But that level of hypocrisy is nothing new to Biden.
Here is an interesting excerpt from John Kennedy’s closest aide Ted Sorenson discussing his withdrawl as nominee for Directory of the CIA for Jimmy Carter due to lack of Senate confirmation. Despite the ordeal, Sorenson never lost respect for Democrat Committee Chairman, Daniel Inouye.
On the other hand, the prize for political hypocrisy in a town noted for political hypocrisy went to Joe Biden. On my first courtesy call to his office, he could not have been more enthusiastic, supportive, and gracious, calling me “the best appointment Carter has made!”
At the opening of the hearing, he changed both his tune and his tone, stating: “Quite honestly, I’m not sure whether or not Mr Sorenson could be indicted or convicted under the espionage statutes…….whether Mr Sorenson intentionally took advantage of ambiguities in the law or carelessly ignored the law.”
After listening to my statement of defense and withdrawal, he said: “Ted, you are one of the classiest men I have ever run across in my whole life.”
Senator Biden was the first questioner. Instead of the softball questions he’d promised to ask, he threw a beanball straight at my head…
The senator, they found, had wrenched my words out of context. I looked at the text of my speech and saw that the passage he’d read out loud had been immediately followed by two other sentences … The point I’d been making was the opposite of the one that Senator Biden claimed I had made.
Senator Biden’s smooth, insincere promises that he would treat me fairly were nothing but talk.
The next day, Biden expressed a desire to speak with Thomas, so Thomas called the Senator:
The senator said that he was torn over his decision and had actually brought two statements with him to the committee meeting that day, one for me and the other against. He had decided to oppose me. He’d voted to confirm Justice Scalia, he explained, and now regretted it; he thought it was possible that I might turn out like Justice Scalia, so he couldn’t vote for me.
“That’s fine,” I said. “It doesn’t matter to me whether I’m confirmed or not. But I entered this process with a good name, and I want to have it at the end.”
“Judge, I know you don’t believe me,” he replied, “but if any of these last two matters come up, I will be your biggest defender.” (The other matter to which he was referring was the leak of my draft opinion.)
He was right about one thing: I didn’t believe him.
“The McCain campaign will launch a television ad directly comparing Gov. Palin’s executive experience as a governor who oversees 24,000 state employees, 14 statewide cabinet agencies and a $ 10 billion budget to Barack Obama’s experience as a one-term junior senator from Illinois.”
The ad is what the campaign calls “a forward-leaning effort to counter the shameless smears that have prevailed during Gov. Palin’s introduction to the American voter.”
…
“Gov. Sarah Palin is an exceptional governor with a record of accomplishment that exceeds, by far, the governing accomplishments of Sen. Obama. Her selection came after a six-month long rigorous vetting process where her extraordinary credentials and exceptionalism became clear. This vetting controversy is a faux media scandal designed to destroy the first female Republican nominee for vice president of the United States who has never been a part of the old boys’ network that has come to dominate the news establishment in this country. Sen. McCain picked his governing partner after a long and thorough search. Gov. Palin looks forward to addressing the nation and laying out the fundamental choice this election represents for the American people.
Here is a new ad:
REPORTED FALSEHOODS AND SMEARS AGAINST GOV. PALIN’S FAMILY AND HISTORIC CANDIDACY:
* Liberal Bloggers Questioned Whether Gov. Palin’s Fifth Child Was Actually Bristol Palin’s Child.
* CNN’s John Roberts Questioned Whether Governor Palin Would Be Able To Care For A Child With Down Syndrome As Vice President.
* The Washington Post’s Sally Quinn Questioned Whether A Woman With Five Children And One Having Down Syndrome Would Be Able To Make Her Family A Priority If She Were Vice President.
* MSNBC, Headlines Beneath The Live Coverage Included “SOME WORKING MOTHERS WORRY THAT PALIN IS TAKING ON TOO MUCH” And “SOME VOTERS CONCERNED IF PALIN, A MOTHER OF FIVE, HAS TIME TO BE VP.”
* Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) Said That Gov. Palin Was A Supporter Of Pat Buchanan Who He Called A “Nazi Sympathizer.”
* The Obama Campaign Linked Gov. Palin As A Supporter Of Pat Buchanan Who They Called A “Nazi Sympathizer.”
* James Carville Claimed That Because Gov. Palin Was A Supporter Of Pat Buchanan She Would Not Be Attractive To Democrats.
