Joe Biden Goes Spinning

Off Topic Politics & World Issues
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Did Senator Joe Biden Put His Foot In His Mouth?
By SHERELLE ROBERTS – WMDT 7/7/2006

Presidential hopeful and US Senator Joe Biden hasn’t been campaigning long, but he may have already put his foot in his mouth. This is what he said to an Indian American activist during a visit to New Hampshire.

“In Delaware the largest growth in population is Indian Americans, moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-11 or Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent…and I’m not joking.”

WMDT asked Biden to explain his comments. A spokesperson claims, he was actually trying to say “Indian-Americans contributed to the vibrancy of the Indian-American community in Delaware and are making a significant contribution to the national economy as well.”

The Indian Americans Republican Council says Biden “has a history of making insensitive and inappropriate remarks…But even for him, this recent gaffe is clearly over the top.”

http://www.wmdt.com/topstory/displaystory.asp?id=2609

Good thing his spokesman clarified what he said or I would of mistakenly thought he was stereotyping people.

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[quote]CDM wrote:
Did Senator Joe Biden Put His Foot In His Mouth?
By SHERELLE ROBERTS – WMDT 7/7/2006

Presidential hopeful and US Senator Joe Biden hasn’t been campaigning long, but he may have already put his foot in his mouth. This is what he said to an Indian American activist during a visit to New Hampshire.

“In Delaware the largest growth in population is Indian Americans, moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-11 or Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent…and I’m not joking.”

WMDT asked Biden to explain his comments. A spokesperson claims, he was actually trying to say “Indian-Americans contributed to the vibrancy of the Indian-American community in Delaware and are making a significant contribution to the national economy as well.”

The Indian Americans Republican Council says Biden “has a history of making insensitive and inappropriate remarks…But even for him, this recent gaffe is clearly over the top.”

http://www.wmdt.com/topstory/displaystory.asp?id=2609

Good thing his spokesman clarified what he said or I would of mistakenly thought he was stereotyping people.[/quote]

I am at odds with Joe Biden on every issue. However, playing with these little petty things that a candidate might say and blowing it up (on either side) is ridiculous. When you come to think of it, Biden’s comments do have a ring of truth to them. Has anyone gone into a Dunken Donuts lately? I have (oops, yes, I cheated on my diet recently on several occasions) and have found most of the people there speak with some sort of an accent. So what? Same for gas staions. So what? This is an expression of truth and therefore, what is the big deal?

As I said, I have every reason to be glad that Biden made this gaffe, as I wouldn’t want him or any Democrat to be elected Preident, but cut him some slack, especially because this comment is quite truthful.

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[quote]CDM wrote:
Did Senator Joe Biden Put His Foot In His Mouth?
By SHERELLE ROBERTS – WMDT 7/7/2006

Presidential hopeful and US Senator Joe Biden hasn’t been campaigning long, but he may have already put his foot in his mouth. This is what he said to an Indian American activist during a visit to New Hampshire.

“In Delaware the largest growth in population is Indian Americans, moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-11 or Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent…and I’m not joking.”

WMDT asked Biden to explain his comments. A spokesperson claims, he was actually trying to say “Indian-Americans contributed to the vibrancy of the Indian-American community in Delaware and are making a significant contribution to the national economy as well.”

The Indian Americans Republican Council says Biden “has a history of making insensitive and inappropriate remarks…But even for him, this recent gaffe is clearly over the top.”

http://www.wmdt.com/topstory/displaystory.asp?id=2609

Good thing his spokesman clarified what he said or I would of mistakenly thought he was stereotyping people.[/quote]

I have no information regarding the population of Delaware. However, if Biden is correct then what’s the big deal?

Once again “political correctness” seems to be more important than the truth (if it is true).

And people wonder why we have politicians who are afraid to speak their mind?

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If that represents his mind, there’s even more reason for concern.

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[quote]ZEB wrote:
CDM wrote:

I have no information regarding the population of Delaware. However, if Biden is correct then what’s the big deal?

