I see why John McCain felt sorry for Joe Biden after the debate with Sarah Palin. Joe was playing typical old time politics which he was able to do in his 28 years in the Senate. A major news outlet even call him “A Master Gasbag”
He was totally lost for words or taken by surprise with Gov. Sarah Palin’s style when answering questions. As far as Sarah was concerned Biden was not even in the room and she went directly to the listeners.
Senator Biden had to come up with something to get the attention directed back to him. The approach he took was one of total stupidity and in my opinion old politics, when the people had no way to verify the truth of what politicos say without scurrying to the library and look it up in an encyclopedia.
Two of the statements the Senator made, which I could not believe, a Senator sitting for as long as he, showed such lack knowledge:
- After Gov. Palin said she couldn’t wait to sit in the Senate as President and work along with that body. Senator Biden said the only function a Vice President has is to vote when there was a tie.
The Constitution of the United States specifically says “The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.”
It also states that “the Senate shall chuse (chose) their Officers, and also a President pro-tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he (she) shall exercise the Office of the President of the United States.”
Nowhere does the Constitution state what Senator Biden said. It points out that the Senate always has the Vice President or Pro-tempore, and in fact it is the V.P’s most important role, sitting at all times and therefore participating in the Senate’s affairs, unless there is a Senate ruling that says something different I know nothing about.
- The other is his dumb statement about Lebanon, when he said:
When we kicked – along with France, we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon, I said and Barack said, ‘Move NATO forces in there. Fill the vacuum, because if you don’t know--- if you don’t, Hezbollah will control it.’
“Now what’s happened? Hezbollah is a legitimate part of the government in the country immediately to the north of Israel.”
All those years in the Senate and he has, not only has no understanding of the Constitution but of history. First Lebanon is not part of NATO and they were not attacked by any foreign country nor did they attack any foreign country.
I have no idea what he was talking about, we never forced Hezbollah from Lebanon, maybe the French did, and if so it would have had been done recently, since Obama hasn’t been in the Senate that long. As a matter of fact Hezbollah is still there filling their own vacuum.
I hope the Senator was not talking about the murderous attack of 261 Marines in Oct. 1983 leading to the withdrawal of U.S. Troops, if so, Obama was only 22 years old, and no French Troops were involved.
Could he have meant Syria’s departure from Lebanon in 2002 and 2003, again to my knowledge there were no French troops helping them with that either. They may have been part of some U.N. Peace Keeping force.
I have a feeling Senator Biden’s mouth goes faster than his brain, which again is the old politics when things didn’t get a fact check.
In that Debate he said many things that were not true or stretched some of which follows and researched by Amanda Carpenter of Townhall.com:
1. AHMEDINIJAD MEETING: Joe Biden lied when he said that Barack Obama never said that he would sit down unconditionally with Mahmoud Ahmedinijad of Iran. Barack Obama did say specifically, and Joe Biden attacked him for it during the primary.
2. OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING: Biden said, “Drill we must.” But Biden has opposed offshore drilling and even compared offshore drilling to “raping” the Outer Continental Shelf.”
3. TROOP FUNDING: Joe Biden lied when he indicated that John McCain and Barack Obama voted the same way against funding the troops in the field. John McCain opposed a bill that included a timeline with an end date, (guess he never played football) that the President of the United States had already said he would veto regardless of its passage.
4. OPPOSING CLEAN COAL: Biden says he’s always been for clean coal, but he just told a voter that he is against clean coal and any new coal plants in America and has a record of voting against clean coal and coal in the U.S. Senate.
5. HEALTH INSURANCE: Biden falsely said McCain will raise taxes on people's health insurance coverage -- they get a tax credit to offset any tax hike. Independent fact checkers have confirmed this attack is false
6. OIL TAXES: Biden falsely said Palin supported a windfall profits tax in Alaska -- she reformed the state tax and revenue system, it's not a windfall profits tax. (The State of Alaska owns all natural resources and the reform calls for a tax based on the price per barrel or per pound depending on what resource was extracted from the State and given directly to the taxpayers in the form of a check.)
7. REGULATION: Biden falsely said McCain weakened regulation -- he actually called for more regulation on Fannie and Freddie.
8. IRAQ: When Joe Biden lied when he said that John McCain was “dead wrong on Iraq”, because Joe Biden shared the same vote to authorize the war and differed on the surge strategy where John McCain has been proven right.
I think Senator Biden should be checked for chronic cognitive and intellectual deterioration. Please Joe, have it done now because you could be the Vice President of the United States and a heartbeat away from being President.