Biden the expert

A commenter recently chastised me for denying that Biden is a foreign policy expert – based solely on the time he’s spent in the Senate.

First, let’s look at his academic record. He likes to brag about that a lot, like he did in a video that Ace of Spades unearthed at LiveLeak and has posted on his blog. In this clip, he brags about all of his academic accomplishments (without mentioning the fact that he plagiarized at least part of his work). Ace claims that Biden’s bragging is without merit;

He didn’t get a full scholarship, and the partial scholarship he received was based purely on financial need, not academic excellence. He graduated 76th of 85 students, not “in the top half” of his class. He didn’t get “three degrees” in college; he got one degree in a double major, which is hardly some sort of amazing feat. (Where did he get three degrees from? No idea. Captain Ed suggests that math was obviously not one of the three.)

The only thing which may or may not be true is that “outstanding student in political science” thing.

As for his record in the Senate, I draw from my buddy, Streiff at Redstate;

Consider:

* Joe Biden was in favor of the Nuclear Freeze movement of which large parts were subsidized by the KGB.
* Joe Biden was in favor of sustaining the communist dictatorship in Nicaragua and against supporting a nascent democracy in El Salvador.
* Joe Biden was against the development and deployment of MX and Trident ICBMs.
* Joe Biden voted against the use of force to force Iraq to leave Kuwait in 1990.
* Joe Biden was, and as far as I know still, in favor of breaking up Iraq into unsustainable ethnic ghettos and leaving.

Brilliant! He’s been on the wrong side of every issue since he left the back bench in the Senate. I guess that attests to his expertise. But it goes on.

Bob Parks at Black & Right dredges up this tidbit;

“When I speak to the president,” [Biden] told Bill Maher on HBO, “I’ll literally turn to the president and say, ‘Mister President, how can you say that, knowing you don’t know the facts?’ He said, ‘I have good instincts,’” said Biden, purporting to quote Bush. “I said, ‘Mr. President, your instincts aren’t good enough.’”

His Democratic audience cheered appreciatively, but a close Bush confidante told FOX News on Saturday: “That conversation never happened.”

Bithead over at Bits Blog found an interview he did with Tim Russert where he all but calls the Haditha Marines murderers, ala John Murtha;

RUSSERT: Let me ask you a last question on Iraq about Haditha and some of the other alleged atrocities. The fact is, our government knew about that for some time. How high up the chain, based on your information, do you think this goes?

SEN. BIDEN: The secretary of defense.

MR. RUSSERT: And what should be done?

SEN. BIDEN: He should be gone. He shouldn’t be in his office tomorrow morning. But I’m so tired of saying this on your show. I’ve been saying this for two years.

MR. RUSSERT: Well, the president knew about it in March.

SEN. BIDEN: Well, we can’t get rid of the president. He’s there for two and a half more years. There is a system of accountability. The system of accountability is, it used to be a gentlemanly thing, as they say, when you make serious mistakes, you step forward and you acknowledge them and you walk away. Presidents can’t and shouldn’t do that. Secretaries of defense can and should.

So they were guilty in June 2006 and someone should pay. Wrong again, Joe, all but one of those Marines have been cleared of those charges. And from Zoe at Blatherings, a frequent visitor here, a video of Biden’s expertise in the field of foreign relations…sort of;

Spending 35 years in the Senate doesn’t make him an expert. Apparently three years of law school didn’t help him. Where anyone gets the idea that he’s anything but another clumsy doofus like Kerry or Gore, I’ll never understand. There’s a difference between knowing stuff and doing the right thing about stuff.

Category: Politics