Once again “political correctness” seems to be more important than the truth (if it is true).

And people wonder why we have politicians who are afraid to speak their mind?[/quote]

I don’t have any info about the population of Delaware either. My scope is limited to Davey Lopes and Delino Deshields are from there and Dover AFB has pretty good billeting.

If Biden was speaking the truth and it is no big deal, then why the clarification? Someone in his chain thought it was a big enough deal to issue a clarification. If it wasn’t a big deal why such a big difference in what he said and what his spokesman said?I also think that if Bush would of said the same thing it would of been on the front page of the NYT/LAT for about a month along with the usual shout of racism.

And I think you are dead wrong about politicians speaking their mind. I think the majority of politicians would rather stay out of the spotlight and not have the public hear them. If the public actually heard what these guys really thought, two things would happen. One they would realize that these people have no special intellect or anything that makes them stand above a majority of their voting public, the only thing they have is alot of money. Two, they would lose their power and I think that is the number one priority of the vast majority of politicians and their lackeys. The prime example of this President Bush, his press conference the other day, the one with the questions about UBL, was a train wreck. He is not a polished speaker and I would be willing to bet his handlers stand to the side and just cringe everytime someone asks a question.

And as far as the expression/ring of truth idea Steveo put forth, I have just a few questions. Who is the expression/ringmaster? Is there an certain number or percentage that takes it from a dull thud of truth to a ring of truth? Did you go to a bunch of Dunkin’ Donuts and come up with a percentage? And even if it is majority percentage is it ok to just lump all of the people in with the rest?

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Biden is a bit of a nut and he loves the sound of his own voice. He is always saying stupid stuff.

I am sure he meant no harm and this will blow over.

It really does not bother me except if a Republican said something similar he would be crucified in the MSM.

Hillary made a similar joke about Indians and gas stations and it blew over very quickly.

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So Indians are allowed to work at dunkin donuts, but we can’t say that they work at dunkin donuts.

I’m a lefty, but calling a spade a spade does not offend me. It’d be like saying that Italians from Jersey own pizza places…yea, no shit.

On a related note, I like Biden a lot, and saw him on Bill Maher a couple months ago. I’d vote for him.

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I love my little-irish:

It’s no surprise you’d love this guy.

I agree with Zap. If a Republican had made these generalizations, he’d be crucified.

Oh, from the WashingtonPost:

“Democratic presidential candidate Joseph R. Biden Jr., a U.S. senator from Delaware, was driven from the nomination battle after delivering, without attribution, passages from a speech by British Labor party leader Neil Kinnock. A barrage of subsidiary revelations by the press also contributed to Biden’s withdrawal: a serious plagiarism incident involving Biden during his law school years; the senator’s boastful exaggerations of his academic record at a New Hampshire campaign event; and the discovery of other quotations in Biden’s speeches pilfered from past Democratic politicians”

Sounds like a real great guy!!!

JeffR

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[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
Biden is a bit of a nut and he loves the sound of his own voice. He is always saying stupid stuff.

I am sure he meant no harm and this will blow over.

It really does not bother me except if a Republican said something similar he would be crucified in the MSM.

Hillary made a similar joke about Indians and gas stations and it blew over very quickly.[/quote]

I think a Republican would get similar treatment. Trent Lott caused an uproar, but I think the two statements are quite a bit different.

Not Republican politicians, but Robertson and Dobson get away with saying some crazy shit.

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[quote]ExNole wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
Biden is a bit of a nut and he loves the sound of his own voice. He is always saying stupid stuff.

I am sure he meant no harm and this will blow over.

It really does not bother me except if a Republican said something similar he would be crucified in the MSM.

Hillary made a similar joke about Indians and gas stations and it blew over very quickly.

I think a Republican would get similar treatment. Trent Lott caused an uproar, but I think the two statements are quite a bit different.

Not Republican politicians, but Robertson and Dobson get away with saying some crazy shit. [/quote]

Don’t delude yourself. There isn’t a republican in the land who could get away with such a statement.