* James Carville Said That Gov. Palin Would Appeal To “Pat Buchanan Kind Of Republicans.”
* In Toledo, Ohio, Sen. Joe Biden Said One Of The Differences Between Him And Gov. Palin Was “She’s Good-Looking.”
* CNN’s James Carville Said That Gov. Palin Is “Almost Absent Qualifications For The Job.”
* Liberal Radio Host Ed Schultz Said That Gov. Palin Was An “Empty Pantsuit” Who Had Started A “Bimbo Alert.”
* Sherrod Brown Criticized Gov. Palin For Being Mayor Of A Small Town.
* ABC’s Jake Tapper Reported That Gov. Palin Was Once A Member Of The Alaskan Independence Party, Which Wanted To Secede From The United States.
* The Washington Post’s Richard Cohen Said That Gov. Palin Was A “Sitcom” Candidate And Would Be A “Disaster Movie” If She Became President.
* Tom Daschle Attacked Palin As Having “Absolutely No Experience” And Being “Extreme Right Wing.”
As I’ve been watching the media trying to tear down Sarah Palin, it seems like one of the common questions is about the vetting process and whether or not she was “properly vetted.”
You know the media and the Democrats are desperate when their line of attack includes questions the vetting process.
What does is mean? I think it’s obvious that Barack Obama’s best days are behind him, and now that the election is even closer, people are beginning to realize that they need to elect a leader, not a slogan.
Dave Hartline over at The Catholic Report gently rebukes Pelosi, Biden and all those who wrap themselves in Catholicism, but don’t adhere to the teaching authority of the Church:
Catholics who faithfully attend Mass are tired of hearing that Cafeteria Catholics are really faithful Catholics even though they think they know better than the Church. This type of self absorbed excess has not only damaged the Church but society as well. Pope Benedict XVI is fond of referring to the Dictatorship of Relativism, a reference to those who believe there is no truth in the world and therefore we are free to think everything is the truth and or nothing is the truth. Against the backdrop of freedom they have become slaves to the latest whims of secular society, truly a sad development.
Thankfully with the advent of talk radio, the internet and the Youtube age, the faithful are aware of those who claim they know better than the Church and yet try to keep it under wraps. Gone are the days when Catholic politicians who cared little for what the Church taught but yet wrapped themselves In the Catholic faith, could get away with it. There are an increasing number of orthodox-minded bishops, priests, religious and lay people who are calling out folks on these discrepancies.
Try as they might liberal operatives will never be able to sell the “Catholic Identity” of Speaker Pelosi and Senator Biden to the rank and file Catholic. While secular Catholics, primarily in the Northeast and West may be receptive to this message, the Catholic voters Senator Obama and Senator Biden needs to win in the states of Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania are not receptive to their Catholic message. On the evening of November 4, 2008, the world will see that the age of Cafeteria Catholicism has come and gone and in its place orthodox-minded Catholicism has returned. Before then there will be many bitter exchanges, as the secular media and the Catholic left complain that the Church is too strong and the conscience of the individual is being persecuted. However, the smokescreen will not work, orthodoxy will prevail, it always has. Truly, the tide is turning!
I know, it does seem that I’m harping on the Catholic issue quite a lot of late - but it does appear that us little, old Catholics hold the balance of power in the United States in this, the Year of Our Lord, 2008. We’re deeply honored by this state of affairs and we promise to be jolly nice about the whole thing - though we of the orthodox variety to intend very much to win.
A week-kneed appeal to Catholics won’t work, Senators - its not good enough to have someone with “Catholic” in their bio…we’ll need someone who acts on the faith, especially on that most crucial of issues, the right to life. Mush-minded sloganeering about “choice” and “personally opposed, but” just don’t cut the mustard anymore. Biden will pull in precisely those Catholics who were going to vote Obama anyways…what you need is Catholics who take Christianity seriously, and you won’t get them merely by installing Biden as your Veep.
And the really sad thing is that you have to pretend you like us - because you’re toast unless you can get a majority of believing Catholics to pull the lever for the Democrats. McCain, on the other hand, has no need to pretend - he’s not a Catholic, but he’s a believer, and agrees with fundamental Christian morality on the social issues. Much as we are delighted to see fellow Catholics rise high in an America which used to discriminate heavily against the Church, we aren’t so pleased that we’ll surrender our principles.
son of Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden was paid an undisclosed amount of money as a consultant by MBNA, the largest employer in Delaware, during the years the senator supported legislation that was promoted by the credit card industry and opposed by consumer groups.
