JOE BIDEN: A VICE-PRESIDENT WE CAN BELIEVE IN

It is refreshing to have Joe Biden as our vice-president. Instead of people criticizing him for giving us his views we should be applauding him for saying what is on his mind.

If he doesn't want his family in a confined space--in an airplane or train -then it is his right to say just that when he is interviewed. Obviously, the White House wasn't too pleased with his remarks about the swine flu and how people should react but let's step back a little bit and compare him to our recent vice-presidents. Biden is a winner over any of them by a long shot.

Does Dick Cheney ring a bell? He was not a fun, outspoken man of the people type of vice-president like the former senator from Delaware. Cheney was one of the oddest choices for vice-president in our nation's history. He added no electoral votes to the ticket and it would be hard to find anyone who thought he had a pleasant and sunny personality. He was a dour and sour personality who spoke in a monotone. And, often we didn't know where he was located. And, we aren't even going to mention his policies.

What about Al Gore? He was rather rigid in his demeanor and was never too outspoken or controversial. He always seemed to be lecturing us on how to behave or how to act and seemed like a stern school teacher we once had.

Does anyone remember Vice-President Dan Quayle from my home state of Indiana. He did not add a lot of gravitas to the ticket or to his tenure in the first Bush administration. He was not a vice-president we could believe in.

And George Herbert Walker Bush was a fine gentleman as the vice-president under Reagan but he definitely wasn't a man of the people as can be said of our current vice-president.

Walter Mondale was another gentleman but not one to be outspoken and colorful like Biden.

And, we don't even have to go into Spiro Agnew who had to leave his office as vice-president. He certainly ranks near the bottom of America's vice-presidents.

So, looking back we can see that we are lucky to have someone like Joe Biden as our vice-president. He may veer off the reservation as he did with his remarks on the swine flu but it just makes us think how better off we are today with Biden rather than with a Cheney or an Agnew.

Biden, with his background on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is a valuable help to the president who is focused more on domestic issues than on international affairs at the moment. We can all be glad that the vice-president is a person of substance who adds to--rather than detracts from the administration.

If he sometimes says what is in his mind before checking with the White House staff it just adds to the unique character of the Obama-Biden administration.

So, stop the criticism of the VP and enjoy his good nature and spontaneity.

Comments

[LizM]

I'm not quite sure how I could have possibly missed this blog but I'm very happy I found it - don't even ask how!

Thanks for...well, for telling it like it really is...a rarity in the media and blogosphere.

I would be interested in knowing your thoughts on whether 'the Biden strategy' for promoting a sustainable political settlement in Iraq is nearing the implementation stage...we've been waiting a long time, after all!

[WeWon]

This is embarrassing. Why not just admit he made a mistake instead of the spin. You sound like a Republican justifying W.

[carolinecantoo]

I left a couple comments on another blog about this issue because they were asking him to be replaced because of this! It's just good common sense. It is up to Joe to let us know what he thinks, god knows nobody else is gonna do it.

[BobLablah]

I think we can all agree that Joe deserves the exact same respect that has been paid to Miss California. Instead of people criticizing her him for giving us her views we should be applauding her for saying what is on her mind.

[SJHS]

Vice President Joe Biden is an upstanding, honest and honorable man. The fact that he speaks for himself without having his comments "sanitized" and stripped of all meaning is extremely positive and reassuring. So the airlines and other mass transportation folks didn't like Vice President Biden's comments ... so what? They had plenty of time to provide specific and reassuring information about safely using mass transportation and avoiding disease to the American people. They chose to sit on their hands and do nothing. Because the airlines' complaint agenda is so obviously self-centered and money-driven, I choose to believe Vice President Biden. Last night, in yet another unfounded attack on Vice President Biden, CNN's AC360 quoted an "expert" as saying that an uncovered sneeze on a plane would travel sideways for only a few seat rows. I don't plan to throw the dice and be an occupant of one of those rows that could receive virus droplets in a sneeze. Thanks for telling it like it is: You go, Joe!

[suzonne]

Biden is a "what you see is what you get " person, I admire that even if he is VP.

[Citizenofreality]

I think Joe Biden is doing a great job. I wasn't upset about his comment on the swine flu at all, it's the same advice I've given my family members.

[larry278]

A lot of people believed in Henry Wallace, FDR's VP for FDR's 3d term, too. But a lot of people thought Wallace was a crypto red. FDR dropped Wallace for Harry Truman in 1944.
Read the history to find out what happened to Henry Wallace. 1948 wasn't a good year for Henry Wallace or Tom Dewey.
Most American history deals with Harry Truman. Harry was POTUS from 1945 to 1952. Not much is now said about Henry Wallace or Tom Dewey from 1945 to 1952. Both Tom & Henry had their moments. Harry Truman made US History.

[propitiousmoment]

Thanks, Biden is a person with deep understanding of foreign policy, just what we need at the moment. To throw him out because he occasionally speaks his mind is a baby/bathwater idea. I can't stand the hysterical knee-jerk negative reactions to this guy. If people would give it a little time and listen to him for longer than a 10-second sound bite -- ah, I guess that would mean our whole culture would be completely different.