John Kerry has reportedly asked Joe Biden to be his Secretary of State, and Biden is expected to accept.
Recall what I wrote two and a half weeks ago:
I’m heartened by the mention of the hawkish yet sensible Joe Biden for Secretary of State. I wish Kerry would pre-emptively appoint him to a Shadow Cabinet; I’d feel much better voting for him if he did. (This despite my anger at Biden over the RAVE Act, which sucks, but doesn’t really affect the Department of State.)
More importantly, recall Biden’s almost Tony Blair-esque speech (I said almost) at the Democratic National Convention in July:
The overwhelming obligation of our next President is clear. Make America stronger. Make America safer. And win the death-struggle between freedom and radical fundamentalism. That struggle breached our shores on September 11th, 2001, and delivered this generation of Americans to this moment of awesome responsibility.After 9/11, I believed — and still do — that if we exercised the full measure of our power — including our ideas and our ideals — we could unite this nation and other nations in common cause. …
Americans are proud, not petty. Instead of dividing the world, we must unite it. Instead of bullying, we must build. Instead of walking alone, we must lead. It’s only leadership if others follow.
But let no enemy mistake our basic decency for lack of resolve. Americans will fight with every fiber of our being to protect our country and our people. When John Kerry is commander-in-chief, he will not hesitate to unleash the unparalleled power of our military, on any nation or group that does us harm — without asking anyone’s permission. …
When John Kerry is president, military preemption will remain — as it has always been — an option, when we face a genuine, imminent threat.
But John Kerry will build a true prevention strategy — to defuse dangers long before the only choice is war. When John Kerry is president, our friends and allies will have no excuse to sit on the sidelines. …
John Kerry is a student of history. He understands why we prevailed when our nation faced grave peril in the past. He understands that the terrorists may be beyond the reach of reason. We must defeat them. But hundreds of millions of hearts and minds are open to our ideas and our ideals. We must reach them.
Just as Joshua’s trumpets brought down the walls of Jericho — just as American values brought down the Berlin Wall — so will radical fundamentalism fall to the terrible, swift power of our ideas as well as our swords.
That line about “no excuse to sit on the sidelines” is especially important, because it seems to be a tacit acknowledgment that France, Germany & co. may in fact have used their dislike of Bush as an excuse to pursue alterior motives. What Biden seems to be saying is, we won’t treat you with the arrogant disdain that Bush has, but at the same time, we’re not going to let you pull any crap. We scratch your back, you scratch ours. It’s a strong signal that a Kerry Administration isn’t just going to bend over and let Old Europe have its way with us. France, Germany & co. are going to have to pass some “global tests,” too.
Sorry, Michael Badnarik, but I think Kerry just wrapped up my vote.
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Categories: Election 2004
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October 29th, 2004 at 3:24:35 am
Excellent. A good man & a tough cookie. :)
Now, the Nerdynotes:
On January 20 2005 when President Kerry takes office, who will have been sworn in as Governor of Delaware 2 days earlier: the re-elected incumbent Democrat Ruth Ann Minner, or Republican challeger & USMC veteran, Judge Bill Lee? (The formidable Minner won her first term in 2000 with a Hefty 59.2%.) And then when Democrat Joe Biden, re-elected to his 6th term in 2002 to serve Jan. 3 2003 - Jan. 3 2009, subsequently resigns to assume the duties of Secretary of State, whom will such Governor appoint to fill the Vacancy until a successor is elected in November 2006? And, if a new (R) Governor Lee were to appoint, say, a Pierre Samuel du Pont IV (whatever that is :), will it tip the Senate balance, depriving Vice President Edwards of the Tie-breaking vote?
:)
(Of course Biden could resign prior to Jan. 18 to let a defeated lame-duck Governor Minner make the replacement appointment before she leaves office that day. He’d simply be trusting President-elect Kerry’s pledge that Yes, he’ll name him SOS on Jan. 20, first thing in the afternoon. After all, John Kerry’s word is his Bond. LOL! : )
But maybe Kerry will Sour on the Senate as a talent pool. From the linked piece:
“.. Mr Kerry is understood to want his friend John McCain, the Arizona senator, to be Defence Secretary. But Mr McCain is believed to be reluctant. The confirmed maverick might fit uncomfortably even in his close friend’s administration. If the Republicans keep control of the Senate, the Arizona senator will take the powerful job of chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“Another possibility is Chuck Hagel, the Nebraska senator, also a Republican. Mr Kerry is said to be intent on removing Porter Goss, who was confirmed as the head of the CIA only this month. A candidate to replace him is Bob Graham, the retiring Florida senator.
“One problem with this lineup, however, for the Kerry team, is that it looks a little Senate-heavy.
“Given the reputation of senators as windbags with large egos and an argumentative manner, Mr Kerry, a senator himself, may be reluctant to have former senators at President, Vice-President (John Edwards, his running mate), Secretary of State, Secretary of Defence and Director of Central Intelligence.”
