Freedom Rider: Biden Blurts Awful Truth
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
"It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. . . . Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy. And he's gonna have to make some really tough - I don't know what the decision's gonna be, but I promise you it will occur. As a student of history and having served with seven presidents, I guarantee you it's gonna happen. I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate. And he's gonna need help. And the kind of help he's gonna need is, he's gonna need you, not financially to help him, we're gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it's not gonna be apparent initially, it's not gonna be apparent that we're right." [Italics mine} - Senator Joseph Biden
What was Joseph Biden talking about? While Barack Obama's choice of Biden as his running mate made sense politically, the decision must have given him some moments of pause. Biden is an avowed hawk who voted to authorize the invasion of Iraq. In fact he advocated an occupation even before Bush became president. Those views made sense politically in this pro-war nation, but Biden is also known as being "gaffe prone." In other words, he isn't very bright and he can't stop talking.
Obama has been running for president for a very long time and is as much a hawk as his running mate. In January of 2001 he declared that Bush's nominee for defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, was not ". . . in any way out of the mainstream of American political life."
"Biden isn't very bright and he can't stop talking."
It is not surprising that he went with Biden. That choice sealed the deal with the powerful, wealthy people who run the country while administrations come and go. They want an iron clad assurance that America's empire and its inevitable wars of terror will continue without interruption.
There is likely some truth behind Biden's seemingly bizarre words. Bush has authorized the establishment of the Presidential Transition Coordinating Council at an earlier date than in any other election year. High level staffers from the Obama and McCain campaigns have been engaged in security briefings with the Bush administration and are also in the process of obtaining FBI security clearances, the first time that has happened prior to election day. Bush doesn't want to head back to Texas without insuring that his doctrine remains firmly in place after January 21st.
The plans for continued American military aggression are already underway and Biden can't keep quiet about it. Biden made his statements during a Seattle fundraising trip that took in a cool million dollars. Yet he wasn't just making a plea for cash, he made a plea for support of whatever action the Obama administration may take.
"Because I promise you, you all are gonna be sitting here a year from now going 'oh my God, why are they there in the polls, why is the polling so down, why is this thing so tough?' We're gonna have to make some incredibly tough decisions in the first two years. So I'm asking you now, I'm asking you now, be prepared to stick with us." The Obama/Biden doctrine must be truly awful. If Big Mouth Joe is already pleading for patience from the faithful we are looking at Bush/Cheney the Sequel.
"The Obama/Biden doctrine must be truly awful if Big Mouth Joe is already pleading for patience."
We should all be very afraid. Three years ago Biden declared that most Americans would give up any and all government assistance in favor of more money for guns and bombs. "The Lord Almighty, or Allah, whoever, if he came to every kitchen table in America and said, 'Look, I have a Faustian bargain for you, you choose. I will guarantee to you that I will end all terror threats against the United States within the year, but in return for that there will be no help for education, no help for Social Security, no help for health care. What do you do?' My answer is that seventy-five per cent of the American people would buy that bargain." [Italics mine.]
The media conveniently ignore Biden's pronouncements while reporting on Sarah Palin's family dramas and clothing costs. Her claim that Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience is no worse than Biden's ravings. Yet his obvious shortcomings don't make it onto the radar screen. Biden has run for president twice, but he can't seem to remember that the media are always in the house. "I probably shouldn't have said all this because it dawned on me that the press is here."
The only difference between Obama and Biden is that one man is smart and the other is not. Biden's words, if they are heeded, throw the frog into boiling water. We, the frogs, will know we are endangered immediately. Obama will put us in a cold pot and turn up the heat slowly. By the time we realize we are in peril, the bombs will have fallen or the last of our civil liberties will be gone.
So thank you Senator Joseph Biden for giving us the heads up. Probably very few people will pay attention, but we have to thank the Lord Almighty, or Allah or whoever, for small favors.
Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com. Ms. Kimberley maintains an edifying and frequently updated blog at freedomrider.blogspot.com.