Below is a portion of the White House pool report from yesterday, documenting the first minutes of a meeting between Vice President Joe Biden, Gov. Sonny Perdue, and several other governors. The topic was high-speed rail. The lure was $8 billion in federal stimulus money. Reported Time:
Upon entering, VPOTUS ran into Perdue who appeared, to the VPOTUS at least, to be leaving before the meeting started. Banter and jokes followed.
VPOTUS: “Where you going?”
Perdue: “I was leaving.”
VPOTUS: “What the hell’s wrong with you?” (laughter)
VPOTUS shook hands around the table with several “Good to see you, man,” and “Good to see you, Ed [Rendell].
Said upon sitting: “… Georgia gets nothing. I’m only kidding, only kidding, only kidding.”
There’s nothing particularly scandalous here. It’s just a nudge-wink “we’re all on the same page” in joke, like when Geithner cracked that the White House relies on the media to spin economic issues in a pro-Obama way. But it’s not the most delicate followup to Biden’s latest moronic statements about stimulus waste. Quoth the Washington Examiner:
When President Barack Obama tapped Vice President Joe Biden to oversee a massive federal spending program, it was unclear whether he was aiming to give Biden a serious portfolio, or something to keep him out of trouble. “We know some of this money is going to be wasted,” Biden told business leaders in New York on a trip promoting the stimulus plan. “People are being scammed already.” It turns out there is not much that keeps Biden out of trouble, even as he takes on a roster of serious issues in carving out his own interpretation of the vice presidency… When Obama picked Biden after the latter dropped out of the Democratic primary race, the choice was aimed at addressing Obama’s gaps in foreign policy experience.
Which makes sense, given Biden’s noted foreign policy acumen.
References:
* Your morning jolt: An $8 billion quip, from Joe Biden to Sonny Perdue [AJC]
* Geithner Tells Reporters: “I’m Very Confident You… Will Do A Good Job Of Framing This Thing” [MR]
* Genius VP Endorses, Then Unendorses Wildly Unpopular NY Governor [MR]
* Obama’s motives hazy for Biden’s role on spending [Washington Examiner]
* He Misspoke: Biden’s Obnoxiously Smug Assertion About Hezbollah Was Actually An Aggressively Stupid Policy About Syria (Plus: They Just Don’t Know Stuff) [MR]
Previously:
* Biden: We’re All Doomed, Doomed!
* Biden’s Delusions Of Genius And Relevance Getting Obnoxious (Plus: Liberal Foreign Policy Experts Also Just Don’t Know Stuff)
* Biden: "We Kicked Hezbollah Out Of Lebanon"
