The Benefits Of Joe Biden - New England Patriots Forums

***IcyPatriot*** · 10-11-2009, 11:47 PM

A very interesting article: Joe Biden, White House Truth Teller | Newsweek Politics | Newsweek.com

Quote:

Joe Biden had a question. During a long Sunday meeting with President Obama and top national-security advisers on Sept. 13, the VP interjected, "Can I just clarify a factual point? How much will we spend this year on Afghanistan?" Someone provided the figure: $65 billion. "And how much will we spend on Pakistan?" Another figure was supplied: $2.25 billion. "Well, by my calculations that's a 30-to-1 ratio in favor of Afghanistan.

So I have a question. Al Qaeda is almost all in Pakistan, and Pakistan has nuclear weapons. And yet for every dollar we're spending in Pakistan, we're spending $30 in Afghanistan. Does that make strategic sense?" The White House Situation Room fell silent. But the questions had their desired effect: those gathered began putting more thought into Pakistan as the key theater in the region.

Quote:

. It's his ability to stir things up. Senior government officials who have participated in small meetings with the president and vice president have noticed Obama and Biden engaged in a duet. "The president will lean over, and they will quietly talk to each other. Biden will then question someone, make comments, and the president just leans back and seems to be taking it all in before he speaks,"

Attorney General Eric Holder tells NEWSWEEK. Ron Klain, Biden's chief of staff, describes the interaction like this: "President Obama is one of the world's greatest listeners; you can't tell what he is thinking. He's able to watch the VP ask tough questions and doesn't have to do that himself. [In that way] he doesn't have to reveal what he's thinking. That's very valuable."

The whole article is good ... can't copy and paste it all - it's worth a read. Odd thing here is that Joe Biden perhaps makes the right comfortable in an uneasy kind of way.

***IcyPatriot*** · 10-12-2009, 06:47 PM

Sheesh ... no love

for Joe Biden?

Well ... perhaps we bring back Karl Rove

... then Biden would get some love.

alvinnf · 10-12-2009, 06:52 PM

Joe Biden loves to hear himself talk, even if it is at the expense of his own party!

***IcyPatriot*** · 10-12-2009, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alvinnf

Joe Biden loves to hear himself talk, even if it is at the expense of his own party!

Well perhaps not - and that was one part of my fascination with the article. word was George Bush loved a good argument ... someone who could tell him the truth. But i never bought it because it was Dick Cheney who was running the country anyways.

I think Obama has appointed a good amount of suckups and DC insiders to his administration. Joe Biden is an insider but I don't see him as a suckup ... I see him as a rebel which for Obama may very well be the thing that saves him from himself. Joe Biden is many things but he really is not a liberal's liberal. He's way more practical than he is a theory kind of guy. I like him ... not sure if he'd make a good President but I like the guy.