Cheney VS. Biden & Happy Presidents Day!

Hey Vice-Precedence Fans!

Well, yesterday was a very interesting day for VP's in the media. Current VP Joe Biden was on NBC's "Meet the Press" and former VP Richard "Dick" Cheney was on ABC's "This Week".

Cheney made many interesting comments in his interview with Jonathan Karl, once again sharply criticizing the Obama/Biden Administration over the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and national security issues. He claimed that any success that the current administration has had on these major issues was only due to the efforts of Bush and Cheney himself:

"If [the administration is] going to take credit for [Iraq's success], fair enough ... but it ought to come with a healthy dose of 'Thank you, George Bush' up front and a recognition that some of their early recommendations with respect to prosecuting that war were just dead wrong," Cheney said.

He went on to say that he thinks the policies of the Obama/Biden administration are putting the U.S. in danger of more terrorist attacks. He used VP Biden's own words against the current administration to make his point, attacking Bidens claim that another 9/11 level attack is "unlikely":

"I just think that's just dead wrong. I think the biggest threat the United States faces today is the possibility of another 9/11 with a nuclear weapon or a biological agent of some kind. And I think Al-Qaeda is out there -- even as we meet -- trying to do that. You have to consider it as a war. You have to consider it as something we may have to deal with tomorrow. You don't want the vice president of the United States running around saying, 'Oh, it's not likely going to happen.'"

While this is par for the course when it comes to Cheney (as I have reported on this blog) and probably made his fellow conservative Republicans very happy, he then
went on to make comments that probably had their jaws dropping in shock.

Cheney DID say that he agrees with Obama's strategy for Afghanistan, saying he is a "complete supporter" of the idea of sending more soldiers, sailors, and marines to that country and highly praised the Presidents selection of General Stanley McChrystal to lead this attack.

Once again, Cheney showed his open-mindedness when it comes to issues regarding Homosexual Rights. When it comes to "Don't Ask-Don't Tell" Cheney admitted that the time has come to re-examine the issue:

"Twenty years ago, the military were strong advocates of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' when I was Secretary of Defense. I think things have changed significantly since then. I'm reluctant to second-guess the military in this regard. When the Chiefs come forward and say, 'We think we can do it,' then it strikes me that it's time to reconsider the policy."

Keep in mind, this is not only a former VP making this argument, but as he reminds folks-a former Secretary of Defense (1989-1993). Besides that, as you all probably know - he is also the father of an out lesbian and grandfather to her two children produced from artificial insemination, something that has made conservative Christian Republicans in groups like Focus on the Family and The Christian Coalition furious and disgusted. So his point of view on this subject is a unique one that should be respected and taken into account.

He also showed a lack of enthusiasm for Sarah Palin and her ideas. He made it clear that he disagrees with her on the idea that President Obama could help himself politically by declaring war on Iran. On an interview last week for the FOX NEWS
show "FOX News Sunday" Palin stated that if the President: "toughen[ed] up" and "secured our nation," people might change what they think about him.

"Say he decided to declare war on Iran or decide to really come out and do whatever he could to support Israel, which I would like him to do. If he decided to toughen up ... I think people would perhaps shift their thinking a little bit and decide, 'Well, maybe he's tougher than we think he's, than he is today.'" Palin said.

Cheney disagreed with her and made it clear he did:

"I don't think a President can make a judgment like that on the basis of politics. The stakes are too high, the consequences too significant to be treating those as simple political calculations. When you begin to talk about war, talk about crossing international borders, you talk about committing American men and women to combat, that takes place on a plane clear above any political consideration."

As for a Palin presidential bid - Cheney showed little enthusiasm for the idea:

"I haven't made a decision yet on who I'm going to support. I think all of the prospective candidates out there have got a lot of work to do if in fact they are going to persuade a majority of Americans that they are ready to take on the world's toughest job," Cheney said.

Cheney also admitted that he was in disagreement with the majority of the Bush Administration when it came to issues of interrogation of detainees in Guantanamo and Abu-Grahib. He talked about a meeting he was in with the Cabinet and other advisers to President Bush held in the Roosevelt Room "where we had a major shootout" over whether to try captured terrorist suspects before military commissions or, as the Justice Department advocated at the time, in civilian courts here in the U.S.

"We never clearly or totally resolved those issues," Cheney said. "These are tough questions, no doubt about it. You want my opinion, my view of what ought to happen, I think we have to treat it as a war."

He was, and still is, in favor of water-boarding and other intense, controversial methods, while many of the cabinet members and military advisers were against it.

He went on to criticize the way the White House is handling terrorist issues and the incident on Christmas with the "Underwear Bomber" prompting Vice-President Biden on "Meet the Press" to say:

“Dick Cheney’s a fine fellow, but he is not entitled to rewrite history without it being challenged. I don’t know where he has been. Where was he the last four years of the last administration?”

"A fine fellow"? Wow. Where the hell did that come from? So as you can see it was a very interesting week for the former VP and the current VP - who you may have seen with his wife representing the U.S. at the Opening Ceremonies at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

As you probably already know - its Presidents Day, which means days off for some people, no school for many, sales at car dealerships, furniture stores, mattress places ("Get Free Delivery with your New Sealy or any New Mattress and Pay Nothing til Next Year!!") department stores, and other places. While I don't begrudge anyone getting a good deal in this day and age with the economy the way it is, I think there needs to be more thought about what today is really about. Maybe, just maybe, we should take the time today to remember the Presidents (and VP's) who worked hard to make our country what it is today.

Remember President Lincoln, who sacrificed his life to make this nation free from the stain of slavery, who pledged "Malice towards none, and charity towards all" and who simply wanted to heal a nation stunned by death and destruction-only to be murdered in cold blood before he could do so. Lincoln rose to the greatest crisis in American history and preserved our Union, eradicated slavery, and made us what we are today.

Remember George Washington - who left his comfortable home to lead a war against the most powerful empire on Earth - who risked being hanged for treason and put himself in the middle of terrible fire from the enemy to rally his men, who somehow managed to attain victory and instead of making himself dictator or king as had all other men in history had in his position, simply retired and went home, until his country called on him again to be its first President, and who has set the standard for every President since.

