Also, I’m not drunk this time. Really.

Were you, like, texted on your beeper thingie?

Coulda been worse, I suppose.

Yeah, how’d you know?

No text yet, just rumors and Drudge.

It’s a good guess, but I don’t think there’s anything other than a guess at this point.

Oh, wait – I’m not on the Obama list, not. I was texted by a buddy of mine, just about the CNN report.

Too bad Edwards couldn’t have kept it in his pants. Asshole.

Barack Obama’s Twitters
http://twitter.com/BarackObama

Sign up to be the first to know!!!!!!! har.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/firsttoknow

What’s Biden’s stand on leafy vegetables with eye-talian sounding names? I mean, is he gonna take my iceberg lettuce away?

Barack Obama’s Twitters

eww.

The text is in!

I’m not terribly excited by this choice.

Why Biden? Anybody?

Because, unfortunately, you probably still need an Old White Man on the ticket to have a shot at winning.

Or maybe it’s the hairplugs.

Yay!

Why Biden? Anybody?

Delaware is the secret ruler of the United States. Now the Diamond State is stepping forward to claim its own.

Solid choice. Not too daring, but he’s feisty and smart, and old people seem to like him.

This makes me hope fervently that McBBQ will pick Mittens for VP…. Biden may go off the reservation from time to time, but I’d love to see him savage Mitt in a debate. He’d probably do well against Ghouliani or Huck as well… Pawlenty worries me tho, ’cause I fear the unknown =P

Btw, repeat after me: at least it isn’t Evan Bayh. At least it isn’t Evan Bayh. At least it isn’t Evan Bayh.

Good pick.

Biden has F or VF views by the electorate 50-65 & 65+. Probably means that PA is in the bag for the Dems and that FL is now in play.

No question Biden will eat Mitts up. The VP debate should be terrific.

As to Clinton. Many of her votes were Rep crossovers. PUMA proves it – it can’t raise enough money to hire a freakin’ bus. The Clinton’s girls going to McCain sh*t is nothing but a Repub wet dream. Any Clinton female that would vote for McCain is disrespecting her own daughter and granddaughter. When their hormones come back into balance they’ll vote for Obama-Biden AND they’ll realize that is a great vote for women.

Also, in honor of our new future Vice President, all radio stations will be required to play at least one George Thorogood song every hour.

The neocon running Canuckistan is threatening to dissolve parliament and hold an election this fall. T’would be nice if both countries could return liberal governments (though C’s Liberals are more like old PC conservatives now).

Didn’t Biden commit some horrible gaffe in his own campaign? I can’t remember what it was but he really put his foot in his mouth earlier this year (suggesting he has questionable judgement.)

DKos has been a joy to behold tonight. Every asshole watching television suddenly fancied himself a “reporter” and wrote a BREAKING! diary.

Funniest shit I’ve seen in some time.

The VP debate should be terrific.

I’d like to know how many houses Mitt has. He’s probably lost count.

Didn’t Biden commit some horrible gaffe in his own campaign?

Several. But on the upside, he was the source of the “A noun, a verb, and 9/11” smackdown on Giuliani.

They say Biden is a tough campaigner who goes for the jugular. Good… ‘cuz otherwise, I wouldn’t want MBNA Joe a heartbeat away from dogcatcher.

He’d better bring the votes, because he doesn’t seem good for much else.

They say Biden is a tough campaigner who goes for the jugular.

Going with my “Jackie Robinson” theory earlier, maybe Biden can get his hands dirty in a way Obama can’t.

I’d like to know how many houses Mitt has. He’s probably lost count.

You can bet he’s trying like mad to figure out how many houses he owns, so he can spin it such that they are owned by his wife(wives?), The LDS, or his sons…

Oh shit….his sons! God I hope Mitt is the one…TBogg would have a field day!

Really? My sources are still saying that there’s been a flurry of phone calls between Obama’s HQ and the residence of one Rowlf the Dog.

I’m with Johnny Pez. I was scared shitless it would be Bayh. And hoping for Kaine, my sentimental choice. Biden’s a jerk, but entertaining as hell, a sense of humor, right about half the time. Him versus Romney will be worth watching.

Didn’t Biden commit some horrible gaffe in his own campaign?

He called Obama “clean and articulate”. Who says sucking up don’t pay?

Srlsy, if Biden *is* the pick, you know Barak’s never gonna let him forget that one. Which may be a crucial factor in choosing Biden, after all.

Why?

– Attack Dog
– In with older voters
– In with Catholics
– Traditional old white guy look of president (sadly may be necessary)
– Foreign policy cred

Doesn’t matter what state he’s from, the VP doesn’t necessarily help enough to carry a southern state anyway (thanks Edwards)

Good choice. I hope he does nothing but call McCain out on his bullshit.

CNN has been hammering on the “McCain & Biden are friends” thing tonight, and about how much they respect and admire each other. We’ll see how that plays out.

No question Biden will eat Mitts up. The VP debate should be terrific.

