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| Biden answering a question posed by your humble blog reporter. |
Classic. Biden bitching and moaning about blogs, while he continues to duck
efforts to invite him into the conversation, especially out here on the web.
But I’m going to cut him some slack today, because he’s made a huge mistake
that requires his own education.
Never mind that I caught him bobbing and weaving on a question about Candidate
Clinton regarding Iraq during the Carson City forum.
But it was Biden’s pledge to not say anything negative that got him in trouble
when I got to ask the last question. I asked Biden what he thought of Hillary’s
plan to withdraw funding from Iraqi troops. He bowed his head, smiled, then
said, “Next question.”I waited.
Then Biden said he would deal with all the proposals together. It’s obvious
he didn’t want to say anything negative about Hillary’s plan, even though
he’d criticized it before. Then he took each plan, going back to his question,
even if you withdraw from Iraq it sill comes down to “What’s next?”He then walked off the stage and straight to me and shook my hand.
“I’m getting better,” Biden said with a smile.
“You didn’t answer my question,” I said honestly.
“I’m getting better,” he said again.
Then out he went. I ended up standing next to a woman. She turned to me and
said “He’s got a plane.” Then she added, “I’m his sister.”I told her, “You need to tell him to answer the question.”
She said, “Well, he doesn’t want to…”
“I know, say anything negative about anyone, but it’s not negative to
stand up and tell the truth,” I said to her.“He did answer your question. …”
“No, he didn’t. He can be honest and answer the question, without being
negative. He should just say it.”She was a bit surprised.
It was a very honest exchange between Senator Biden, his campaign, as well
as his sister. There’s no doubt that he got the message. He’s good, no doubt
about it. But he should not be afraid of sounding “negative,” when
he’s simply stating his opinion and telling his truth. … ..
Did I misreport it? No. What I did do was tell him the truth, along with his
sister, that he didn’t answer my question. He didn’t like that very much. But
he’s had ample opportunity to have a chat. What’s he got to lose? According
to Biden, a lot.
Do you think in the era of YouTube and video cellphones, you can get away
with being Joe Biden? I mean being a guy who in the space of two minutes in
Cedar Rapids started to tell a joke about Al Gore and the Internet and made
a reference to George Wallace in a discussion of healthcare plans.The answer is probably not. But I’ll tell you what — one of the things I’m
not going to do. I’m not going to let that system alter who I am. For example,
one of the things that happens is that the public is coming to grips with
how to deal with this instant, unfiltered information that may be deliberately
mis-edited.But I think — and this is naive maybe — I have confidence that the American
people will put this in perspective. Like when one of the bloggers said, “We’re
going to take back the Democratic Party.”They don’t own the Democratic Party. What are they talking about? So, for
example, my pointing out George Wallace from 1968 and quoting what he said,
somebody could take that out of context and say “Biden quoted Wallace,”
making it sound like Biden is being favorable about Wallace. … ..
Frankly, on
foreign policy I like Biden. When he
targets Rudy it’s great stuff. In fact, Biden warned about attacks via airplanes.
What about the 9/11 Commission Report, Rudy? Biden’s son actually served in Iraq, which no doubt gives him even more information, both personal and political.
But here’s some advice for Mr. Biden. There are many, many bloggers out here
who have earned respect. Worked every day, often going deep into the red because we believe passionately in this country and want to change what’s happened during Bush-Cheney. He should consider that when insulting hard working stiffs, because it’s
an insult to patriots in the blogosphere to show such abject disrespect for
people who are performing a great service. How does Mr. Biden think Jim Webb
won? What about Jon Tester? Claire McCaskill? YouTube and the blogosphere, local
and nationally, gave many candidates the edge needed to win.
Biden is obviously afraid of unfiltered discourse. But blogs don’t get the
story wrong near as often as the corporate hack pack. What about Fox on Obama?
Edwards’ getting sandbagged by CBS. There wouldn’t have been near the traction
of Libby without blogs like Firedoglake and bloggers like Jane Hamsher and Marcy
Wheeler, as well as Christy Hardin Smith, to name just one blog. Look at what
TPM and Josh Marshall did for the U.S. attorney firings. Going back over a year,
my role in helping reveal and publicize what Amir Taheri was doing on the bogus
Iranian badge story was significant as well. Perhaps Mr. Biden should revisit John Bolton, like when I had a serious smackdown with Bolton’s boys. Blogs raised quite a fuss over Bolton. We also wanted to filibuster Alito. Imagine if the Senate had really worked with us.
Mr. Biden’s obviously been in the
Senate too long. The chamber and his status as senator have become his safety
blanket. He should get out and mix it up more often. Not just where it’s comfortable,
but in the setting where 21st ideas are cultivated and candidates and campaigns
reach more activists than any other medium today. I’ve certainly extended
the invitation enough times. But Biden and many of the other candidates only want the publicity, links, the buzz and the money we we (especially the larger bloggers and networks) can provide. Senator Biden obviously has no intention of actually engaging with us; even people who cover national security every day are ignored. It says a lot about the man, but also the people we’ve got in the Senate. It also illustrates why we’re always arguing with many of the DC Democrats. They often just don’t understand the real world, the 21st world in which we live. The other challenge is that the power really has shifted and the Congress doesn’t hold it anymore, so someone had to step in and do something. That someone was you and me.
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