Barack Obama’s presidential campaign said Biden helped forge a bipartisan compromise on the measure, which is now law and makes it harder for consumers to obtain bankruptcy protection in the courts.
MBNA’s consulting payments to Hunter Biden, first reported by The New York Times, followed his departure in 2001 from the company, where he had been an executive.
Obama opposed the bankruptcy law, enacted in 2005, while Biden supported it.
David Wade, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, said that “after working in the Clinton administration in the Department of Commerce on Internet privacy and online commerce issues, Hunter consulted for five years as an expert on these very same issues at a time of enormous expansion in online banking.”
At the time Hunter Biden was receiving consulting payments from MBNA, he also was a Washington lobbyist at a firm he had co-founded.
“He was not a lobbyist for MBNA, and his work had absolutely nothing to do with the bankruptcy bill. Zero. Nothing,” said Wade.
Lets see, he’s the son of the Senator who represents Deleware and Delaware’s largest employer is MBNA, who paid a mint to said son of the Senator…yeah, sure; he wasn’t lobbying for MBNA. I’m sure it never crossed Senator Biden’s mind that his son was getting rich off MBNA while laws affecting MBNA were being considered by the Senate.
Unfortunately, this is the sort of thing Matt and I detailed in Caucus of Corruption (which really is a must-read - not because we’re the best writers the world has ever seen, but because the subject matter is so important for the future political health of the United States) - the fuzzy connections between big money, politicians, family members and legislation before the Congress of the United States. Biden isn’t alone here, ya know? In fact, Senator Harry Reid’s children also lobby the Senate on behalf of Nevada businesses…and we all sleep well at night knowing that there’s no chance at all that Daddy will look favorably on his son’s paymaster, right? Of course we all know that its corruption to the very bone - Biden’s son shouldn’t have been a lobbyists, certainly not for any entity which was of any concern to the State of Delaware, and neither should Reid’s sons…but it happens, all the time.
As there is more than one way to skin a cat, there’s also more than one way to bribe a politician - you can, of course, hire the pol’s children, but the pol can also put his wife on the campaign payroll, or your daughter can do the legal work for the company wanting your vote on a bill, or your daughter can be hired by a fellow Congressman who owes you, or you can see to it that your brother-in-laws company gets that federal contract. Some of this is illegal, but most of it falls into a grey area - grey areas created, from what Matt and I could figure, quite deliberately by the pols, businesses and lobbyists concerned to ensure that there’s always a way to grease political palms. Our campaign and ethics laws are quite byzantine and so there’s only one way to really clean up DC.
Hold them accountable.
Biden shouldn’t be on the ticket - heck, he shouldn’t even be in the Senate anymore. If a few dirty e mails were sufficient to force Foley out, then Biden’s questionable connections to MBNA are more than enough to give Biden his walking papers. But instead of holding Biden accountable, Democrats want to elevate him to the Vice Presidency of the United States of America. Small wonder that people like William Jefferson and Jack Murtha feel themselves above the law…one of their own is on the ticket, so what have they to worry about? Until such time as Democrats hold their own to a high standard this sort of corruption will continue unabated - and for all Obama’s talk of change, the reality is that the same corrupt gang will be running the show.
No matter what help Barack Obama might get from Sen. Joseph Biden, his newly named vice presidential running mate won’t give Obama much cover on the Tony Rezko front.
Biden has described himself as a 30-year friend of a key figure in the Rezko trial who’s pleaded guilty to a federal extortion charge in Chicago and is awaiting sentencing.
When the Delaware senator began contemplating his own 2008 presidential run, he initially was helped by Chicago lawyer Joseph Cari Jr., who also served as Biden’s Midwest field director in his failed 1988 bid for president.
In 2005, Cari admitted to taking part in an $850,000 kickback scheme that prosecutors say was part of a larger political fund-raising operation for Gov. Blagojevich overseen by Rezko, who was convicted in June of wide-ranging corruption involving state deals.
On the day Cari’s name first surfaced in the federal probe of the state Teachers Retirement System, the former finance chairman for the Democratic National Committee and for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was to have hosted a Biden fund-raiser in Chicago. Cari was a no-show at that July 25, 2005, event.
