A Letter to Joe Biden
Dear Vice President Biden,
It was on Christmas Day, I believe, a few years ago. A family member on active duty was at Walter Reed recovering from a severe injury. Some of my family decided to forgo gift exchanges amongst themselves and instead travel to Walter Reed to spend Christmas with our family member there, along with the other troops. It was a unique and wonderful experience in which the family received at least as much comfort as they brought. Unhappily, I was not able to be there, but I received regular updates from the folks, including the story of your visit to the hospital.
While I'm sure there was a divergence of political opinions in the room, I'm told everyone there sincerely appreciated you spending part of your Christmas with those who have given so much for us all. Indeed, they tell me that the common bond of having a family member on active duty made it seem more like a visit between military families than a visit from a sitting Vice President. And it is for that very reason, and out of respect for your son's service, that I haven't really leveled serious criticism toward you in the past.
As a retired military veteran, I respect what you did and felt that I had an additional insight into the kind of person you are. I separated Joe Biden the politician from Joe Biden the warm-hearted man who was kind enough to visit with my family during a difficult time. But in light of your outlandish and petulant demeanor in a serious debate of issues upon which rest the future of our children and grandchildren, I think a reassessment is in order.
Watching Congressman Ryan try to respectfully engage you in thoughtful discourse was like watching Emily Post try to take a gorilla to tea. You reminded me of people I've had the misfortune of trying to rationalize with in the past … people with whom I couldn't fit an uninterrupted word in with a shoe horn, and with whom I eventually abandoned all hope of ever being able to complete a sentence. By the way, had you alerted the Guinness Book of World Records that you would be going for the highest number of interruptions within a 90-minute time frame? During the 40 minutes and 12 seconds that Ryan actually spoke, you interrupted him 82 times, for an average of one interruption every 29 seconds. If Hooters had a Boob of the Month calendar, you would have secured your place in it.
And if you weren't jabbering like Gabby Hayes on ritalin while the Congressman was speaking, you were laughing at him. Was this meant to inspire confidence, or was it meant to distract the viewer from points that may have been injurious to your cause? Because whether the issue was Iran's nuclear designs, our shoddy treatment of our ally Israel, our weakening national security, a lethargic economy, the tax and regulatory burden on the entrepreneurial class, or healthcare, when your opponent raised substantive issues, you responded with laughter and contempt. Your performance was, in short, an abominable affront to the very idea of civil conversation.
To my dilemma, then: Who is the real Joe Biden? Was it the gentle leader who took the hand of an injured service member and thanked him for his service? Or was it the clodhopping buffoon who galloped over another man's words with nary a care for manners or substance? Was it the father of a veteran who spoke kindly to my family at Walter Reed? Or was it the unruly, overly animated, porcelain-veneered ass who did a disservice to the nation and his own office? Are you a good man who pretends to be a politician on the public stage, or a politician who pretends to be a good man in more private settings? Either way, it's terribly disappointing, though I take subtle refuge in the fact that we have at least one thing in common. We both prefer Neil Kinnock's words to yours. Meanwhile, as I look forward to a bit of laughter myself in November, I remain;
Yours Cordially,
Dave Carter
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Comments:
Re: A Letter to Joe Biden
Heartbreaking and hilarious. (How Dave does it, I cannot say.)
Re: A Letter to Joe Biden
Really an excellent letter. Thanks, Mr. Carter.
Jul '10
Re: A Letter to Joe Biden
I believe, Mr. Carter, that the man you saw last night is the real Joe Biden - an ugly partisan who willfully and gleefully attempts to destroy anyone's life who dares to disagree with him. Robert Bork might actually be a great example, but Justice Thomas is another.
The left is an ugly thing. But not as ugly as the fact that too much of the nation actually listens to that drivel and awards it any importance, instead of driving them out in the snow.
Jun '10
Re: A Letter to Joe Biden
Mr. Carter, in short, what you consider an affront is what they consider their golden road to victory.
Ask Ed Schultz, or Chris Matthews or Al Sharpton. I suspect they would say: "Joe, why did you let Ryan get by with saying so much?"
May '10
Re: A Letter to Joe Biden
Biden had one objective from the beginning: ridicule. The President accused Romney of lying. Biden backed him up... in his own flamboyant way.
May '10
Re: A Letter to Joe Biden
The most oppressive and brutal dictators in history laughed and smiled in polite company with individuals who did not threaten their power. I couldn't care less if someone "seems like a nice guy" if he threatens my freedom. If he means well, God can sort that out later.
Manuel Noriega once visited with my grandmother in Panama. She says he seemed nice.
Re: A Letter to Joe Biden
Eeyore
Mr. Carter, in short, what you consider an affront is whattheyconsider their golden road to victory. ...
Very true. And they also consider the confiscation of the entrepreneur's resources to be the key to job creation. It's a parallel universe whose oddities we must relentlessly expose.
And why in blazes is everyone calling me Mr. Carter? I keep looking around the truck for my Dad, and he's not here at the moment. C'mon now, Mr. Eeyore.
Re: A Letter to Joe Biden
Take one heaping scoop of sincere indignation, add genetics, mix well. (Actually, Alphonse does my ghost writing.)
Edited on October 13, 2012 at 7:33amRe: A Letter to Joe Biden
Thank you, sir!