Also, remember VP's like Daniel Tompkins who in his last act before becoming VP, banned slavery in New York. Remember William Wheeler, who when pressured to go along with machine-politics of New York and accept bribes flatly refused and said; ".."[T]here is nothing in the gift of the State of New York which will compensate me for the forfeiture of my self-respect". Remember the VP's who when tragedy struck the nation and we lost Presidents to murder or illness, took over an office they never thought they'd have to and did the best they could to make sure our system of government continued.

Remember our Presidents and VP's and think about all they had to give up to lead our country. Thats what today is really all about.

Thanks for reading and Happy Presidents Day!

Matt Saxe

Biden's Memo

On the day-to-day specifics of any Vice Presidency, there's little in the public record, which makes it an even harder task to try and condense the office's history and evolution. What, exactly are we condensing? To be certain, we have records of Senate sessions and we have newspaper articles, but the latter is a condensed work on its own and the former - true as it might be to the character of a Vice President - gives us only a snapshot of who they were, as much as it might give us the only record of them ever serving a purpose.

This is why saying that Joe Biden's recent public memo to President Obama is surprising to me might, really, be quite ignorant. Maybe its a regular thing for the VP to get on his Smith Corona, throw in some White House letterhead, and just give the president advice. Maybe its the first time a President has cared enough about one of those toiled-over mini-tomes to allow it to be public - like Obama putting Joe's memo on the White House refrigerator underneath a magnet of Abraham Lincoln reading "Four-score and seven years ago, your cheese was still good."

In all likelihood, though, I'm wrong. The only memos written by a VP that you ever hear about, frankly, are the "secret memos" that Dick Cheney wants kept secret, or the "secret memos" Dick Cheney publicly demanded become public. My search for "Dick Cheney" and "memo" turned up almost exclusively references to secret memos or memos in which Dick Cheney was mentioned, with the exception of this memo from Dick Cheney to Gerald Ford, when Cheney was Ford's Chief of Staff, about how to talk about Jimmy Carter without mentioning Jimmy Carter's name, and then to mention Jimmy Carter's name. The most fun thing about the whole memo, though, is the two pages of preparation, including references to Gerry Ford's "briefing book" (which I imagine was the size of a Tijuana Bible, only less sexually graphic, containing choice bits of advice like "left foot first" and "use the railing for balance" - yep, that was a Gerry Ford clumsiness joke. Eat it, 1976.), followed by a third page with only this single line on it.

Obviously, the subject of Vice Presidential memos is now of considerable interest to me. In this case, its Biden as a mouthpiece. Its Obama giving Joe permission to announce a sweeping new piece of administration policy - namely, the transformation of our economy to become less dependent on nonrenewable energy. Though one would hope that the section labeled "Vehicles and Fuels of the Future" would mention a flying car or, at least, a hoverboard, what it lacks in vehicular foresight it gains in that place that counts most to us here at Vice-Precedence: It smacks of Vice Presidential responsibility.

Let me say this: I have no idea how much research, or how much writing was "All Joe," but, frankly, he's doing something. We know the man can write, and we know he's folksy. He's a consummate politician and an art-appreciator. It seems that President Obama believes Biden serves a purpose - otherwise Obama could find plenty of other mouthpieces. Sure, just as First Ladies tend to champion education and children-related causes, the VP is relegated to the "soft cause" (the environment) so the President can (usually) concentrate on the hard causes (the economy and that... ongoing war thing), but any step at all for the VP is a step in the right direction. Biden's public moves have all hinted that he's preparing for the Presidency after what he hopes will be a strong 8 years under Obama's Presidential wing. I'm hoping for 8 strong years of a useful Vice Presidency, but you can't blame the guy for ambition.

- Jason C. Klamm



PS: Blogger still doesn't recognize Biden as a word. Nor hoverboard. Bastards.

Cheney and Yemen, Palin on "O'Reilly" & "Game Change", RIP Jean Biden

Hey Vice-Precedence Blog Readers.

In Cheney news, with the recent uproar over Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab of Nigeria and his attempt to blow up Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day, there has been a lot of focus on Yemen and terrorists coming from there under Al-Queda. Many are saying this constitutes a Muslim terrorist attack on American soil, something that hasn't happened since 9/11 and that its a black mark on President Obamas national security record.

Personally the way I see it-this is the equivalent of Richard Reid-the "Shoe Bomber" something that happened during the Bush Presidency-but lots of conservatives-like former VP Cheney-don't see it that way.

However, Mr. Cheney needs to tread carefully about any remarks he makes criticizing the Obama Administration about this incident after what has recently been discovered.

In 2007, then Vice President Cheney personally authorized the release of 11 Saudis from Guantanamo Bay, who then passed through a Saudi halfway house terrorist rehabilitation program to rejoin Al Qaeda. Two of the 11 former prisoners rejoined Al Qaeda in Yemen.

In February, 2009, the New York Times reported that U.S. counterterrorism officials confirmed that one of the prisoners Cheney freed was Said Al-Shihri, who became the deputy leader of Al Qaeda in Yemen, and that he was suspected of being involved in the attack on the U.S. embassy in Yemen in 2007.

A review by the Defense Intelligence Agency showed that 14% of the 530 Gitmo prisoners released through VP Cheney's direct approval, 74 individuals, have either been identified as still participating in terrorism or are suspected of doing so. Now 14% doesn't sound like a lot, but when you think about it, its 14% too much. So many people have strong feelings about Gitmo, and now this report comes out. It all seems overwhelming sometimes.

As Jason reported, former Republican candidate for VP, ex-Governor of Alaska, and best-selling author Sarah Palin will soon be working for FOX News. It all begins on "The O'Reilly Factor" TONIGHT! So you may want to watch that.