Please, oh please let Cain pick Mittens…..

Mitt Romney as the VP candidate would be AWESOME. I mean, it’s pretty obvious McBBQ doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning because he’s so deeply tied to the worst of the Bush administration – and hello! when your campaign becomes shaking hands with old ladies with dementia at sausagehaus restaurants, you’re finished. But to watch them both tank over a prolonged period of time would be entertaining, indeed! Plus, who knows what scandals might emerge. McHoe might say the C word in public again and Mitt might get caught in two wet suits in an airport washroom…the possibilities for shame and embarrassment are limitless for the neocon.

“McCain & Biden are friends” t

I actually thought that might be a big factor but for the opposite reason. It’s kinda like signing a backup QB from your archrival to get some insider info into their offense. If anyone knows how to get under McCain’s skin, it’s probably a guy he met at Senate orientation week.

CNN has been hammering on the “McCain & Biden are friends” thing tonight

I wonder who is hammering CNN with press releases to that effect because the who is threatened.

Mitt Romney as the VP candidate would be AWESOME…

To quote someone on another blog, “I have not been good enough for the gods to reward me with this.” There is also speculation that McCain *had* chosen Willard, but after ManyMansionsGate the people in charge of the McCain campaign told him he’s gonna hafta pick again, and now Old John’s sulking like only an alter kacker can sulk.

It would, I agree, be very entertaining to watch Joe Biden tell Romney, “Yes, I said Barack was clean and articulate. You, Willard, possess only one of those attributes.”

Why Biden? Because he’s kind of an asshole, but he’s our asshole. And he’s entertaining. When was the last time there was a laughing-with rather than laughing-at VP candidate? I’m not sure there’s ever been one.

Biden is a shithead who loves war almost as much as McSame, and never met a corporation whose butt he wouldn’t kiss for a dollar. Nice choice.

When was the last time there was a laughing-with rather than laughing-at VP candidate?

Damn, that just gave me a flashback to the ’92 VP debate.

In answer to your question, roughly never.

Biden has a long, long record of being somewhat abrasive, dismissive, abrupt, a snarly attack dog when the occasion requires. He can best play Cheney to Obama’s Bush: the older, weathered, jaded institutional hard-liner who will balance the dreamy idealism of his boss with some realpolitik pragmatism.

What’s really interesting is that throughout the primary Hillary Clinton and Obama had a snipefest about who was running the more Rovian campaign. My sense is that they were both looking at the Bush regime with unmitigated awe. And taking copious notes. Hey, winners are winners, right? And losers are losers.

What war does Biden love? This is news to me. As for kissing corporations for a dollar, most politicians are guilty of this. Government, as a rule, favours corporations.

It would, I agree, be very entertaining to watch Joe Biden tell Romney, “Yes, I said Barack was clean and articulate. You, Willard, possess only one of those attributes.”

Which one?

Let Biden be snarly with the neocon bastards. It’s about time someone got snarly with them. As long as he doesn’t get drunk and shoot someone in the face. Unless that someone is Cheney.

What happened to Kanau Kambon? I thought he had the veep seat in the bag.

Yay for hair plugs!

Now that he’s turned Giuliani into an object of ridicule, perhaps he can do the same for whatever Songbird McGolddigger selects.

Gawd I hope it’s Mittens.

Says Biden on the Obama web page. I didn’t get a text.

This won’t go over well with the pissed-off feminist crowd, or the greens. Neither has a poor voting record on these things, but both use the Republican frames to talk about stuff which really alienates hard liberals.

*sigh*

PS – the lack of PUMA really kinda undermines the idea that many Clinton supporters were crossovers.

I can live with this: Biden is the Anti-Cheney. Obama needs an enforcer, who can kick some ass and leave him above the fray.

Ooo, I hope Mittens is the VP pick. Biden will eat his lunch and give him a swirly, while flipping old man McSame the finger.

“It would, I agree, be very entertaining to watch Joe Biden tell Romney, ‘Yes, I said Barack was clean and articulate. You, Willard, possess only one of those attributes.'”

Which one?

Tsk, tsk, you’ve been listening to the ‘gentile’ slanders about the temple garments, haven’t you, Mr. X?

Actually, I just wanna watch Willard do the Dan Quayle / Animatronic-with-a-short stare for about 40 seconds, and then ask that question himself.

Just taking into account the snarkiness factor, I think Biden is as close as Obama could reasonably get to selecting Jon Stewart as his running mate.

Too bad that I have to wait until Monday to invest in popcorn futures.

Well, that didn’t take very long.

I hope you Biden boosters are right about this fabled attack-dog-ism of Biden, because he’s starting from in the hole.

Joe “Incompetence Dodge – Soft Partition” Biden, this is who’s supposed to be giving someone opposed to Iraw from the start, foreign policy cred. That is fucked up.

But then again, I wanted Obama-Michael Moore, so whatever.

Iraw, as we all know – is the fabled country between the Tigrid and the Euphratew rivers.

