lost 740,000 jobs that month.”
2012 is still two years away—a veritable lifetime in American, or any other, politics. But that shouldn’t stop us from talking, or even fantasizing, about the next presidential election. After all, what else is there to lick our lips over these days—Linda McMahon? Michaele Salahi? Mad Men?In a perfect world this could certainly work, surely it'd satisfy rabid Clinton fans/Barry haters for the time being (or at the very least until, God forbid, Billary gets a chance to spike Barry's grape juice) and more importantly, the Repubs would have a hard time facing the likes of an Obama/Clinton ticket no matter who Mitch Romney selects as his running mate. But I put the likelihood of it happening on a scale of nil to none. For starters, no way would Barry's ego allow him to make such a huge concession and push aside his clown of a VP for the likes of Billary. Plus, Barry and his narcissistic ass would never let anyone as large as Billary share the spotlight (nevermind the fact that Billary are just not to be trusted by anyone with a brain). Secondly, let's say Barry's radically-Leftist policies continue to wreck havoc on the country to the point that his approval numbers venture into the 30's (or even lower), wouldn't the goalposts have to the shift to the point that we'd have to begin making room for calls for Billary to run again for Prez instead of settling for VP? Sure they would. Lastly, either way, I don't think Billary has it in her to be Barry's sidekick or run for President again. Sure a part of her will always want another shot at Prez, but on the surface Billary seems to have settled in nicely with the Secretary of State role--I think she gets a kick out of feeling like a VIP while getting in the ass of brutal foreign dictators, more importantly her travels as SoS keep her away from that loathsome dick of a philandering husband. Obama/Clinton 2012? Fat chance.
Given the political imponderables—and there are many, many of those—there are three things one might say for near-certain about 2012:
1. Barack Obama will run again.
2. Joe Biden will not be the ideal running mate for Obama.
3. Hillary Clinton, cocooned at State, will be her party’s least sullied heavy hitter; and the way the Democrats deploy her could make or break the party.
The vice president’s job is Hillary’s for the asking—and, if the Republicans aren’t careful, the taking.
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