If you saw "60 Minutes" on Sunday you know about the recent revelations by John Heilemann of New York magazine and Mark Halperin of Time magazine-the joint authors of "Game Change" about the 2008 Presidential campaign-from the primaries all the way to election night. Steve Schmidt-who headed up the McCain/Palin campaign also was on "60 Minutes" as well. Besides revealing that McCain originally wanted Joe Lieberman on the ticket but couldn't name him for fear of infuriating the far Right wing of the party, Schmidt also revealed that when Gov. Palin was told she had been tapped for the VP nomination she replied that: "It's God's plan." Also, the reason she asked Joe Biden

"Can I call you Joe?"

was that in all her practice for the Vice-Presidential Debate she kept saying "O'Biden". Now that should NOT be some big revelation to people, because on Page 289 of "Going Rogue"-Palins own book which has now been out for over a month-she admits to it happening over and over during the debate practice and that debate prepper Randy Scheunemann had the suggestion that she ask Sen. Biden permission for her to call him Joe when they met in the middle of the stage to shake hands before the debate, and Biden being a gentleman, would be happy to accept. She was nervous about calling him "Joe" because, as she points out:

"Senator Biden was a senior statesman. He'd been sitting in a U.S. Senate seat since I was nine years old."

However, she felt comfortable with doing as Scheunemann suggested, and the rest is history. For those of you who think Palin was a negative on the Republican ticket, Schmidt (who Palin occasionally rips on in her book) admits that if Palin had not been the Veep candidate: "Our margin of defeat would've been greater than it would've been otherwise."

I'd read all about this in her book while waiting to meet Mrs. Palin here in MN (which you can read all about here on the blog) so I wondered who would really be stunned by this-its been out there for over a month! My guess is-people who simply dismissed Palins book because it was written by Palin. News Flash folks-its old news.


Finally, as Jason has reported on Friday Jan 8th, the mother of Vice-President Joe Biden, Jean Biden, passed away. She was 92. Vice-President Biden made the following statement on her passing:

"Together with my father, her husband of 61 years who passed away in 2002, we learned the dignity of hard work and that you are defined by your sense of honor," he said in the statement. "Her strength, which was immeasurable, will live on in all of us."

Biden also had high praise for his mother at the Democratic National Convention in his acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination for Vice-President. His mother was there to see her son at this-the high point (so far) of his political career:

"My mother's creed is the American creed: No one is better than you," he said. "Everyone is your equal, and everyone is equal to you. My parents taught us to live our faith, and to treasure our families. We learned the dignity of work, and we were told that anyone can make it if they just try hard enough. When I got knocked down by guys bigger than me, and this is the God's truth, she sent me back out the street and told me, 'Bloody their nose so you can walk down the street the next day.' And that's what I did."


As Jason reported her funeral was today. Around 700 people gathered together at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Wilmington, Delaware. Guests included President and Mrs. Obama, former President Clinton, and many Cabinet and Congress members. Vice-President Biden thanked the President for treating his mom "with warmth and personal affection."

In his eulogy Biden said the following:

"She believed in us, so we believe in ourselves. How could we do less?" he said. "... Mom taught us that courage was not defined by the lack of fear, but by the willingness to act in spite of your fears; that bravery lived in each of our hearts. And her expectation was that we would be summoned to reach for it when necessary."

Jean Bidens original name was Catherine Eugenia Finnegan, and she was born in Scranton, PA. on July 7th, 1917. In 1941, she married businessman Joseph Biden Sr., with whom she had four children, Joe being the oldest. The couple moved from Scranton to Claymont, Del., in 1953, when the future VP was 10 years old.

In the Vice-Presidents book-"Promises to Keep" his mother was concerned about him leaving his successful law practice to go into politics-particularly running for the Senate against an extremely tough opponent;

"You're not going to run for Senate and ruin your reputation, are you?" he recalled his mother asking.

"And once Mom was reassured that my future was safe, win or lose, she would do anything," Biden wrote.

He also recalled in the book how when his mother couldn't find a pair of cufflinks for him to wear to an eighth-grade dance, she fashioned a pair from nuts and bolts, which left him stunned and embarrassed.

"Now look, Joey, if anybody says anything to you about these nuts and bolts, you just look them right in the eye and say 'Don't you have a pair of these?'" she told him.

Bidens mother was a great source of strength to her son after the tragic car accident that took the lives of his first wife and daughter just a month after his election to the Senate in 1972.

"After the accident, she told me, 'Joey, God sends no cross that you cannot bear,'" Biden recalled.

Biden continued in his eulogy that his mom was fiercely protective.

"To mom, the greatest virtue was courage," he said. "She taught her children that the thickest of all substances was blood."

Pallbearers included four grandsons and three granddaughters read selections from the Bible.

The Rev. Msgr. Thomas Cini told Jean Biden's children that she was "your strength, your rock." In death, Cini added, Jean Biden has been reunited with her siblings and her husband.

"You can imagine the Irish feast that's going on right now, and she's leading them," Rev. Cini said.

The Vice President concluded his eulogy echoing those remarks.

"Mom is back in dad's embrace, where she belongs, and we're all at peace,"

RIP Jean Biden from Vice-Precedence.

What else will be said about former VP Cheney and all the debate about national security and Yemen? What will Palin say on "The Factor" tonight? Stay tuned for more here Vice-Precedence readers, and thanks for your support.

Biden Comic Review and October Veep Birthdays

Hey Vice-Precedence Blog readers. Its been awhile since I posted something, but I wanted to wait until there was something to really write about. Jason already posted his review of the Joe Biden comic published by Bluewater Comics, so now its my turn.

First of all, like Jason I am glad that someone had the guts to write and publish a comic about a vice-president. It means that someone has decided that there is an audience for this. That's great news for Vice-Precedence and I am happy to see it. I certainly hope that the comic sells well. At least better than Bo Obama's. Although I can understand why dogs would be more popular than politicians.

I just finished it a few minutes ago and I have to say overall....I'm disappointed. Aside from the typos and mistakes that Jason already mentioned its very hard to follow. It jumps around from time to time. It opens with Bidens' brush with death-to the point of his receiving last rites and that is portrayed in a powerful way. His upset victory in the Delaware Senate race as a 29 year old upstart during the Nixon Administration is also shown and his struggles to make it all happen are done in a interesting noir style-complete with the dirty union boss with a cloud of smoke over his head. The book also does a good job of illustrating Bidens pain at the loss of his first wife and daughter. The writer does a good job in showing how these trials shaped Biden's life and effected him emotionally. These stories are important, and make for interesting reading and I certainly understand why they are here in the book. I have to give kudos to writer Wey-Yuih Loh on at least this.