Apparently, I like the word “fabled” in the morning.

Did I mention that John McCain was a POW?

Biden’s entry on wikipedia has the dirt. A college plagiarism incident and bragging about grades. Yep, that ended his ’88 run…

Tee hee. 3 am call.

Yeah, I think it’s hilarious.

And to the first person who explains that “the reason Obama waited so long to announce was that he was Biden his time”, a face-slapping with Goldstein’s member.

…and never met a corporation whose butt he wouldn’t kiss for a dollar.

AS VP, he can raise his price to ten dollars.

This won’t go over well with the pissed-off feminist crowd, or the greens. Neither has a poor voting record on these things, but both use the Republican frames to talk about stuff which really alienates hard liberals.

You’re describing an impossible to please group. We’ve never had a hard liberal (radical) president and after the close call with radical fReichtard leadership I really, really hope to the FSM we never, ever do.

If you’re running for office and you appeal to the radicals UR Doing It Wrong.

I’m delighted to be able to say on this topic that given my previous fears, nothing about this particularly frightens or depresses me. I leave it to empirical research to support arguments that this can help reel in those lunatic Democratic leaners who “aren’t sure” about the secret Muslim guy.

I’m a little uneasy about this. Has Biden ever been a POW? What’s on his iPod? Does he like coffee?

Ohhhh, I just have a bad feeling about this. A real bad feeling…

The GOP veep candidate who would scare the bejezuz out of m is Jindal. He’s just too fucking smart, and *extremely* far-right. And if McCain is elected, the actuarial tables suggest (remember, McCain breakfast conversaations with paw about the then-ongoing Civil War naval campaigns), it’s pretty likely that his VP will become president.

I’m a little uneasy about this. Has Biden ever been a POW? What’s on his iPod? Does he like coffee?

On the plus side, if it’s the Mittster – Biden wins the “who would you rather have a beer with” metric.

I dunno man. You really think after the amount of freaking out Republicans do over the Mohammedans they’re going to trust a crypto-Hindoo in the halls of power?

Dragon-King Wangchuck said,
August 23, 2008 at 14:06

And to the first person who explains that “the reason Obama waited so long to announce was that he was Biden his time”, a face-slapping with Goldstein’s member.

Ahem, I say!

Biden has commuted home to Delaware on the train every night since 1972. As a single parent, he took care of his two severely injured sons for 5 years after his wife was killed before remarrying. His net worth may be less than a million dollars. His son, a JAG lawyer and reservist, is scheduled to be deployed to Iraq in October. Compare that to the “family values” and “support for the troops” and “elitism” of any possible republican VP. Maybe people will actually get it this time.

crypto-Hindoo? By Shiva’s tasty mangoes! I’ve known hindus, I’ve served with hindus – Joe Biden is no hindu.

I do look forward to Bill Donohue having a freak out about Barry having chosen the bad catholic.

And oh, yeah, he’s a catholic who has attended the same church for like 40 years. Does McCain even go to church from any of his houses?

I’m not thrilled with Biden, for reasons I’ll go into…but first let me repeat what Johnny Pez said: at least it isn’t Bayh…at least it isn’t Bayh…

Now for Biden…what others have said…when it comes to a surrogate, he’s probably one of the only decent ones the Dems have. He is able to zero in on a weakness and go for the kill.

As for why I’m not thrilled: unfortunately, he loses backbone when his own ass is getting hammered. He’s the member of the Senate most responsible for Clarence Thomas sitting on the Supreme Court. He folded under GOP pressure and didn’t call the witnesses (who were standing by) who were prepared to corroborate Anita Hill. I’m not comfortable with anyone being rewarded after a boner of that magnitude. Then again…he’s not Bayh…he’s not Bayh.

I still think my suggestion of Willie Nelson was much better than any of Obama’s “short-listed” possibilities.

As a single parent, he took care of his two severely injured sons for 5 years after his wife was killed before remarrying.

Wha? He’s should have adopted two healthy children and then dumped his broken kids. The existential realities make this an attack on John McPOW (R-Hanoi Hilton) and Cindy and their children.

To your battle stations!

Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. Now there’s a ticket I could support: both kinds of music. And best of all, between them they didn’t use as much drugs and alcohol in the 70s and 80s as W did.

Catholics aren’t the mindless monolithic voting bloc that the GOP and Donohue like to think they are. I have four sisters and three nieces. They all went to catholic schools and attend mass every sunday. They all use birth control. My mother, who is 85 and attends mass and says the rosary every day has thought for years that bishops like Saltarelli are misguided “for making girls have all those babies.
The recent movement of catholics to the GOP has a lot more to do with economics than religion, and the migration of catholics from the factories and cities to the suburbs and the middle class.

No, Jennifer, Chuck Robb was singlehandedly responsible for Clarence Thomas.

