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Oh, That Joe! (No. 8 in a Series) -- On Fred 'Red October' Thompson, His Gall Bladder, and Brigades Vs. Battalions
September 03, 2008 2:31 PM
Vice presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., might be in the Sunshine State, 1,700 miles southeast of the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn., but the loquacious son of Scranton is definitely keeping tabs on what the opposition party is up to.
He seemed quite keyed up, for instance, over the remarks at the GOP convention last night by thespian and former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn.
"I heard 'Red October' hunting for votes," Biden said at the Harborside Event Center in Fort Myers, Fla., "and Fred got up there and said, 'Well, the Democrats are going to raise your taxes, because they say they’re not going to raise taxes, but they’re going to raise taxes on business and that’s going to affect your food.'
"Let me tell you something," Biden said. "I don’t know why we need to give another tax break to Exxon Mobil. ... These guys made $600 billion. Six hundred billion in profit has been made by the oil companies since 2000, and John McCain wants to give them another $5 billion tax break."
"So, Fred," Biden said, addressing a man not in the room, "Fred, look at me. We’re gonna make sure you don’t get another tax break, because I’m going to give the tax break to the people right here in this room.”
Defending his running mate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., from the charge that he's inexperienced, Biden reached back to his first Senate campaign, when the then-New Castle County council member defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Caleb Boggs.
“The line I used to use is, 30 years of bad experience ain’t worthwhile experience," Biden recalled. "You’re not going to take your car back to a mechanic who, for 30 years in a row, has screwed it up.”
But heralding 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.
The chairman said he expects to receive an agreement soon signed by the Iraqi and U.S. governments. “It’s going to say it’s time to turn over responsibility to the Iraqis and set an absolute date to bring our troops home,” Biden said. “So, if Barack Obama is the agent of surrender, George Bush is the one signing the surrender papers!”
Biden noted that he "left part of me here in Ft. Myers. You have one of the best hospitals in America, Lee County Memorial," he remembered. "They have my gall bladder.
"I got down here one time with my dad and wife at three o’clock in the morning, and woke up with this awful, awful pain and thank God, thank God, you have -- it’s rated one of the top 100 hospitals in America, so you should be very proud. And I can testify to the fact that you’ve got the best doctors and the best nurses of any place I’ve ever been, and I’ve spent a lot of time hanging out with doctors and nurses."
But it wouldn’t be a complete day for Biden if he didn’t make a slip-up about who’s actually at the top of his party’s ticket.
“We’re stepping up to the ball here, the Biden -- excuse me, the Obama-Biden administration," Biden said. "No, that wasn’t a Freudian slip, I was just talking about myself,” he said as the crowd laughed. “Believe me, believe me, you got it right, Obama-Biden, I got that part,” Biden continued, laughing.
“Oh, Lordy day, I tell ya,” he said, chuckling as his voice trailed off.
-- Jake Tapper and Matt Jaffe
September 3, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (54)
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I wish that Biden would take the train he used to visit his sons, except this time STAY with his sons. TAKE BIDEN OUT!
Posted by: irma | Sep 3, 2008 4:09:51 PM
Ryan, contrast Biden with constantly saying stupid stuff in front of crowds.
Posted by: biscuits | Sep 3, 2008 4:09:41 PM
During the 2008 Democratic Presidential primary in Biden's home state of Delaware (population 800,000+), Biden received ONLY 2,863 votes.
-----
If ever there was a guy who shouldn't be "a heartbeat away" from the presidency, Biden -- who's been sooo determined, for soooo many years, to be president, despite the lack of enthusiasm for that eventuality from anybody else.
Posted by: Belle Starr | Sep 3, 2008 4:09:32 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 about 9,000 votes in all the 2008 Democratic Presidential primaries he was in.
Keep talking Joe, one day they will find a cure for foot-in-mouth disease.
Posted by: Sally J. | Sep 3, 2008 4:02:42 PM
okay len
lets compare the Mccain and Obama on their first and most important Presidential decision...
their VP's
Biden
and Pailin'
yeah it's about judgement not making stupid rash decisions out of political tactics that throw the welfare of the country under the bus
making strong decisions that are wrong seems to be McCain's specialty...and then trying to fix them on the other side as if they didn't make a mistake to begin with...
kind of like this suppression of the lead witness that just popped up in the Palin ethics investigation
yup that's right welcome BushIII ...cover those tracks.
Posted by: dl | Sep 3, 2008 3:45:34 PM
“The line I used to use is, 30 years of bad experience ain’t worthwhile experience," Biden recalled.
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Biden should use this line -- which probably is NOT his at all, but certainly is being used ABOUT him -- on his ridiculous self.