My main complaint with the book is how it seems almost jagged-it jumps back and forth in time and seems haphazard about it. It makes it hard to follow. Also, the art style is not to my liking. It seems a little rushed and the coloring is a little too pale to my liking. The cover is well done by artist Vinnie Tartamella. Like Jason, I wish it had spent some time on his work in Washington and how he became such a powerful presence there. While Bidens personal struggles do make for dramatic stories, more than passing legislation, it seems like that was the only thing this book was interested in. Still, I'd like to learn more about how Biden developed his way of making things happen in Washington and how he got to the Vice-Presidency. Like Jason, it makes me want to read Bidens autobiography "Promises to Keep-On Life and Politics".

Still, the fact that this book has been published is great. I am glad that it was written, and I hope you Vice-Precedence fans will at least give it a try. Darren G. Davis and Bluewater are to be applauded for creating this book.

On another note-October is a big month for VP birthdays-so happy belated birthdays to the following VP's!

Happy Birthday Chester Alan Arthur-Born October 5th 1829.

Happy Birthday Henry Agard Wallace-Born October 7th 1888.

Happy Birthday Richard Mentor Johnson-Born October 17th 1780-"The most vulgar man of all vulgar men in this world." according to the Doorkeeper of the U.S. Senate.

and Happy Birthday John Adams-Born October 19th 1735.

Keep tuned here on the Vice-Precedence blog for all the latest and greatest news in Vice-Presidents. Thanks for reading.

Biden Comic Preview!

On October 14, Bluewater Productions (who we interviewed in one of our first blogs) releases the Joe Biden comic in their "Political Power" series. Again, story-wise, they seem to pull no punches in a preview I recently found, which you can find here. Let us know what you think. As I've said, I'll be in line on Wednesday.

Jason C. Klamm

Bush on Biden

A former Bush 43 speech writer was interviewed recently in GQ. With the kind of humor you wouldn't expect from someone who worked in that administration, he paints an oddly human picture of Bush, with a certain irreverence aimed at letting us see the former President's funny side. He weighs in on Palin and Biden (you can find the section, if brief, about Biden, here) with some unexpected ribbing (unexpected at least in him taking shots at Palin), and it's an interesting read.

Not a lot else in the VP world at the moment, but the article is worth checking out, though it's also worth thinking about how easy it is to be so rapt by an article written by a guy claiming to have the inside scoop and showing us this human side of Bush, when he was one of the elite few who got to help lie to us every day. Sure, he came in late in Bush's term, so he was part of damage control, most likely. But I don't trust the words of a speech writer or a publicist, especially when they claim to "finally be telling the truth" (not his words, just the jist of these sorts of essays).

Cynical? No. Just careful. I'd rather read Cheney's book, even if it is co-written (he never writes alone, famously writing alongside his wife before becoming VP). At least he'll say what he means, and I'll be pretty sure he isn't putting me on.

Good night, and good vice-presidenting.

Jason C. Klamm

Bad Cop, Good Cop

On his last visit to Iraq (pictured right), Joe Biden went with a little more pizazz. He was there to get everyone excited not just about the Obama Administration and their plans to end the war, but about Joe Biden, a non-president who hoped to genuinely act in Obama's stead. This time around (not pictured right), on his third trip, Biden is playing the Good Cop to the Bush Administration's Bad Cop, a relationship that has persisted since George Bush I created a similar situation in Iraq and Bill Clinton stepped up to usher in a new era of peace.

Any head of state knows that one's perception of peace is relative to how much one knows about what is actually going on in the world. Making lip service to peace is always easy - from those who want it and don't know how to get it and from those who don't want it and say they do - but making actual strides in terms of peace is very difficult, because, outside of the most simply-decided peace (the end of a war), the path has rarely been tread.

But what I personally find most interesting here is that, conceptually, the "Good Cop, Bad Cop" analogy (not the best, I'm aware), in comparing the Bush and Obama Administrations, seems to apply most strongly to the seat of the Vice President. As far as the war in Iraq, the Vice President has, in both administrations, taken a strong role. Certainly, Cheney is only coming out in the press about it all now, sort of a more honest ghost of who he was while in office, but the comparison between him and Biden is a stark and interesting one. Meanwhile, our President is involved in the healthcare debate (or, as David Cross put it on a local radio show this morning, "The Healthcare Yellings") and spends little time addressing one of the main issues on which he was elected - the war. That said, I wouldn't, in this case, call that a bad thing. At least in terms of the Vice Presidency.

The Vice President has regularly been given diplomatic duties, from simple showboating and handshaking to serious debate about issues and conflicts while in the affected country. Rarely, though, has the Vice President taken up a full wing of policy in the President's stead. This, as Matt and I have often argued, is how the Vice President ought to function, in practice, at least, if not in law (though law would actually be preferred). Biden's time in Iraq, whether fruitful or not, whether more PR than substance, still says a lot about the Obama Adminstration's trust and respect for the office's potential. It should be made clear that the Veep has only potential, and, given Biden's role in cleaning up after the bulk of the Iraq war, it seems Joe might be on the road to realizing it.

Jason C . Klamm

Biden Takes Money from Criminal

The power of the misleading headline is amazing. Luckily, its just my headline this time.

Harper's broke the story (online, at least) that what they call a "major democratic donor" was arrested for attempting to defraud CitiBank out of about $74 million by saying they had about that much in collateral. Hassan Nemazee, who chairs the appropriately-named Nemazee Capital and did the defrauding, one can assume, is also a frequent donator to the Democratic Party, to the tune of $150,000 since 2006.

Some of that money went to Joe Biden. Nemazee (and a woman I asssume to be his wife, it should be noted) donated a total of $9,200 to Biden's campaign during that time, as well as some cash to Hillary, according to the Huffington Post's donation tracking software. The likelihood that Biden actually knew who he was taking money from, of course, is ridiculously low. It makes a good argument for campaign finance reform, but other than that, it's fairly innocuous, as much as you can see any Republican or Independent with an axe to grind taking it and twisting it to their needs.