All Trent Lott did was try to make a 100 year old man feel good about himself at the old guys birthday party. His great crime?

He said that we would have been a whole lot better off if he had been elected President (he ran back in the 1950’s I think).

Because Strom was against racial equality 50 or 60 years ago Trent Lott had to resign.

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[quote]ZEB wrote:
ExNole wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
Biden is a bit of a nut and he loves the sound of his own voice. He is always saying stupid stuff.

I am sure he meant no harm and this will blow over.

It really does not bother me except if a Republican said something similar he would be crucified in the MSM.

Hillary made a similar joke about Indians and gas stations and it blew over very quickly.

I think a Republican would get similar treatment. Trent Lott caused an uproar, but I think the two statements are quite a bit different.

Not Republican politicians, but Robertson and Dobson get away with saying some crazy shit.

Don’t delude yourself. There isn’t a republican in the land who could get away with such a statement.

All Trent Lott did was try to make a 100 year old man feel good about himself at the old guys birthday party. His great crime?

He said that we would have been a whole lot better off if he had been elected President (he ran back in the 1950’s I think).

Because Strom was against racial equality 50 or 60 years ago Trent Lott had to resign.
[/quote]

Exactly.

I am no Trent Lott fan but I am sure he merely wanted to give an old man a harmless compliment by saying he would have been a good president. He might not have even meant it.

The media firestorm was insane. They put racist words in his mouth and he clearly did not say or imply anything racist at all.

Biden’s statement is closer to racism than Lott’s.

Biden’s statement is stupid.

Lott’s statement was merely flattering an old man.

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[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
ZEB wrote:
ExNole wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
Biden is a bit of a nut and he loves the sound of his own voice. He is always saying stupid stuff.

I am sure he meant no harm and this will blow over.

It really does not bother me except if a Republican said something similar he would be crucified in the MSM.

Hillary made a similar joke about Indians and gas stations and it blew over very quickly.

I think a Republican would get similar treatment. Trent Lott caused an uproar, but I think the two statements are quite a bit different.

Not Republican politicians, but Robertson and Dobson get away with saying some crazy shit.

Don’t delude yourself. There isn’t a republican in the land who could get away with such a statement.

All Trent Lott did was try to make a 100 year old man feel good about himself at the old guys birthday party. His great crime?

He said that we would have been a whole lot better off if he had been elected President (he ran back in the 1950’s I think).

Because Strom was against racial equality 50 or 60 years ago Trent Lott had to resign.

Exactly.

I am no Trent Lott fan but I am sure he merely wanted to give an old man a harmless compliment by saying he would have been a good president. He might not have even meant it.

The media firestorm was insane. They put racist words in his mouth and he clearly did not say or imply anything racist at all.

Biden’s statement is closer to racism than Lott’s.

Biden’s statement is stupid.

Lott’s statement was merely flattering an old man.[/quote]

Saying we would have avoided all those problems listening to Strom when he was running for president is very very close to saying we would be better off if we never integrated.

Now, he may have just been flattering an old man, but in doing so he was at least implying that segregation was good for the country, which is a little different than saying Indian people work at convenience stores.

Biden’s remark was stupid, but so are most of the things he says.

Lott may not have meant anything racist, I don’t know the guy, but don’t say that there isn’t racist implications to the comment.

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[quote]ExNole wrote:
…
Saying we would have avoided all those problems listening to Strom when he was running for president is very very close to saying we would be better off if we never integrated.

Now, he may have just been flattering an old man, but in doing so he was at least implying that segregation was good for the country, which is a little different than saying Indian people work at convenience stores.

Biden’s remark was stupid, but so are most of the things he says.

Lott may not have meant anything racist, I don’t know the guy, but don’t say that there isn’t racist implications to the comment. [/quote]

Lott didn’t say anything about integration. He was flatterting an old man.

What you said was the worst possible extrapolation of Lott’s words and not what he said and according to him not what he meant.

If he would have said what you think he meant I would have demanded his resignation. He did not say that. We cannot damn him for something he did not do.

