U.S. Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a White House Community Leaders Briefing in Washington.
Lyndon Johnson was, prior to John Kennedy’s assassination, just a cipher of a vice-president. The Kennedys needed Texas and thought Johnson could deliver it. Other than that he was a jug-eared embarrassment to their more stylish clan.
Brutal events rescued Johnson from the forgotten valley of VP. Kennedy’s assassination brought him into his own, and a giant ego in tandem with great legislative gifts made Johnson — one termer though he was — a president of note. Though he had suffered as vice-president, Johnson was not one to mitigate the suffering of others. It was Johnson’s sour mouth we owe this cruel, brilliant, mildly vulgar putdown of Gerald Ford: “Gerry Ford couldn’t pour piss out of a cowboy boot if the instructions were written on the heel.”
That’s as crisp, caustic and cruel as it gets, and unfair to Ford, who had — contrary to Saturday Night images — both dignity and balance. But vice-presidents, up to modern times, were meant to be targets, supernumeraries save in a time of national emergency and a real threat to the president.
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John Kerry: Obama being ‘swiftboated’
Note:
Considering the power of the US Presidency this story is alarming. What (exactly) is Obama expecting to happen?
The excuse: ”But the agencies, most recently the Social Security Administration, are trying to put a damper on the speculation — noting the ammunition is “standard issue” and simply used for mandatory federal training sessions.”
Not true. ”Wadcutter’s” are used for training sessions because they are far cheaper. So — what is really going on?
Pay attention to the last sub-link. If you go to the comment area you will note John Kerry is being “swift boated” — again. Too funny.
Update (3:10 pm EDT):
I’ve had enough for today.
Goodnight all.
Problem is they’re running him as a president, not a VP
1) He doesn’t seem to be getting over more than Obama
2) His popularity and success only highlights Romney’s impotence
Every attempt to make this campaign interesting (including the mud-slinging) is failing. Americans want more than a vision -they want jobs and an economy.
When Romney was first running for POTUS I would have agreed with you Cy. Since then I have done a bit of digging and realize that Romney is one of those leaders that likes to have bright people around him to give their advice. I’m not convinced Romney is the best pick of all the potential candidates but I do believe he can’t be any worse than the guy presently in the oval office.
Regarding the very strange huge purchases of high power ammunition for non-military agencies. How about for Obama’s secret army? I wouldn’t put anything past this sleeze and/or his “all this for a flag?” equally phoney as a 3 dollar bill wife. Laugh at any such suggestion as being absurd at your own peril. All I’m doing is paying attention to exactly what he has said in the past. Only a conspiracy nut would say such a thing about the POTUS huh? He said it not me! In his own words…….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt2yGzHfy7s
… a secret army conspiracy theory?
No, somebody would have leaked it if that were in the works (I hope). The bottom line is that I do not underestimate this guy in his desperation to hold onto power.
Alex Jones beat him to it -
http://cynicsunlimited.com/2009/03/17/movie-review-the-obama-deception/
Infowars.com …. hummm …. now where have I seen that domain listed here not so long ago …. oh, yeah, the hollow point bullet conspiracy …. that place is a veritable hot bed of conspiracy …. who was it posted that link again
Too many of these Obama Admin conspiracy theories have rather uncomfortably turned into conspiracy facts.
Really? Which ones?
I think Romney’s selection of Ryan is very illuminating on the kind of leader Romney will be.
Conventional wisdom has been that a Presidential candidate should not choose a running mate that outshines him, rather someone that could be described (or spun) as reasonably competent who fleshes out the ticket in some aspect. This is wrong and all it essentially does is demonstrate the insecurity of the Presidential candidate while watering down the office of the Veep.
My thought is that the ultimate criteria the VP candidate should be judged upon is whether they would be able to step into the position of POTUS if the potential Presidential candidate were to die in office, and also whether they can bring actual skills to the table or just pretend ones.
Look at the current VP. Can anyone say with a straight face that Joe Biden brings any sort of competence to the VP position?
He is demonstrably a gaffe prone (king of DC in that respect) buffoon, who’s only credentials for the office he holds is that he does not outshine is boss and is an inside the beltway good old boy.
Joe Biden has proven himself to be the candidate that the media convinced the American public that Sarah Palin was.
Sarah Palin has proven herself to precisely the opposite of what the media painted her to be. She is anything but an incompetent buffoon.
And it is not as if Biden’s buffoonery was unknown. On the contrary, it was very well established – he had been honing it for decades. And its why Obama picked him as a running mate.
Romney on the other hand has picked a running mate that has proven himself to both competent and morally sound, and some would say even outshines Romney.
That says to me that Romney did not pick Ryan to occupy the VP office in a ceremonial position, but to act. And if the choice ever had to come down to having Biden or Ryan occupy the office of POTUS, the choice would not even be close.
I’d say that Romney’s pick says he is very serious about stopping America from heading over the fiscal cliff, while Obama’s says just the opposite.
The most important decision a Presidential candidate has to make prior to actually winning the office of the President is in his selection of running mate, for if POTUS cannot finish his term, that running mate will be the leader of the free world. Mitt clearly took that decision seriously – Presidentially – , while Obama clearly did not.
Mitts first pick for his team says he is putting the country first, Obama’s said something entirely different.