Mr. Namazee's office had no comment on his arrest when I called up and spoke to their remarkably relaxed receptionist, so I decided to do a little hunting about him for my own education. What Harper's failed to mention (it was a brief piece) was that Hassan Nemazee isn't just a guy who "raises" capital. He's also the former finance chair of both John Kerry's and Hillary Clinton's campaigns. In late 2008, The New York Observer ran a piece abut Nemazee being accused of funneling campaign contributions through his adult children (The Huffington Post's campaign contributions database confirms each of his children donating $4,600 a piece, the same as he and his wife), one of whom summarily wound up working for Rudy Giuliani's law firm.

Luckily for Joe, his hands are clean. He clearly ran the smaller campaign. The question remains to be asked, though, as to where the line should be drawn, and just how politicians vet the people who bring in their money. After all, this latest presidential campaign shattered records, partially due to Obama backing down on a pact made with John McCain to stick to capped contributions. One hopes this report doesn't fall too far into the back pages.

Until tomorrow, dear readers, I wish you Biden dreams and Cheney wishes.

Jason C. Klamm

P.S. - Nemazee Capital also has a blog.

Bye-Bye Biden?

No. But in a quick Google News search this morning I stumbled upon another blog commenting on this piece in Politico. The other blog, Daily Kos, made its assessment of an article that suggests Obama will likely search for a new Veep in 2012 thus:

"You would be hard pressed to find a more ham-handed example of concern trolling. Anywhere... And kudos to Politico for offering Hugh Hewitt the platform to spread this nonsense. It's very fair and balanced of them."

So I gave the article a shot. After all, this is my first real examination of any office in real-time, so someone suggesting the sitting VP might be replaced - and suggesting so only six months into a new administration - is quite interesting.

What's even more interesting, here - and believe me, I'm not defending Biden, neither am I against the man - is Hugh Hewitt's (the author of the Politico article) lack of understanding of how the VP works. Maybe he decided to go back to the good old days of FDR, where he changed Veeps twice. Or perhaps to Lincoln, who decided Hannibal Hamlin, who, as historian Steve Tally put it in our interview with him, "went home" instead of fighting, wasn't the best face forward for the Lincoln Administration. Or maybe - and this is more likely - he didn't research at all. Just assumed.

The problem with going back to a Lincoln or an FDR is that in their camps - and in FDR's case, among the majority of Americans - these guys were indestructible. FDR was elected four times, and Lincoln was reelected during a war. They were their day's equivalent of the teflon politician, and Obama, as slick and popular as he might be, isn't there, just yet.

Additionally, the Vice President, at least since Mondale, and definitely since Cheney, has become a man of power, at least in the right hands. Biden has experience and his own strengths, and, though he might not have much power at the moment, the office has that potential much more than in the days of FDR's three VPs.

Then there's consideration number three - Obama's image. He knows that much of the reason why he was elected was his passion, enthusiasm and intelligence. Who in their right minds, who is elected on the basis of their ability to judge the state of things, would put those integral qualities into question? He would essentially be saying "I made a mistake in choosing the man who could potentially replace me as the most powerful man in the country. As the country's first black president who anyone could predict would echo the Camelot years, I didn't at all think about the likelihood that someone might want to hurt me, so I chose some names out of a hat. Please excuse me while I wipe the drool off of my chin."

This is one case where Obama would be best suited - and it hurts me to say this - to take a cue from George W. Bush, should Biden prove the mistake this one radio host believes him to be. He shouldn't admit he was wrong. And the likelihood that he would - in this case, anyway - is low. What would we hear? We'd hear a lot of what we heard in the debates, just slightly reworded. Here's a little test - whenever you listen to Obama or Biden talk about one another right now, replace "The President" or "Joe" with "The Senator."

"Sure, Joe and I differed on some things, but our message was the same."
"The President and I have not always seen eye to eye, but that's the magic of the system. We can disagree and work together in perfect harmony."

However the administration actually feels about Biden and his role (likely very good, as he's thus far been a strategic first or second strike in PR, saying rather overtly what Obama only suggests might be true), they're keeping him. They need him, and, as W proved, they need consistency. They can admit all the mistakes they want, but you never admit your running mate was one of them - it shows you don't get people, and that you're short-sighted. Short of a sex scandal, they won't replace Biden. In this day and age, as they used to say "it just isn't done."

- Jason C. Klamm

Biden Swears in, Palin Swears Revenge

As you may know, the Veep is currently in Iraq, making the rounds to prove to us just how safe it is to live there. If you have body armor. Some body armor. And a cadre of Secret Service Agents. Oh, and guns, that's right, guns.

Still, Biden made the rounds, so to speak, greeted by the forces in Iraq, and then made a special trip to see his son, Beau, who, despite being Attorney General of Delaware, also finds the time to serve as a Captain with the Delaware National Guard. He also took the time during his sojourn abroad to give some fighting men and women what they've been holding out for, besides the whole "not dying" thing. The Vice President, sporting a khaki suit and combat boots, looking somewhat like a desert pimp, spent some of July 4 helping 237 members of the Armed Forces become American citizens. They were sworn in in Al Faw Palace, previously occupied by one Saddam Hussein, to which Biden said "That S.O.B is rolling in his grave right now." Classy, Joe. Then again "that's good 'ol Joe for ya'!" And, really, I can't go about saying Saddam wasn't an SOB, just... I might do it with some class. But still with a khaki suit and combat boots.

Meanwhile, as Matt so diligently reported, Sarah Palin, Biden's former "competitor" for the Number Two spot, has resigned her Governorship effective the end of July. Sort of?

CNN, who rudely interrupted the controversy-embroiled Governor on an impromptu fishing trip, caught her with her pants up - her waders, that is! - and her fists raised, reporting this morning that Palin told them "I am not a quitter; I am a fighter." Damn. Damn, damn, damn.

As CNN and Fox News both reported, Palin didn't rule out a run for the Presidency in 2012. Son... of a bitch.

I don't hate the lady. In one of the pieces I've written for the book, I describe my own early distaste for her that was then peppered with some understanding at the reasons people were calling her stupid, like "not knowing what the VP does." Let's be honest - the VP doesn't have to do much at all, so in essence, it was a valid question. But these latest developments beg the question - she pulled down McCain's campaign, so how does she think she can have one all her own?