14

[quote]JeffR wrote:
I love my little-irish:

It’s no surprise you’d love this guy.

I agree with Zap. If a Republican had made these generalizations, he’d be crucified.

Oh, from the WashingtonPost:

“Democratic presidential candidate Joseph R. Biden Jr., a U.S. senator from Delaware, was driven from the nomination battle after delivering, without attribution, passages from a speech by British Labor party leader Neil Kinnock. A barrage of subsidiary revelations by the press also contributed to Biden’s withdrawal: a serious plagiarism incident involving Biden during his law school years; the senator’s boastful exaggerations of his academic record at a New Hampshire campaign event; and the discovery of other quotations in Biden’s speeches pilfered from past Democratic politicians”

Sounds like a real great guy!!!

JeffR

[/quote]

Go do some squats runt. I’m convinced that you like making height jokes because you only weigh about 115. Fuck off.

15

[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
ExNole wrote:
…
Saying we would have avoided all those problems listening to Strom when he was running for president is very very close to saying we would be better off if we never integrated.

Now, he may have just been flattering an old man, but in doing so he was at least implying that segregation was good for the country, which is a little different than saying Indian people work at convenience stores.

Biden’s remark was stupid, but so are most of the things he says.

Lott may not have meant anything racist, I don’t know the guy, but don’t say that there isn’t racist implications to the comment.

Lott didn’t say anything about integration. He was flatterting an old man.

What you said was the worst possible extrapolation of Lott’s words and not what he said and according to him not what he meant.

If he would have said what you think he meant I would have demanded his resignation. He did not say that. We cannot damn him for something he did not do.[/quote]

“We’re proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn’t have had all these problems over all these years either,”

He didn’t say anything about integration, but that was Strom Thurmond’s election platform. Saying we wouldn’t have had all these problems if we would have followed Thurmond’s platform entails segregation.

Now, if “these problems” is somehow better understood in the context of the speech, then I’ll retract my comments. Given the fact that Thurmond was pretty much known for his historical stance against integration, that is the meaning almost everyone would take prima facie. That doesn’t mean that he wasn’t just flattering the guy, or that he holds racist view himself. But that statement about that man is hard to read any other way without some sort of qualifier.

16

[quote]ExNole wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
ExNole wrote:
…
Saying we would have avoided all those problems listening to Strom when he was running for president is very very close to saying we would be better off if we never integrated.

Now, he may have just been flattering an old man, but in doing so he was at least implying that segregation was good for the country, which is a little different than saying Indian people work at convenience stores.

Biden’s remark was stupid, but so are most of the things he says.

Lott may not have meant anything racist, I don’t know the guy, but don’t say that there isn’t racist implications to the comment.

Lott didn’t say anything about integration. He was flatterting an old man.

What you said was the worst possible extrapolation of Lott’s words and not what he said and according to him not what he meant.

If he would have said what you think he meant I would have demanded his resignation. He did not say that. We cannot damn him for something he did not do.

“We’re proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn’t have had all these problems over all these years either,”

He didn’t say anything about integration, but that was Strom Thurmond’s election platform. Saying we wouldn’t have had all these problems if we would have followed Thurmond’s platform entails segregation.

Now, if “these problems” is somehow better understood in the context of the speech, then I’ll retract my comments. Given the fact that Thurmond was pretty much known for his historical stance against integration, that is the meaning almost everyone would take prima facie. That doesn’t mean that he wasn’t just flattering the guy, or that he holds racist view himself. But that statement about that man is hard to read any other way without some sort of qualifier.[/quote]

PULEEEEEASE!

“These problems” could have been anything from budgetary to foreign affairs!

Strom was an expert in his day on both. Did you know that?

Those who wanted to nail a republican chose to believe that they were racist comments.

Stop trying to defend the most PC tar and feathering of a good man in recent memory.

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It has been what? 4 years or so now? and the left is still going off on Trent Lotts Comments, but giving their own stable of racists a free pass.

The newest addition to the Sheets Byrd Wing of Racial Hatred is indeed Senator Biden.