Honus – unfortunately, that’s not the case. Biden was head of the Senate committee holding the hearings and he folded to GOP pressure and ended the hearings instead of calling the other witnesses.

crypto-Hindoo? By Shiva’s tasty mangoes! I’ve known hindus, I’ve served with hindus – Joe Biden is no hindu.

I uh… I meant Jindal.

I mean, they’re both followers of Cathol now, but still, I’m not sure McCain would try pushing it on his base to actually have to vote for one of those Punjabi types, even if he is a good minority.

Jennifer,
But Robb voted to confirm Thomas and was confirmed by two votes. Robb’s vote was the 51st. Robb made his decision in the course of the hearings. Robb’s vote is a fact. That if the hearings continued, Thomas’s support would have waned, is speculation.

DKos has been a joy to behold tonight. Every asshole watching television suddenly fancied himself a “reporter” and wrote a BREAKING! diary.

I am registered at a big political blog, therefore I am a citizen journalist.

Let me try one.

I Just Saw Something on TV…Developing…

by J—

0 comments

Honus – Thomas never would have made it to a vote of the entire Senate if Biden had done his job, called the other witnesses, and not folded to GOP pressure to cut off the hearings.

Anybody know the last time Clarence Thomas asked a question during oral arguments?

I just thought I’d bring that up again. What a fucking tool joke placeholder that sex-harassing scumbag is.

To be fair to Biden, in spite of his massive fuck-up on the Thomas hearings, that in fact was the dawn of the GOP scorched-earth policy that has been in effect ever since. I think if Thomas had been nominated 5 or 10 years after the GOP inaugurated these tactics, Biden might well have told them to shove it up their asses and continued the hearings. That’s one of those things that we can’t ever know, but let’s at least hope it’s the case.

that in fact was the dawn of the GOP scorched-earth policy that has been in effect ever since

Umm, my memory is pretty shoddy, but wasn’t the decade previous to Thomas’ nomination dominated by super-patriot Ronald Reagan, the Saint of “taking compromises – folding them until they’re all sharp corners – and shoving them up his opponent’s asses”?

Oh – have I offended any of the Reagan Democrats in the heartland?

Will said,

August 23, 2008 at 7:58

This makes me hope fervently that McBBQ will pick Mittens for VP…. Biden may go off the reservation from time to time, but I’d love to see him savage Mitt in a debate. He’d probably do well against Ghouliani or Huck as well… Pawlenty worries me tho, ’cause I fear the unknown =P

Biden was the one who coined the phrase: “Every sentence Giuliani makes is a noun, a verb and 9/11”. McCain would be dumber than a box of rocks to pick Giuliani at this point.

Dragon-King – sorry, but I don’t see much of a parallel between the Reagan years and the Gingrich years. They may have been ratfucking then, but they weren’t overt ratfuckers. FWIW, my observation is that Reagan was extrordinarily good at selling himself – and by extension his loony policies – in the court of public opinion without resorting to the Gingrich lexicon. There’s a sea-change level of difference between GOP nastiness circa 1985 and GOP nastiness circa 1995.

Oh – have I offended any of the Reagan Democrats in the heartland?

FSM DAMN IT, DKWC!one1!

I don’t think there are any Reagan Democrats, they’ve all joined the bigot/warmonger party by now.

P.S. I see my linky at August 23, 2008 at 15:20 has shown itself, at last.

Yeah, save me a seat on the “not excited, but not terribly disappointed either” bus.

And I agree that if Biden can be Obama’s attack dog/enforcer, this could be a very effective ticket.

Leon Trotsky, Exile-in-Mexico said,

August 23, 2008 at 15:54

crypto-Hindoo? By Shiva’s tasty mangoes! I’ve known hindus, I’ve served with hindus – Joe Biden is no hindu.

I uh… I meant Jindal.

I mean, they’re both followers of Cathol/ C’thulu now, but still, I’m not sure McCain would try pushing it on his base to actually have to vote for one of those Punjabi types, even if he is a good minority.

Fixed.

My theory as to why McCain put Jindal on the VP list and the GOP is trotting him out like a show pony is because they plan to run him in the future. No one knew who the heck Obama was until he was showcased at the ’04 convention. By tossing Jindal’s name out in the media, the GOP can say, “Hey look! We too can run a young, dashing, non-white guy just like those Dhimmicrats!”

By tossing Jindal’s name out in the media, the GOP can say, “Hey look! We too can run a young, dashing, non-white guy just like those Dhimmicrats!”

“Better yet, our young, dashing, non-white guy is batshit crazy!!!”

Perhaps I should have said Reagan Democrats in Appalachia.

I have to concede that Jennifer’s interpretation matches my impression of those years as well, so I guess I’ll surrender the argument.

Did I menrion that John McCain was a POW?

mention… I meant did I mention that John McCain was a POW.

I think McCain’s long and painful years as a POW should be reason enough for people to forgive my typos.

Also – POW!

Jennifer definitely needs an exorcism.