If the media is as powerful and vindictive as she'd like us to believe, calling the accusations against her "bull crap" (classy, Sarah), how does she plan on winning us over? Her idea of being a politician is to just play straight-up corn-fed, slap your baby and kiss your back. She's about 70 years behind in understanding what it actually means to be a politician. If she wants back in the game, she's going to have to play hard ball. And if she does, I see a bunch of Anti-Hillary democrats changing their minds just to keep Palin off the ticket.

Which ticket, though, remains to be seen. She's reportedly been trashing both Obama and the Republican party quite heavily, a move that indicates she's either clinging to the "Maverick Republican" image of John McCain, or she's moving on. Could there be a third-party run? Despite her record, her popularity could easily get whatever third party she chose instant media coverage, sending the media tripping over itself to "see what this whole third-party thing is all about," leading it to - cue the collective orgasm of Libertarians everywhere - eventually giving someone like Ron Paul some air time.

Whatever she decides to do, I think you should know this when you think toward 2012. There are people, like Thomas Van Flein (Palin's lawyer), who think things like this (as quoted on CNN):

"In my opinion, she was the national campaign for Republicans last fall," Van Flein said. "I know John McCain was the candidate, but the decision was really about Sarah Palin and could she take on Obama. That was a lot of weight on her shoulders to carry that campaign, and they almost pulled it off."

Ouch.

- Jason Klamm
(see my own presidential campaign site, for 2020 [& 2016] here, to give you an idea of what can happen when media completely informs someone's idea of what it is to be a politician)

Funny Pictures of Veeps - Charles Curtis

Okay, I apologize for this apparent piece of fluff. In the middle of the night, I didn't feel I could do proper justice to a blog about Joe Biden and gay rights. Next week, kids. In the meantime, here's one of my favorite pictures of a Veep ever. This is Charles "Charley" Curtis, VP under Hoover. By any historians account, Charley was less than memorable, at least in action as a VP. Outside of his rise to the second-highest office in the land, he made his mark, but good.

Now, keep in mind, I don't look up to the man pictured here in what could be the most unflattering staged photograph of a head of state ever. As a Vice President, at least, he was an embarassment, inspiring, among other things, the character of Alexander Throttlebottom in the Gershwin musical "Of Thee I Sing," in which the Vice President doesn't have enough clout to get a library card. Curtis also notoriously insulted the "idiots" of America while his country was in the middle of the Great Depression. I don't know if this picture was taken before or after that particular blow-up, but the heat, as it were, was always on. But Charley never seemed to feel it.

But old "Damp Brow" Curtis, as he should have been called, wasn't all bad. He's been frequently painted as one of the poorest choices for VP in history, possibly rightly. As VP, so it's been said, he did almost nothing. But to get that high and to have so little to do, no one can say Charles Curtis didn't bust his hump.

He was rumored to have memorized the names of thousands of his constituents, life stories all stored in little black books, but only as backups for the kind of memory that would aid any career in law. He could easily have been the model for the straw-hat-wearing politician. On the other hand, despite his obvious (and ironic, given his running as a "minority" due to 1/8 Indian blood) distaste for the downtrodden, Curtis, for one reason or another, was one of the strongest forces in passing the 19th Amendment.

As Vice President, though, Curtis was notoriously pompous, ignoring the very people who got him the office. Perhaps he resented the men he would no longer allow to call him "Charley," for elevating him to mediocrity. Maybe this is why, after his term was over, he went back into law while in his seventies - perhaps hoping to make a difference again, if not a new name for himself.

Unyielding in his pomposity, Charles Curtis saved his worse face for the office that gave him the most exposure, and his likely distaste for the uselessness of the office shown through. Sadly, he never returned to his home State of Kansas after being Vice President, and died in Washington, DC. His most prominent legacy is likely The Pulitzer Prize that, in many ways, his personality was responsible for - the first Pulitzer ever given out for a musical.

Well, at least he advanced the legitimization of political satire as an art form. You win some, you lose some.

Joe Biden - Iraq Glue

Today, former comedian Al Franken was finally certified - whatever side you're on, it's been a long haul - as the winner of a months-long recount, as Minnesota's newest little Senator. Once Minnesota's non-wrestling Governor officially declares it so, Franken will be the best actor outside of Fred Thompson to ever hold an elected office. Scratch that - best professional actor.

Franken's fight has been long, but he's had support as high, at least, as the President. Of the Senate. Joe Biden, whose last name still isn't recognized in Blogger's dictionary, has had even-tempered, well-reasoned things to say for awhile on the situation. Back in May, though, he finally exploded with-

"The election process and recount in Minnesota have lived up to the state's reputation for organization, transparency, and bipartisanship. The officials have been meticulous and every ruling has been unanimous."

Really, Joe?

Okay, it's not that I'm expecting Biden to explode, or that I'm disinterested in the general even tone slowly, but evenly pouring out of the White House of late. Like most people, I am expecting something so honest and poorly-thought-out as to practically be charming. Still, after delving a bit into Joe's political past, starting as one of the youngest Senators in the body's history, I'm curious as to where the fire has gone and why. Maybe he's mellowed out. Maybe it's diplomatic. Maybe that's a good thing?

The Obama Administration announced today that Joe Biden is being sent to Iraq. Six years and three months after the tremendously successful invasion that Joe Biden voted in the majority for, he's being sent there... in a capacity of some kind. "I would hesitate to use the term 'mediator,' " said Robert Gibbs, White House Press Secretary. Understandable. The Veep, who actually wrote an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times three years ago proposing that we

"...establish three largely autonomous regions with a viable central government in Baghdad. The Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite regions would each be responsible for their own domestic laws, administration and internal security."

doesn't necessarily bring to mind "temperate." He's being involved in Iraq to, as the White House put it, "oversee that we are making progress...." Fair enough. The majority seem to be characterizing it as a natural choice, given his stint on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee since 1997, during which time he, among other things, paired with - of all people - Jesse Helms to save the United States' right to vote in the United Nations. And maybe they're right. His foreign policy experience, and his 1 for 2 voting record on Wars Involving Iraq, were undoubtedly things that the Obama Administration looked at when deciding how to use Biden.

Let's think about that for a second... An administration not just FINDING a use for a VP, but thinking about one ahead of time? This isn't unprecedented, but it's certainly a good sign. Maybe he won't just be a ribbon-cutter. Only time will tell.