Apr '11
Re: A Letter to Joe Biden
"...jabbering like Gabby Hayes on ritalin" That is an image I will not be able to get out of my head for a while. Only thing is, did Gabby have teeth, or even a tooth? I don't think he had 300 of them like Joe.
This sort of summed it up for me: "Watching Congressman Ryan try to respectfully engage you in thoughtful discourse was like watching Emily Post try to take a gorilla to tea." It was certainly horrendous, given the severity of the issues that are pressing on all of us right now. It was just another indication that this administration is stuck in those pre-pubescent years when snicking is the only thing the 12 year old has as a reaction to anything. Joe is perpetually 12.
I don't think Joe has ever been different...he is a nasty piece of work. His legacy will be shaped by this last performance on the American Stage, and it doesn't speak well for having an educational institution named for him. Unless it is clown school.
May '12
Re: A Letter to Joe Biden
Off topic, but I (a logged in member, BTW) can't find a help button on the home page. I can't seem to play the Lileks, Long, Robinson podcast. When I click to play with ITunes I get an error message about the address being a non-working one.
Coming from a bunch of great writers, the instructions for playing the podcasts are pretty maddening. I'll try to paraphrase: "Playing on a laptop or desktop is easy; If you use ITunes, click on this link." That's it? And what if I don't use ITunes?
What do I do if I want to play it with WMP, like I used to when it was linked directly from NR? I listened to the previous Lileks, et al podcast, but I don't remember which link I clicked.
Jun '10
Re: A Letter to Joe Biden
Dave: Your wonderful letter helped me capture an unarticulated thought that's been flitting around in my head today.
Here's the thought. I'm old enough to vaguely remember the Kennedy-Nixon debate in 1960. I've seen or listened to most of the presidential/VP debates since then.
In the fifty-two years years between then and now, I don't remember anything as appalling and dispiriting as Biden's performance last night. Heck, Gore's sighing seems positively dignified in comparison. No one, and that includes Democrats like Carter, Mondale, Kerry, and Clinton, has ever consciously trampled on every notion of civility and fair debate the way Joe Biden did.
Biden acted as though the debate was between the candidates for "Biggest Horse's A**" in the Ninth Circle of Dante's Inferno.
I didn't think public discourse could be anymore debased than we've seen recently. Give the Vice President some credit; he made it worse than most of us could ever have imagined. The only things left for future debates are a few well-placed F-bombs. It's a disgrace.
Edited on October 13, 2012 at 7:56amRe: A Letter to Joe Biden
Tim Fikse: Off topic, but I (a logged in member, BTW) can't find a help button on the home page. I can't seem to play the Lileks, Long, Robinson podcast. When I click to play with ITunes I get an error message about the address being a non-working one.
Coming from a bunch of great writers, the instructions for playing the podcasts are pretty maddening. I'll try to paraphrase: "Playing on a laptop or desktop is easy; If you use ITunes, click on this link." That's it? And what if I don't use ITunes?
What do I do if I want to play it with WMP, like I used to when it was linked directly from NR? I listened to the previous Lileks, et al podcast, but I don't remember which link I clicked. · 2 minutes ago
I'll have to defer to Yeti on this one, Tim. I'm technologically challenged. I'll let him know his phone is ringing on this thread.
Re: A Letter to Joe Biden
tabula rasa: ... Here's the thought. I'm old enough to vaguely remember the Kennedy-Nixon debate in 1960. I've seen or listened to most of the presidential/VP debates since then.
In the fifty-two years years between then and now, I don't remember anything as appalling and dispiriting as Biden's performance last night. Heck, Gore's sighing seems positively dignified in comparison. ...
Truly important point there. That absolutely gawd-awful performance of Gore's might easily have been a tipping point in that election. But that looked like a Firing Line debate compared to the spectacle of Joe Biden.
Dec '10
Re: A Letter to Joe Biden
Dave, when it comes to substance, style, and consistency I can't think of anyone I look forward to reading more than you. Wonderfully said.
Now, please, someone explain the Neil Kinnock reference to me. I don't know who he is. Did I miss his being brought up in the debate?
Jul '11
Re: A Letter to Joe Biden
Great letter Dave. Joe is some of both. Let's hope history remembers stories of his kindness after we retire him next month.
Re: A Letter to Joe Biden
Hi Tim,
If you were listening at NR, you were using the player embedded on their front page. You can do the same here. Go to the this week's podcast post and click on te play button at the top of the post. The podcast will start playing.
If you run into any further issues, please write directly at support@ricochet.com. Thanks.
Aug '11
Re: A Letter to Joe Biden
What a great phrase: 'jabbering like Gabby Hayes on ritalin', hah!
I like how you are looking for the 'real' Joe Biden at a time when the Dems are claiming the 'real' Mitt Romney did not show up for the debate that destroyed Obama's appearance of inevitability.
Jul '10
Re: A Letter to Joe Biden
Neil Kinnock was a British Labour politician who became briefly famous in the US in 1987 when Joe Biden was found to have lifted a section of one of Kinnock's speeches during his Presidential run that year. The plagiarism scandal doomed his bid.
One of the secrets to Biden's success is that he has so many jaw-dropping moments of chutzpah in his past that no one can keep track of them all. (PRO TIP: This works better if you're a Democrat).
Re: A Letter to Joe Biden
Props Dave.