/Jindal

What, nobody wants to bash on Clarence Thomas with me? I’ll wait for a Supreme Court thread. *sigh*

Re the Catholic vote, something to consider:

Catholics, who compose a massive 67 million-person slice of the electorate, favored Democrats in Tuesday’s election by 55 percent to 45 percent, according to National Election Pool exit polls.

That’s a marked difference from 2004, when President Bush, a Republican United Methodist, won 52 percent of the Catholic vote and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., a Catholic, received 47 percent.

Catholic voting patterns varied by state, but the overall shift helped Democrats in several big states like Pennsylvania and Ohio, according to John Green, a senior fellow at Washington’s Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

But:

Mr. Obama has lost a few percentage points compared with Mr. Kerry among white mainline Protestants, Catholics and the religiously unaffiliated. Only among black Protestants does he beat Mr. Kerry.

Unless they’ve got their own contradictory numbers the Obama campaign must see the urgency of shifting a portion of the Catholic vote and that Biden would help with those who might be scared that Barry X is a secret Musselman. Be prepared to see Biden emphasizing his Papist credentials in the campaign ad nauseum. All the more reason to hope gramps picks Romney.

I’m outraged. Obama’s choice of Biden is a slap in the face to people who were expecting a slap in the face.

-GSD

By not picking Bill Ayers, Obama has stabbed islamohippieterrorism in the back and we will not be soon forgetting it.

MCAIN 08!!!

Look, on his own, I hate the senator from MBNA as much as the next progressive. As a veep pick in this election Obama could have done worse, much worse.

Vote Obama/Biden in November and let’s start, somewhere, anywhere, moving this government back into the 20th century. Maybe in 2012 or 2016 we can talk about a real 21st century candidate. Maybe.

As was said previously: “This won’t go over well with the pissed-off feminist crowd, or the greens. Neither has a poor voting record on these things, but both use the Republican frames to talk about stuff which really alienates hard liberals.”

I live in a battleground state (CO) and one of my best buddies for talking politics with has invited me to a Nader rally when the Dem convention is in session next week. Hey, Ralpie himself will be there! It irritates me to no end that this worthless egotistical asshole shows up every 4 years, complains about corporate control of government (while doing nothing about it in those intervening years), takes money from Repugs to run his spoiler campaign, and the far, far left falls for it every fucking time.

Current polling shows this is a state where it could matter. I’m a hard lefty myself, but I am enough of a realist to know that if McSame wins the Supremes will suck ass until the day I die, and I will have to live through it.

Que the Nader supporters in 3, 2, 1……

Ice weasel nails it, with a 9.2 for execution.

yeah, Biden is a maiinstream MOR democrat, who has trinagulated in the past. His shilling for banks is reprehensible.

But it may be worthwhile to remember that the banks and corporations wield enough political power to swing the election, if they care to; a VP pick that gives them enough comfort to not do so is worth something.

As has been pointed out, first they have to WIN the election. I see this selection as less than ideal, but most supporters can live with it and he does bring some advantages, so it’s a pragmatic decision.

Now, if only Wet-start will pick Lieberman….

damn you ice weasel for being more succinct than me. Damn you.

Pointing out my typo is like torturing John McCain…

Que the Nader supporters in 3, 2, 1……

I don’t think that there are any left. The only sign that they existed is the occasional rabid anti-Naderite

And to the first person who explains that “the reason Obama waited so long to announce was that he was Biden his time”, a face-slapping with Goldstein’s member.

Ask not for whom the cock slaps, Dragon King. It slaps for thee.

Catholics aren’t the mindless monolithic voting bloc that the GOP and Donohue like to think they are.

Seconded. My extended family is heavily Catholic. Their politics are mixed.

I’ve thought about this some more. Yes, Biden is a DLC democrat, but compared to Bayh, he’s DLC-Lite. And Vice Presidents don’t do a whole lot, so there’s not much chance that Biden’s MOR DLCness will translate into Obama administration policy. As such, what we’re really looking for here is someone who can help Obama win; after that whoever the running mate is ends up functioning more as a first-runner up, ready to assume the duties if for whatever reason Miss America herself cannot….and it rarely comes to that. So what was needed was a strong campaigner, a strong surrogate, a reliable attack dog…and I think Biden is effective in those areas.

It also doesn’t escape my notice, as I’m sure it did not escape Obama’s, that if the DLC was going to continue to agitate for a running mate from their ranks (and they were – they started trying to shove Bayh down our throats as soon as Obama clinched the nomination and it became clear that Hillary had taken herself out of consideration thanks to ill-thought-out statements during the campaign), Biden represents the best possible choice – because he will be too old to run as Dem nominee assuming that Obama wins and serves two terms. That’s why the DLC had such a hard-on for Bayh as the VP pick; it’s because in four years or eight years Bayh would still be young enough to run for the nomination, well-positioned to win it, and thus to return control of the Democratic Party to the DLC. Obama sidestepped all of that with his pick of Biden.

Well played, in that regard.