Looking back at one particular article from The Evening Independent in St. Petersburg, Florida (thank you Google News Archives) that one doesn't assume has any particular reason to stump for Biden in the middle of the summer, I read a brief excerpt of what I'd like to hope Joe Biden was really like at one point. For one, the article begins by calling him 'Fiery Joe' Biden, calling him "The Last of the Red-Hot Angry Democrats," comparing him, appropriately enough, if only now, to Hubert Humphrey.

It describes, in detail, Biden tearing up the Reagan Administration for turning a blind eye to embattled South Africa. There's a heated debate between then-Senator Biden and Secretary of State George Shultz, during which Biden said:

"I'm ashamed of this country that puts out a policy like this, that says nothing, nothing. I'm ashamed of the lack of Moral backbone in this policy... let the South Africa blacks know we stand behind them foursquare."

At which point he was met, rather ineffectively, by Shultz:

"(It's) a complicated situation. Obviously the blacks are repressed... But I don't turn my back on the whites. They are also people."

Biden, then, coolly responded "I speak for the oppressed, whatever they happen to be."

Though a simple "did you hear what you just said?" might have sufficed, the lofty button to Biden's end of the argument had to have hit home, at least a little. The article goes on to describe Biden's "presidential problem" as having "a style too feverish for the cool television age." Needless to say, the article got me really pumped. About Joe Biden in 1986, anyway.

The question then remains - is that fire still there? Is it the same fire that seems to come out in badly-timed or ill-conceived spurts? Perhaps a chance to put a country back together - a country, it's important to point out, that he's had a somewhat unprecedented chance to affect in a large way over the years - is the thing to bring back 'Fiery Joe.' If he's learned the lesson of his vote for the war in Iraq, and if he still, indeed "speaks for the oppressed," maybe Joe Biden will be, if not the glue, at least the clamps that hold it together until the glue dries. Yes, I just compared modern-day, war-torn Iraq to a woodshop project.

- Jason C. Klamm

Marvel at This D.C. Superhero

You can’t possibly imagine how excited Matt and I were the other day to discover that Bluewater Productions, the company behind the smash hit Sara Palin and Michelle Obama comic books, has decided to produce a comic about none other than Joe Biden as part of their “Political Power” series. After Colin Powell in July and a Barack Obama comic some time after, Joe Biden’s comic comes off the presses in September of this year. We’ll both be first in line.

I sat down with the Darren G. Davis, President of Bluewater Productions – that is, I assume he was sitting down as well, since I was interviewing him over the phone from LA while he was in his office in Washington State – and talked with him about making politics palatable to the youth, and making the Vice Presidency just generally palatable.

Jason Klamm: How long has the company been around?
Darren Davis: We’ve been self-publishing for three years now. I’ve been producing comics for ten. I worked for DC comics and I published for Image.

JK: When was the decision made to go political?
DD: We decided just right before the election, right after Hillary Clinton didn’t get nominated. People were really starting to slam Hillary, Sara Palin, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. They were making their decisions just based on headlines. We thought – we have a voice in comics. We have twenty-two pages, why not tell a story? I’ve learned a lot about politics from doing this.

JK: What were the first ideas thrown around for political comics?
DD: Those were the ones we wanted to start out with. From there, that’s when we decided to expand the line. The books turned out to be about female empowerment. Then we decided to spin off to everyone in politics, starting in July with Colin Powell.

JK: How well has the Palin comic done?
DD: We’re on our third printing, we’ve sold 20,000 copies. Michelle sold over 55,000, it’s now the top-selling independent comic.

JK: What is it about Palin’s comic that is selling so well? Kitsch factor?
DD: I think it’s a bunch of different things. One, they became, in a sense, about female empowerment. We didn’t know the demo at first. A lot of women who want to learn about these women, might not like them, but respect where they come from and what they do. We’re also getting people collecting political memorabilia. People who just want to know. Like kids.

Bios can technically be really boring. We didn’t want them to be stale. Added extra little characters in it. The writer is the narrator. In the Clinton book, the writer hates her. After doing the research on her, the writer begins to respect her. That’s the point of the series – the journey of knowledge. She is dressed up as the devil, but we also have the narrator talking to this Jiminy Cricket character.

JK: When did you decide on making a Biden comic?
DD: We were trying to think along the lines of who to do, and you there’s been a Barack Obama comic book, but no one’s ever done Joe Biden. We should honor that. As I said, people may not like them, but you have to respect them.

JK: How much do you know about the Vice Presidency?
DD: I’m gonna’ learn a lot from my Bo Obama (the First Family's dog) book – he talks about the VP, too. Once again, I’m the demo – I don’t know a whole lot, I got frustrated. I got passionate about this election, as many people did for the first time. So with the VP – I am a part of American society that doesn’t know. The VP does have a role, he’s just on another plane.

JK: What is it about Biden that makes him a good character in a comic?
DD: I think his personality kind of lends to it. As Sara Palin has a strong personality, Joe Biden – some of the things he does and says goes along those lines. Palin’s a bit more out there than Joe Biden, shooting wolves and having a turkey killed in the background… Joe Biden has said some pretty harsh things, like in the election when he was saying if Obama was elected there would be a crisis in six to eight months.

We really want kids to pick these things up. We want kids to think “I could be the Vice President,” or Secretary of State, etc.

JK: Do you know much about other VPs?
DD: No. Basically I know what there is in headlines, the Dan Quayleisms… I think Al Gore has become more vocal after being Vice President. One reason people are so tough on him is because of what he’s done in the world.

JK: Let me give you three VPs. You tell me which would make the best comic book. First, Charles Curtis. His sister said the Depression was over simply because she didn’t see the effects of it. He called the Marines on protesting ex-soldiers. Or William King, who was likely our only gay Vice President. He lived with James Buchanan for 16 years. He was sworn in in Cuba, and died just days after arriving in the US. John Breckinridge was VP before the Civil War, then when the war broke out, he joined the Confederacy. When the war was over, he was a traitor, so he had to run, hijacked a boat, got out onto the ocean and was hijacked by actual pirates.
DD: I’d say that one, because in this day and age I don’t think people think being gay is relevant – it has to be something that teaches us about them. But then look at who we’re probably doing. I don’t see myself doing a Dan Quayle comic. Maybe Cheney.