Offering Cari a vote of confidence at the time, Biden said, “All I know is Joe Cari is a friend, and he’s an honorable guy, but I don’t know anything beyond that.”
Did Obama’s VP Vetting Team actually vet Obama’s potential running mates? Biden has also accepted $2,000 in campaign contributions from Cari, according to campaign-finance records.
It’s connections like these, that if it were a Republican ticket, would be mercilessly attacked and exploited. So, the question that has yet to be answered is what kind of coverage this revelation will receive in the MSM for the remainder of this campaign?
It’s a dead heat in the race for the White House. The first national poll conducted entirely after Barack Obama publicly named Joe Biden as his running mate suggests that battle for the presidency between the Illinois senator and Republican rival John McCain is all tied up.
In a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll out Sunday night, 47 percent of those questioned are backing Obama with an equal amount supporting the Arizona senator.
“This looks like a step backward for Obama, who had a 51 to 44 percent advantage last month,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
I suppose as the weekend passes, I may have more to say about presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama’s choice of Delaware’s senior Senator as his running mate. For the moment, I will echo Bruce’s point that it does seem a lot like George W. Bush’s choice of Dick Cheney in 2000, an older political veteran with foreign policy experience from a small state that was already a lock for their party.
But, Cheney, unlike Biden, actually had some executive experience, having served as White House Chief of Staff under President Gerald R. Ford and as Defense Secretary under President George H.W. Bush. Joe Biden has spent well over half his life the Senate, having served there since Barack Obama was eleven years old. (emphasis added)
On the day Joe Biden was first elected to the United States Senate, I was a couple weeks shy of my 8th birthday. This isn’t as bad as Ted Kennedy (who became a Senator before I was born), but it does show the vast gulf of time and experience between Biden and real life. While Biden talks a great game of being one of us, the fact that he’s lived in the Senatorial coocoon since I was a regular viewer of Bugs Bunny indicates that he just might not be aware of what day to day life for Joe Average is like. Obama said in his intro for Biden that the good Senator has been bringing change to DC “for decades”. Lets have a look at that, shall we?
In 1972 gasoline was 36 cents a gallon. We were about quarter century away from the first major school shooting incident. The median price for a house was about $65,000.00. The de-facto legalisation of pornography under Miller vs California was a year away. The Roe decision legalising abortion nationwide was also a year in the future. Everyone who was paying attention learned just how big a threat terrorism was during the 1972 Olympics. We were still some years away from HBO first putting obscene language on television - and cable television at that, and plenty of warnings from the network prior to broadcast. “Rap” was a hip phrase meaning “talk”. Gangsters were terrible criminals no one would want to emulate. A majority of African-American babies were born to married couples. Illegal immigration wasn’t a problem, yet.
Thank goodness we had Biden in the Senate, so that he could make certain that things changed, huh?
UPDATE, by Mark Noonan: Listening to Obama - at least he got the number of States right, for once. ROFL…did he really just say, “for decades he’s brought change to Washington”? For decades!!!! Oh, man…this could become a lot of fun…oh, brother…did he say “white gentleman”?…anyways, hey, Obama, if Biden has been bringing change to Washington for decades, then what the F do we need you for?
UPDATE: For all of you out there saying “Biden who?”, his bio.
UPDATE: Quick commentary by Mark Noonan:
If this is other than the world’s biggest head fake, then I can’t imagine any thing positive Biden brings to the Obama ticket - Biden is more experienced that Obama, but will be on the bottom of the ticket; Biden is Senator from a small, very blue State Obama will win handily; Biden is the archetype of the career politician, having been in the Senate since Nixon was President; Biden is up for re-election to the Senate, thus opening up the possibility of a GOP pick up in the Senate; Biden has said things which make Obama look bad…all in all, I’d say its a hoax, but its being reported by Fox and the Associated Press.
UPDATE: Peter Robinson over at NRO’s The Corner weighs in:
Before winning election to the Senate three-and-a-half decades ago—Biden ranks fourth in seniority among Democrats, sixth overall; how’s that for a fresh face?—Biden practiced law for three years. That’s it. Three years of fresh-out-of-law school practice represents the sum and total of Biden’s profession experience before joining the Senate.
Obama-Biden? A candidate with an astonishingly thin professional background—Community organizer? Desultory lecturer in law school?—has just named as his running mate a man whose principal professional achievement is to have perfected his skills as a gasbag.