Biden is an inspired choice for a running mate. Firstly, he’s an open book, a man who has been in the spotlight for many years, so there’s not much dirt the shrieking right-wing smear machine can dig up on him that isn’t already public knowledge. Secondly, he’s a veteran of the media circus/gladiatorial battles that the media creates as “political forums” these days, which makes him the perfect attack dog for the negative campaign Obama needs to run to win, which keeps Obama free of the dirt and filth that Joe will willing roll around in to attack McCain. Finally, say what you want about Biden, but the one thing everyone agrees upon is that he has a smart, tough, and formidable media presence. Obama’s handlers will have to keep a muzzle on Joe’s most obnoxious rhetorical qualities, obviously, but his best ones are a positive gain for Obama’s campaign. Joe was always a lousy candidate, but as Obama’s second banana and media attack dog he’s as good as it gets.

If there was one thing the Kerry-Edwards ticket lacked, it was toughness and grit. They should have faced the swift boating bullshit with fists clenched and guns blazing, and they fucking didn’t, making them look weak and effete. Biden will be able to confront every negative attack against Obama in a manner neither Kerry nor Edwards could pull off even if they’d tried.

Ask not for whom the cock slaps, Dragon King. It slaps for thee.

Never have I been so grateful for a hyphen.

In my defense, did you know that John McCain was a POW?

Joe Biden: Change you can make believe in.

Don’t know a lot about Biden, but I think the quick & neat way he neutered Ghouliani shows cause for, ahem, hope. Folks don’t cast a vote for VP, in any case.
Plus, so far, McCain has done (& will likely keep right on doing) so abominably that Obama might well win with fucking Charlie Manson as his running-mate by now. The lopsided Bush-Kerry debates will look like a photo-finish compared to the ones this year. I have a sneaking suspicion that the “cheer for my trollop’s tits or GTFO” biker-rally gig did He-Who-Yells-At-Clouds far more terminal damage with the Moral Majority shaved-apes (a huge gob o’ votes he desperately needs) than TEN “House-Gate” gaffes could do – & that was no mere blooper or “Senior Moment” either, it was a decision made by him &/or his staff.

If Wet-Start is hard-up enough to offer paybacks to the God-Nazi demographic via Huckabee, or even worse, attempt to go back to the arid well of 9/11 & The War On An Adjective via Giuliani, this little dance is all over except the encore. Some of the former’s family history reads like screenplay notes for the sequel to “Deliverance” – & the other one is a vindictive afficionado of (lavishly) public-subsidized fornication … & the sneer-smiling psycho Jindal is, of course, a token dark guy (shocking yet true), who would kill 5 Gooper votes for every one he could scrape out of the lining of America’s small intestine.

I think he has little choice but to run with Mittens or Brand-X Pawlenty.
Then, be he heathen or no, that poor tired-out sad deranged little fucker will have to pray like he’s never prayed before, in OR out of a VC cell – becuse he’s out-thought, out-financed, & blatantly out-classed. I suspect Obama’s non-whititude gave the GOP just enough false confidence to supply the rope to boomerang themselves with.

Couldn’t happen to a nicer rhumba of ratttlesnakes.

Jennifer,

For the days of Jack Kemp and Dan Quayle. But algore certainly had his hand in policy and this has been the Cheney administration. Perhaps this will be the end of the pendulum swing and the office of the VP will be restored to it’s former worth (a warm bucket of spit I believe), but I have to say that with Biden in that office, it’s unlikely at best.

There are still plenty of Nader supporters around. My ex left me for one, a fate too depressing to even write a Country-Western song about.

Oh, and Dragon-King, I got your hyphen right here, buddy. Well, technically it’s Amy Alkon’s, but she’s not using it anymore.

Dragon-King – my bad; I should have said “in presidencies excluding the current one” since I am of course aware that Cheney’s been running the show all along. I agree that Gore had a hand in policy, but then again there really wasn’t much difference between Clinton and Gore when it came to matters of policy. But looking back over the past 50 years, that’s the exception to the rule. The norm is for the VP to be a placeholder.

Ahh, a little research would have made me look much more erudite.

A bucket of warm piss – that certainly makes a lot more sense. I doubt I could fill a bucket with spit fast enough for it to still be warm.

a concerned citizen,

Hearing of your plight, I find that – in perspective – defending myself would be petty. I’ll sit still for the slapping, you just procure the implement. I understand that Godlstein doesn’t use it for much now that he’s cut back on public wanking. I suggest a pair of dull and rusty garden shears.

The most important thing to remember about all this is that the VP choice is ultimately inconsequential. All the buzz and excitement about the choice is when we DON’T KNOW who it is, when it’s all speculation about the calculation. By the end of the convention, it’ll just be a name on a sign, OBAMA/BIDEN08.