JK: Are there any plans to do historical figures?
DD: We are thinking about that. It really depends how “Political Power” takes off. We’re starting with Abe Lincoln in February.

----------
Needless to say, September couldn’t be further away. It’s likely to be worth the wait, however. I haven’t read any of the comics yet (Matt has, and speaks highly of them), but I have hope when I hear that a comic book company is going out of its way to use its medium to educate. Not only that, they’re geared towards keeping it interesting, without patronizing its audience, regardless of age – they’re a company after our own hearts.

We’d like to sincerely thank Darren G. Davis of Bluewater Productions for giving us the interview and the opportunity to meet a like mind in a business equally as tough as ours. In case you're as excited as we are, though, don't line up for the Biden comic right after the Obama book comes out. Biden's doesn't come out until after Bo's.

Joe-phie’s Choice

I’ll be honest. I haven’t had much time, what with all of the production and planning and working long hours, to read most of the articles on Joe Biden I’ve amassed since January 20. But, in an effort to grasp his Vice Presidency firmly, I’ve decided to, one-by-one, go back through the updates that pour into my already cluttered inbox daily, to find the most interesting (or, in this case, excessively reported) parts of the Biden Vice Presidency.

As early as inauguration day, Jill Biden, Joe’s wife, made what was often cynically put in quotes as a “slip,” when she revealed to some member of the media that Obama gave Biden the choice of either Secretary of State or Vice President. This got me thinking, first towards what this means about Obama’s view of the Vice Presidency. He offered up the Number Two job in the country as one of two OPTIONS, not a yes or no. It still seems to reek of disrespect for the office, but on speaking about it with Matt, something became a bit clearer.

Matt’s first instinct was to open his mental encyclopedia and bring up a conversation Teddy Roosevelt had with William Howard Taft, as is Matt’s way. As he explained, Roosevelt sat Taft down as a man for whom he had great respect, and gave him two choices for the coming race – Supreme Court Justice or the next President of the United States. Roosevelt’s unparalleled popularity gave him the option to essentially pick his successor (even if he would attempt to dethrone Taft after what Teddy deemed an unworthy presidency), and Taft was his man. Perhaps it was the mustache. Taft, a man of law, preferred highly a position on the most important bench in the country. His wife was another matter. Despite her superhuman ability to make love to William Howard Taft, Nellie Taft aspired to even higher things, and probably a healthy pension. When she insisted upon the Presidency, as history often goes, Taft relented, and in short course was our next president.

An interesting story, no doubt, and Matt’s point is interesting – the idea that perhaps being given such a choice is the ultimate compliment, in case your choice of successor or back-up has different plans. In the case of Biden, perhaps it was a compliment for having fought the good fight, offering him one of the most important jobs in the executive branch, as well as the Vice Presidency. This makes my previous blog, about Obama’s choice as Biden for VP, all the more interesting. Biden’s experience aside, Obama must have had a great deal of confidence in Biden’s ability to represent the Administration. Equally, and oddly enough, he has to have felt the same about Hillary Clinton, though not enough to offer her the Vice Presidency, which she was quoted quite often as saying she would gladly take, if offered. He really wanted to keep Biden on board, for one reason or another. One only hopes it wasn’t a test, after which Obama might’ve thought to himself “I can’t believe he took the dummy prize,” and then woefully handed the keys to the State Department over to Hillary Clinton, running off to his campaign HQ to pout.

Truth be told, the test, in this case, won’t be in the choosing. For Obama, Biden’s test is in representing not just the administration, but Obama himself. The Veep is a fair surrogate at any number of functions – diplomatic function, sports events, ice cream socials. For the country – though most of it might not be aware of this fact – the real test is in Biden steeling himself, teaching himself the ins and outs of the presidency, all while playing figurehead and breaking that rare Senate tie. The studies of a man who wants to be not just president, not just next in line, not just the back-up, have to be grueling, constant and, in many cases, at the likely fickle will of an already (and hopefully) too-busy Commander-in-Chief. There is no primer for Biden. He can’t just walk over to the library of congress and pick up a copy of “So you want to be the Vice President.”

But if that book did exist – and it was written by a former VP, someone whom Biden could look up to, the book would very likely open up to a page with three words on it: No you don’t. Reading further would be a contract, of sorts. No matter what horrifying truths found within this book, Biden would be bound by oath to continue. Nothing, however, in this hallowed tome could prepare Biden for the type of damage control that his Vice Presidency not only would require, but also represented.

When Joe Biden was brought on, his friendly face an invitation to like Vice Presidency again, he very likely knew that he was there to take the secretiveness out of the Vice Presidency. Obama’s pledge for transparency couldn’t possibly be kept without taking care of the second-in-command. Biden and his team made their first move toward this a mere days into the Obama/Biden administration by allowing satellite photos to be taken of the Vice President’s residence at the Naval Observatory and uploaded to Google Maps, something Dick Cheney had disallowed during the entire eight years of his term that overlapped the existence of Google Maps, during which the Veep’s house was an incomprehensible blur - the perfect metaphor, really.

Say what you will about former VP Cheney, but at least he was loud about being secretive. He said he had a reason for being so. It's like saying "Look, I know I'm a murderer, but, believe me, you'll thank me when these people turn out to have been douchebags." That same transparent lying led to a need for transparent operation. And who better to represent transparency in the new administration than the man who is used to being seen through?

Biden has inherited a huge trust deficit, but also a rare chance to re-vamp the office. If he has any secret government information, he's sure to blurt it out at some state function, then blow it off as just good 'ol Biden being Biden. Whether he made his choice to take such a weak office because he thought it an honor or because he actually has some plans for the office is unknown. What is apparent though, is that this time - as usual - is the chance the office has to become useful. Biden just has to make it accountable. If you kill a hooker, Joe... Just let us know, Joe, huh?

Author's Sidenote:

I feel it important to note that, when spell-checking this blog before publishing it, and being not too surprised that Blogger knew the name "Obama," there was one glaring omission from Blogger's dictionary that I thought I should share with you:

This is what you have ahead for you Joe. Even the internet doesn't acknowledge you exist. And the internet believes in talking cats.

- JCK