Friday, February 2, 2007

Joe Biden's Loose Lips

The mouth that roared has done it again.

Biden's comment regarding Senator Obama has him in hot water. Biden said ... "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American, who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man".

Needless to say, that comment hasn't been well-received in liberal circles, but it hasn't caused the furor it would have if a Republican had said it. Remember Trent Lott's endorsement of Strom Thurmond?

Moreover, this isn't Biden's first verbal faux pas. You may recall the that he was caught on tape speaking with a constituent of obvious Indian or Pakistani descent and saying something to the effect that you really can't go into a Dunkin Donuts or 7/11 without seeing the owner being from that part of the world. Or how about his comment regarding the female escort for him and his son while taking a tour at Princeton? Biden remarked that the woman was smart and attractive. So attractive that he figured his son's hormones would lead him to enroll.

I don't think any of these remarks reflect racism or ill-will on Biden's part. He's just not a politically correct speaker. I'm not sure if that trait should disqualify him for the Presidency.

I do know that a Republican with the same tendencies would be run out of Washington on a rail!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Frankly, we could use a leader who doesn’t speak so politically correctly. I would hope that your man Rudy would have reacted differently if he had made the same "insensitive" comment. I don't know, I thought it was a compliment to be referred to as articulate. This is more of the same old tripe that holds minorities back. Don’t expect people to speak well - no, make excuses for them and fail to give them reason to strive to be better. As long as there is a reason for failure, minorities will continue to fail. Other nationalities strove to loose accents and dialects that set them apart from the general society. Minorities are continually given excuse after excuse as to why they should not be expected to fit into societal norms. Isn’t referring to someone as “articulate” judging them on the content of their character? How sad Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have turned that into an issue of the color of one’s skin.

repoman said...

Anonymous:

I get the point you are trying to make but, come on, read the quote again. "...the FIRST mainstream African-American, who is ARTICULATE and BRIGHT and CLEAN (CLEAN?!?)...".

Plus, don't forget, he's running for President and he's speaking with four reporters from major papers. You'd think he could handle choosing his words carefully.

I agree that he's no racist and there's no reason to make a really big deal about this. But, once again, this is the Big Leagues.