Now of course, it did ultimately matter that bush junior chose an evil, powerful man with an agenda who could manipulate him. Somehow, I see McCain as someone who could be easily manipulated, but not Obama. So to the extent that the VP choice might have some impact on governance, it really applies more to the repub side…

mikey

Re: Bobby “Name Changes Don’t Count if You’re Republican” Jindal.
I again ask everyone to keep in mind that the GOP is the same group of assclowns that tapped Alan Keyes to run v. Obama. These people really do think that black guys are interchangeable, which is why they didn’t notice that Keyes is batshit looney toons cuckoo! cuckoo! out of his fucking mind and scares the living shit out of anyone with two brain cells to bang together. You want an Angry Black Man? The GOP had your ABM.

So while I’m hoping it’s Mittens, or even better, LIEberman, don’t be surprised if they latch on to Jindal so they can have a brown guy too.

And to the first person who explains that “the reason Obama waited so long to announce was that he was Biden his time”, a face-slapping with Goldstein’s member.

Er. Um. Stay away from Balloon Juice. Thanks.

Now of course, it did ultimately matter that bush junior chose an evil, powerful man

The evil powerful man chose himself as well.

While Delware is not an electoral catch, Biden is a stalwart friend of Israel and a member of the “conventional wisdom” oligarchy. His presence will assure that the checks will continue to flow into the campaign. So Obama turns Thursday and Friday into the McMansions Tour. Saturday he dances with Joe. Sunday all the squawking heads talk about what a swell week Obama had. Monday through Wednesday is the Democratic Feel Good Exhibition. Thursday, oh Thursday, is the big show, starting with Barack saying “Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.” and leading 80k people while nationwide teevee shows a cross section of America with tears streaming down their faces as they recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America. Friday the wingtards are dazed, perhaps McMansions lets a rumor of his veep (or as the last pick in the NFL draft is called Mister Irrelevant) pick leak out. Saturday, while McMansions dances with Mitt Romney, the dems announce they’ve raised $50M in the past week. Sunday the talkies are all about Mitt hitting up all his rich friends in order to keep McMansions in the game, instead of how Mitt’s a great campaigner who will help take Michigan. Ten days of just reacting to the news cycles, the Monday the Repugs conventions starts, will be about the no-shows. When the campaigns are history, McCain is going to look back and wish he had named his veep the same day Obama returned from vacation.

> Anybody know the last time Clarence Thomas asked a question during oral arguments?

I witnessed oral arguments for a couple of cases last year at the SCOTUS.

Oreo Cream Sandwich was actually leaning as far back in his chair (tall executive type) as it would go, with his hand over his eyes, for a good part of the argumentation. He has evolved some interesting ways to make it look like he isn’t sleeping.

I heard he had an old-fashioned speaking-tube installed between his chambers and Scalia to receive orders with.

Y’know, in the 2000 election, I was one year too young to vote. If I had voted, I probably would’ve ended up sitting it out anyway, because of a choice Gore made that I still, eight years later, can’t fucking believe.

That choice was choosing Leiberman as a running mate. This was in the days when he was still banging on about violent video games, and that mature games should be treated like game stores were hocking crack to children.

The tilt towards a censorship, with the added bullshit memory of his wife and her crusade against CDs with profanity weren’t enough to make me want to vote for a Republican, particularly given what obvious twats they already were to a young 17-year old Trotskyite, but it was enough to make me reconsider how I would’ve voted in that election.

There are more people who don’t vote than people who do vote.

How will we ever know if we keep choosing Lieberman-types as VPs and nominees? The #2 in the Primary was more liberal, and certainly more women’s rights, than our ticket today.

That said, Biden is acceptable to me, but I’m still sad to see we keep choosing Republican-lite.

Catholics aren’t the mindless monolithic voting bloc that the GOP and Donohue like to think they are.

Seconded. My extended family is heavily Catholic. Their politics are mixed.

True that. My mom used to say that most Catholics were reactionary on anything to do with sex and liberal on everything else, and I think this is true still, except that nowadays the majority of American Catholics aren’t even that reactionary on sex, use birth control, and certainly don’t agree with Donohue on much of anything.

I was expecting Biden to be the pick, although over the past couple of days the presence of Kathleen Sebelius in Iowa (and thus handy to Illinois) campaigning for Obama was somewhat alarming. Don’t get me wrong, Sebelius has done a fair job of holding back the hordes of anti-science dumbfucks in Kansas and seems like a bright woman, but I just don’t think she’s quite ready for prime-time. Biden’s at least been out there in the public eye for a long, long tme and isn’t going to be thrown by Republican shit-hurling.

a concerned citizen said,

August 23, 2008 at 18:55

There are still plenty of Nader supporters around. My ex left me for one, a fate too depressing to even write a Country-Western song about.

Dude, you should totally write a Country-Western song about that.

Also, this will throw the Nazi and Stormfront Republican types into a major tizzie. A SCARY BLACK MAN and a CATHOLIC!!!111!!!1! Let’s hope this sends them all flocking to and vocally supporting McCain. With friends like them . . .

On the whole, I think Biden’s a fairly smart choice. Richardson wouldn’t have been bad, either. I think he was running for Sec’y of State all along, though, and I hope he’s on Obama’s short list for that slot.

