IT'S MONDAY MORNING, SO LADIES AND GENTLEMEN IT'S TIME TO VISIT...
The picture of then-Senator, Joe Biden (with coffee pot in hand,) was consistently posted within Kula's Morning Reaction series for many mornings during the 2008 campaign. That series has come to be carried on by NCrissieB & the Kula Krew.
It is what prompted the origin of this series to focus upon the transactions and weekly activities of the other Executive Office holder:
Vice President, Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr.
Today's Menu Specials:
- Jav-a-go-go.
- Ball-Park Franks.
- Borscht: Biden-Style.
Researched commentary just over the bump. Dessert is a sampling of other DKos diaries from the past week that also follow the Vice President.
Break out your Victory Mugs because it's time for your morning Joe.
::::: COFFEE POT :::::
26 AUGUST 2009 --
Speaking :
"To paraphrase Shakespeare, I do not think that we shall see [Ted Kennedy's] like again."
-- Vice President, Joe Biden
With this said, and shown, the work goes on.
::::: APPETIZER :::::
Vice President Biden was honored before the Little League National Championship game on Sunday by being enshrined at the Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum Hall of Excellence. He and New York Rangers center, Chris Drury, received the honor before a capacity crowd in Williamsport, Penn.
According to the site Mr. Biden joins the ranks of other enshrinees of varying pathes including another VP, Dan Quayle, Rudy Giuliani, George Will, Dave Barry, "The Boss" and Kevin Costner to name a few.
Consideration for the honor derives from the following measurement of a candidate:
"The Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum Hall of Excellence was established to recognize Little League graduates who have become outstanding citizens and role models as adults. When considering a person for enshrinement into the Hall of Excellence, playing ability is never a factor, even though some have advanced to outstanding athletic careers."
(emphasis mine)
A passing glance at the names and faces of those on the enshrined list suggests that the standard set forth is being followed to a T.
::::: MAIN COURSE :::::
As I've not written for a while, I hope you will permit me if I stretch outside the one-week limit that I've placing on this series in order to highlight a newsworthy topic of which Mr. Biden was epicenter.
That topic is the current state of U.S. - Russian relations as relates to the Republic of Georgia, Ukraine and other Caucus states. The subject was mostly panned on Daily Kos but picked up by a few internationally astute folk and noted by myself for specific comments made by Mr. Biden.
"We understand that Georgia aspires to join NATO," Biden said, adding: "We fully support that aspiration."
BBC News reported extensively on Mr. Biden's remarks and the fall out from them among Georgian and Russian emissaries.
Now don't misunderstand my intent here. I'm not an expert on U.S.-Russian foreign policy, but the Vice President's statements - made while visiting Georgia and Ukraine in late July - came from the same Joe Biden who had chaired the Senate F.P. Committee for longer than Dkos has been around.
What struck me about his statements that denounced Russia's "sphere of influence" and the blatant refusal to recognize South Ossetia as an independent nation wasn't that they were panned as another "Joe's Big Mouth" moment, but that he was speaking clearly and from scripted comments.
That was American policy that he passionately offered to the audiences. It should have touched off a firestorm on the topic that would have dominated the news cycles for (by today's standards) a week at the least. Instead,
I would argue that had President Obama offered such harsh criticism of Russia he'd have been critiqued to the hilt. The News Hour would have run half the show on Russia-U.S. relations and all in the media would have picked away until the next
Instead Mr. Biden offered the words that the president could have offered, but made the same impact on the audiences for which they were intended (those of Russia, Georgia, Ukraine and Eurasian lands dominated by the Caucus people) with only a fraction of the media attention and limiting the overtly politicizing of a very tense situation.
It showed a moment where the Vice President's effectiveness and experience gained for American interests in Eurasia, kept the pressure low on Mr. Obama, applied some scrutiny on the Kremlin without being too overt in cause, and allowed Mr. Biden to sharpen his political and policy acumen.
It may not have been shown in great detail, this over-seas trip that Mr. Biden took to Georgia and Ukraine, but the details are suggesting a true maturing of this Administration's partnership between the old and the new.
::::: DESSERT :::::
Similar to the Daily Diary Rescue, dessert offers a selection of notable diaries from the past week that prominently mention or focus upon the Vice President (current and formers).
*
Plutonium Page mentions in
a 23 August diary that the Vice President and Defense Secretary Gates do not agree on policy concerning a Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW).
*
BarbinMD found the 46th Veep last week, and
won a prize for the efforts.
::::: THE CHECK ::::::
Thank you for patronage here at Joe's Inn!
It's good to be back, and I'm looking forward to writing more every Monday morning. So what do you want to know more about when it comes to the Second Banana?
See you next time.
UPDATE:
::::: AFTER MEAL MINT :::::
All that signed up on their site for updates got this one as well, but for those that didn't an email from the White House just came out and it's The Vice President making the statement:
"The biggest myth of all, is that our health insurance system is just fine. That there's no serious need to reform. I heard one opponent of reform in Congress say, and I quote, 'This is not a major issue among the American people.'
"Nothing, nothing could be further from the truth."
FIND OUT MORE AND TAKE THE ANONYMOUS QUIZ AT WWW.WHITEHOUSE.GOV/REALITYCHECK