Mark Noonan sez: the more I think about it, the more I figure its got to be a bogus story…its like Obama wants to lose. Or perhaps he just still thinks he’s got it in the bag?
UPDATE: Biden on the issues, by Mark Noonan:
A practising Catholic, Biden adheres to Church teaching on when life begins, opposes federal funding for abortion and favors the ban on late term abortions. On the other hand, Biden supports the Roe decision and makes no move towards ending the practice of abortion. All in all, Biden has trimmed himself to the pro-choice side of the aisle as far as he can without risking a breach with the Church. God bless him, he’s one of my brothers - and I’ll pray for him to come back entirely to the pro-life side of the aisle.
Biden is an old-fashioned tax and spend liberal as far as budget matters go - and is still a believer in axing the Defense budget in order to free up funds for social programs. In spite of the clear failure during his life time, Biden still believes that the heavy club of government spending is a magic wand to bring prosperity and happiness to the people.
Biden is pretty convention on the litany of liberal issues - while he technically opposes same-sex marriage, he’s not out there fighting against it; meanwhile, he is in favor of affirmative action, racial set asides, attacks corporations (though this may just be a Catholic thing, as I attack them, too - though probably not for the exact same reasons), supports hate crime laws and has co-sponsored a re-submission of the Equal Rights Amendment for ratification.
Biden raises conservative hackles for a lot of reasons, but conservatives going forward will probably start to concentrate on Biden’s disgraceful behaviour during the Thomas hearings.
A classic Joe Biden ad from 1988, which begins: “The White House isn’t the place to learn how to deal with international crisis, the balance of power, war and peace, and the economic future of the next generation. A President has got to know the territory, but that’s not enough.”
Experience was a major theme of Biden’s pitch in the primary (take the above, and add 20 years), and it’s a contrast they’ll have to aim to avoid if he’s Obama’s running mate.
If Biden gets the nod, you can bet the GOP will run that ad again and again and again.
The McCain campaign held a conference call earlier today with Rudy Giuliani and senior foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann to respond to Senator Obama’s remarks on terrorism.
“It’s no surprise that it takes a man with zero national security and foreign policy experience to defend the policies of John McCain and President Bush.”
That’s really funny, because it’s really no surprise that it takes a man with zero national security and foreign policy experience to be the Democratic Party’s nominee for president.
This is a news story about how the Obama camp plans to get Hillary out of the race - and it is a nightmare scenario for the United States:
After today’s primary election in Puerto Rico and Tuesday’s final contests in Montana and South Dakota, the remaining super-delegates will come under huge pressure from fellow party grandees to declare their hands.
The Obama camp, however, remains nervous about Mrs Clinton’s intentions and ambitions, and is preparing a face-saving package that will allow her to continue to play a role in health care reform, which has been her signature issue for more than a decade. Despite pressure from some Clinton allies, Mr Obama and his advisers do not wish to ask her to be his vice-presidential running mate. “They will talk to her,” one Democrat strategist close to senior figures in the Obama camp told The Sunday Telegraph. “They will give her the respect she deserves. She will get something to do with health care, a cabinet post or the chance to lead the legislation through the Senate.”
Another Democrat who has discussed strategy with friends in the Obama inner circle said that Mr Obama was openly considering asking Mrs Clinton to join his cabinet, alongside two other former presidential rivals: John Edwards, who is seen as a likely attorney general; and Joe Biden, who is a leading contender to become Secretary of State.
Hillary to run health care, Edwards to run law enforcement and Biden to run State - all under an empty-suit leftist! Anyone who figures that a period of Democratic rule will work to conservatism’s benefit is a purblind idiot from this point on!
Hillary’s health care plan is a catastrophic government take over. Edwards is hack lawyer who is a complete tool of the trial lawyers. Biden is one of the Democratic Senators who introduced legislation in January of 2007 calling for no increase in US troop levels in Iraq. Hillary will bankrupt healthcare; Edwards will use the Justice Department to enrich his trial lawyer puppet-masters; the man who wanted to ensure our defeat in Iraq will orchestrate our surrender to Iran over Iraq. And you think Obama will do anything to make it better? He hasn’t the first clue about real political in-fighting and he’ll be a feather blown on the winds of these dedicated political gamesmen. This is what we’ll get if we don’t win - except, even worse, we’ll also get leftwing extremist judges and bureaucrats who will try to regulate us to death “for the children”.