Does anyone think Edwards still has a ghost of a chance at being Attorney General? Will the scandal have died back enough by January?

Let’s hope this sends them all flocking to and vocally supporting McCain.

Not that they were going to support Obama anyway. (It’s 1 PM and I still haven’t had coffee.)

I’m still sad to see we keep choosing Republican-lite.

I do get what you’re saying here, Crissa, but the level of denial on the part of the american political left continues to fascinate me.

Once again, from the standpoint of national electoral politics in america, the farthest left you can be and actually be considered a serious, viable candidate by at least A PORTION of the electorate is Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Joseph Biden. That IS far left in american politics today.

Yes, it sucks. Yes, we would be far better served if it wasn’t true. But decades of indoctrination, slanted reportage and Overton Window movement have brought us to this fine kettle of fish.

There’s no changing it – it is deeply embedded culturally and intellectually. The people hold broadly progressive values, but have been trained in the most Pavlovian fashion to fear politicians who bring voice to those values.

It is the nation you inhabit, the world in which you live. It will take a second american revolution to have any hope of changing it. The best we can do is to try to force the office holders to act in our best interests by trying to have an impact on the flow of money into the process. A forlorn hope, to be sure, but there it is…

mikey

Biden’s hair alone will syphon off millions of evangelical voters.

Further along the lines of “what Mikey said”, let’s hear from the reich wing:

It looks like uber kook fringe leftist lunatic and Democrat party press release writer Massimo Calabresi of Time magazine is the first useful idiot to describe (falsely, of course) Joe Biden as a “moderate” when Calabresi comically describes Biden’s extremist voting record (see the National Journal for the goods) as “moderate-to-liberal”. ROTFLMAO!
Posted by texte | August 23, 2008 12:53 PM

Wow!

Just imagine how far off in right wing looney tunesland you have to be to call Biden’s voting record “extremist”.

This is Bush’s base. All 25% of them.

Let’s see what that dirty hippie, Chuck Hagel, had to say: “An Obama-Biden Ticket Is A Very Impressive And Strong Team”
~

Posted by ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© | August 23, 2008 2:21 PM

(Yeah, I signed up for Swampland. It’s all Dragon-King Wangchuck’s fault.)

I’m going to have to see an original copy of Biden’s birth certificate. And, a DNA sample.

But on the upside, he was the source of the “A noun, a verb, and 9/11? smackdown on Giuliani.

This alone almost qualifies him for a VP slot, but I must confess that I am less than excited by this choice.

Government, as a rule, favours corporations.

“Government is the entertainment branch of industry.”

— Frank Zappa

“Obama/Biden” sounds good when said out loud.

Dude, you should totally write a Country-Western song about that.

Or a bachata.

I was kind of hoping for…well, actually, I’m not sure who I was hoping for. Not Hilary. Not Bayh.

Joe will do. The more I think about it, the more I like it.

“[new] “Strong, experienced leader” (5.00 / 2) (#64)
by Iris on Sat Aug 23, 2008 at 11:03:56 AM EST

The problem is, we need a strong experienced leader as President, and as for the VP slot we had a strong experienced leader who got more than half the votes.
I agree with Hillary in a limited way about what she says but that’s not the end of the story for me. This is the best one can say about the Joe Biden pick; unfortunately there are a lot of other things that are not so good about it.”

[ Parent | Reply to This | 1 2 3 4 5 ]

Unfortunate observation on another forum: expect plenty of conservatard attempts (via buttons, t-shirts, and bumper stickers) to make Obama/Biden => Osama/Bin Laden.

That’s ok, Brandi.

McSame = Madonna.

When was the last time there was a laughing-with rather than laughing-at VP candidate? I’m not sure there’s ever been one.

Lloyd Bentsen. Remember when he bitch-slapped Quayle? That never gets old.

eidos,

I’ve heard about it, I know the quote, but I hadn’t seen the whole thing until a few moments ago. Oh. My. God. Quayle’s face after Bentsen’s comment: priceless. Bentsen’s prounciation of the word ‘senator’: priceless+infinity. If this is what we can expect this season, sign me up for those popcorn futures.

“Government is the entertainment branch of industry.”

– Frank Zappa

I’m not a big fan of Frank’s music – though I like his more accessible stuff just fine – but Frank was definitely one of the smartest musicians ever to make it through the record company crucible.

He said a lot of true things, and that is one of them.

biden?

well finally the white house will have someone who fights for the rights of credit card companies against the sleazy consumers who are always trying to destroy them

joe ‘no bankruptcy for you’ biden?

america sucks – seriously biden? wtf

The Irony of a bunch of pumatards, who voted for HRC D-Credit Card Industry, criticizing Biden, who actually does come from a state where 80% of the banks have their HQ’s, for supporting the bankruptcy bill seems to be entirely lost on them.

Real Classy attacking the man who all-but wrote VAWA as being an enemy of womens rights. I guess nothing counts if you’re a penis-american.