OTOH if Bush wins –
“…There is much jockeying for the National Security Adviser post job if Dr Rice does leave [to replace Powell at State] …possibilities include Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defence…and Lewis “Scooterâ€? Libby, Dick Cheney’s chief of staff…”
Shudder. :>
October 29th, 2004 at 3:25:24 am
lol! Sorry bud, I’m not so impressed.
October 29th, 2004 at 3:30:39 am
This is funny too:
All of which led to one of the more esoteric jokes of the 1988 campaign: Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, Gary Hart, Joe Biden and Mike Dukakis are all on a cruise ship when it hits an iceberg and begins to sink.
Carter says: “Women and children first!”
Nixon says: “Screw ‘em!”
Hart says: “Do you think we have time?”
Biden says: “Do you think we have time?”
Dukakis says: “Did you hear what Joe Biden just said?”
October 29th, 2004 at 4:10:11 am
See thats the difference between Democrats and Republicans.
Democrats think its ok to make a mistake as long as you admit to it.
Republicans just won’t admit to it. They call this being “resolute”.
October 29th, 2004 at 10:10:16 am
Considering that your “lol” link goes to the same exact article I linked to, I presume your laughs are directed at its headline? In which case, I guess you’re saying that Joe Biden wouldn’t make a good Secretary of State (or at least, that you’re “not so impressed”) because he ripped off some guy’s speech in 1988? Wow, man, wow. And I suppose no one in the Bush Cabinet has any skeletons whatsoever in their closets? I fail to see how the, uh, “Kinnock affair,” or whatever, is terribly relevant.
October 29th, 2004 at 10:40:46 am
Yes, I was laughing at the lede in the article. I thought it was funny. In fact, the tone of the whole article was fairly irreverant and amusing.
It’s relevant only because, ahem, it’s directly related to the function of being Secretary of State! Copying a former MP’s speech? That’s just too rich. I mean, I’ll presume the speech above wasn’t copied from one of Tony Blair’s, but ya never know….
:-P
October 29th, 2004 at 11:22:05 am
Dude, Joe Biden is the piss foam of Satan. The only good thing about him being nominated as a potential secretary of state is that it will pull his conniving bastard ass out of the Senate and hopefully, some remnant of John Ashcroft’s paranoid security system will “accidentally” chop off Biden’s testicles in a horribly public accident and soon thereafter, he’ll retire from public life forever. There has to be someone better, someone with more integrity who won’t take massive dumps on the republican processes of the country. No, Biden is not a good choice. He is a goat molester who is strangely attracted to Teresa Heinz-Kerry.
October 29th, 2004 at 2:15:14 pm
Dukakis says: “Did you hear what Joe Biden just said?”
WAWWWWW hawhawhaw Hee hee / “esoteric”, indeed! Excellent. Thanks! :) That little Plagiarism flap forced Biden from that race, didn’t it?
“…the tone of the whole article was fairly irreverant and amusing.”
I agree. It’s because it was Written by a wry Briton. :) O God bless England is my Prayer. :)
Dear D.-in-L.-to-be, ROTFLMAO!!!! Becky, you simply MUST learn to express your feelings directly; this Shy act is so 19th Century. WAW HAW HAW HAW! You Go Grrl! Best piece of writing I’ve seen here in a long time. (Well. At least since my last Guestpost. :)
OKOKOK! Look, I Forgot (I’m Sorry!): what’s the Beef? Is it the Kinnock Kerfuffle hereinabove discussed? Is it the RAVE Act anti-liberties stuff cited by the Worser half of the B-squared Act? Hence, “…take massive dumps on the republican processes of the country”? / Or, is it his allegedly-Weaselish chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings re Clarence Thomas who stood Accused by Anita Hill? - “…Biden was criticized for his handling of the confirmation hearings, with the committee coming under fire for not fully investigating Hill’s allegations before sending Thomas’ nomination to the Senate floor, and for a leak of material related to her allegations…”
OR — I Googled, but only lazily — is Biden himself a Harasser? Hence the, ahem, surgery to be performed by Ashcroft’s system? Like I said, I Forget. (Hopefully it’s not the latter. If so, this wouldn’t Sit too well. :>
October 30th, 2004 at 3:30:32 am
Actually, Biden not only plagiarised, he did it in a clueless way from a clueless other person … he actually chose to plagiarise a speech by Neil Pillock (oops, sorry, Kinnock) which (paraphrased) said “I’m the first person in 1000 generations of my family to go to college; it couldn’t be because we’re thick, could it ?”.
Now - leave aside that 25,000 years of Pillocks would sorta pre-date British Universities and even Chinese Universities, could Biden have chosen a *dumber* couple of lines to lift ?
Seems like old habits died hard, tho … at the 2004 convention, Biden used an example of chiasmus remarkably similar to lines in a Clinton book and Clinton speeches … the powerful “power of example” and “example of power” pairing …
So - Brendan - I second your motion that Senator Biden become the Kerry Administration Official US Secretary of State-using-plagiarism …