Posted by: Belle Starr | Sep 3, 2008 3:44:15 PM
Jake someone just reported on another blog that Biden is right on the brigade thing...because "shock troops" are different because they are rangers...
they said
"Our Ranger and special forces teams do not come in brigade sizes!"
so maybe Biden is actually as smart as people claim he is...
I guess Palin is smart enough to avoid the discussion all together. oy
Posted by: dl | Sep 3, 2008 3:41:45 PM
Palin says that her 5 kids, her pregnant daughter, her husband that doesn't want to be part of the USA, and her redneck future-son-in-law who doesn't want kids, won't be a distraction doing her job as VP or filling in for mccain while he is having health issues. hmmmmm
Posted by: pt | Sep 3, 2008 3:30:28 PM
Obama did not graduate Magna Cum Laude and he did not sponsor 500 bills - he sponsored nothing substantive he hijacked many bills with the help of other congressmen and he was not "president" of the law review - he was Editor which he was because they were trying to give the position to an affirmative action candidate not the most qualified by any stretch. He did such a poor job he never produced one article ( unheard of) was not offered a clerkship with a judge ( the only Harvard law review editor who never received one) and he wasn't offered a job at a top law firm ( again, every other law review editor was) so he "chose" to be a city organizer because he had no options.
Posted by: Watching | Sep 3, 2008 3:30:13 PM
"Do they really think we're THAT stupid?"
If we keep comparing the guy in the number one slot with the woman in the number two slot, we are.
One is half as much as two.
Ok, over the top.
Posted by: len | Sep 3, 2008 3:23:25 PM
If palin were male, would mccain have picked him. You can bet your life he would not have been considered. So with mccain it's "mccain first".
Posted by: pt | Sep 3, 2008 3:22:45 PM
Do you know why no one asks Obama why he doesn't stay home? It's because they don't blame him for not wanting to stay home with that hate-filled Michelle.
Posted by: Brad | Sep 3, 2008 3:19:52 PM
for "watching" --- counting the years is a nice touch, but doesn't answer the issue. There's a difference between teaching and legislating (giving opinions) and governing (making decisions and dealing with the consequences).
Obama's heavy on one side, but where's his experience being the actual "decider", being the one to actually make the final decision and live with the ramifications of it. Mayors and governors do that - from deciding to float municipal bonds, making staffing and policy decisions, managing budgets, etc.
In a contest of "I think" vs "I do" ... "do" has the experience angle down.
Posted by: Doer | Sep 3, 2008 3:19:11 PM
If Biden were a female the media would be demanding that Obama drop him from the ticket.
Posted by: geevill | Sep 3, 2008 3:16:59 PM
I remember when the republicans spun Michelle Obama's comments about being proud of her country. I see that Palin's husband is a member of the API which is an organization that wants to succeed from the rest of the 49 states. I can't wait to see how rove & the boys are going to spin this one. Her husband doesn't even want to be part of the USA. Obama/Biden 2008!!!
Posted by: pt | Sep 3, 2008 3:16:35 PM
More political amnesia.
4 years ago.
Bush getting into TANG and not completing his service, Cheney saying he had better thing to do than serve - why that was ok and needed to be defended staunchly.
Kerry serving with distinction - why that had to be destroyed.
Now
Biden is horrible for getting deferrments and how dare you question John McCain's military record!
Posted by: Ryan C | Sep 3, 2008 3:14:22 PM
I wish you ask few question about brigade MadMom Palin.
Along with other stuff.
Just ask.
Posted by: Linda,Fl | Sep 3, 2008 3:11:47 PM
Gosh, why didn't Joe stay home with his two sons who were seriously injured after his wife was killed in an auto accident?
Oh, oh -- it's just Republican women who are supposed to stay home. Got it.
Posted by: Peach | Sep 3, 2008 3:06:17 PM
ExxonMobil's total profit numbers are impressive - except when you consider their typical profit margin is only a few points higher than most manufacturing companies make (and probably lower if you took out the failing auto industry). $600 billion income sounds like a lot of extra cash-- but don't forget about the $300-400 billion in costs. (I'll do the math -- let's focus on the $6 dollars you made, not the $3-4 dollars you spent to make it.)
So why stop at BigOil ... let's tax all businesses who are outside the magic number. And then, when the profits start to drop, and prices go up, and cost cuts (i.e, job cuts) are made, and 401(k)s start to weaken, everyone can be miserable together.
Best part of Thomson's speech - "They [Dems] say they are not going to take any water out of your side of the bucket, just the "other" side of the bucket!"
Posted by: Bizz | Sep 3, 2008 3:00:02 PM
Biden took the train back every night to see his sons.
Posted by: Vanessa | Sep 3, 2008 2:57:36 PM
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