• Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 15th on 11:04

    These are my links for March 15th from 11:04 to 11:07:

    • Joseph R. Biden Jr.: The Case for Ratifying New Start – In September 2009, when President Obama decided to alter his predecessor's plans for missile defense in Europe, some critics claimed that we had sacrificed our allies in the interest of the "reset" with Russia. Others thought that we would derail the reset by proceeding with the new plan. The skeptics were wrong on both counts.

      At NATO's summit in Lisbon last weekend, President Obama united Europe behind our missile-defense plans and received strong support for the New Start Treaty that is currently before the Senate. In doing so, he proved that missile defense and arms control can proceed hand-in-hand.

      It's hard to remember how much relations between the United States and our European allies had frayed before this administration took office. U.S. leadership was viewed negatively by many foreign publics, and U.S. policies often met with opposition from our traditional partners. The positive atmosphere in Lisbon—and the substantial progress on priorities like missile defense, arms control and the Russia reset—simply would not have been possible without nearly two years of intensive diplomacy.

      NATO's adoption of territorial missile defense as a new mission shows that President Obama has rebuilt the alliance's underlying consensus about the threats we face and how to meet them. Once considered an insurmountable political, technical and financial challenge, NATO's decision to embrace territorial missile defense demonstrates the alliance's determination to meet 21st-century threats.

      The ballistic missile threat to our allies, partners and deployed forces is real and growing, particularly from Iran. Unlike previous approaches, this NATO missile-defense system will protect all NATO allies in Europe, not just some. And it will protect more European territory sooner than the system it replaced. The capability will improve over time, addressing existing and near-term threats first, then expanding to provide greater coverage and protection as the threat and technology evolve.

      ======

      Read it all.

      What a difference 10 years makes

    • Senator Joseph Biden on "Missile Defense Delusion" from 2001 – Op-ed column from The Washington Post on 12/19/01) (880)
      19 December 2001

      (This column by Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., chairman of the Senate
      Foreign Relations Committee, first appeared in the Washington Post
      December 19, 2001 and is in the public domain. No republication
      restrictions.)

      Missile Defense Delusion
      By Joseph R. Biden Jr.

      Washington being what it is, the idea that politics and ideology
      should be set aside for a higher purpose may seem a quaint, naive
      sentiment. But few would argue with the statement that the ultimate
      test in deciding to scrap a treaty that has helped keep the peace for
      30 years is whether it makes the United States more or less secure. In
      that light, President Bush's decision to unilaterally walk away from
      the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty is a serious mistake.

      No one doubts we live in a dangerous world and that our enemies are
      ruthless. But a "Star Wars" defense, assuming it could be made to
      work, would address only what the Joint Chiefs of Staff argue is the
      least likely threat to our national security.

      One of the lessons we should have learned from the devastating attack
      of Sept. 11 is that terrorists determined to do this nation harm can
      employ a wide variety of means, and that weapons of mass destruction
      — chemical, biological or even nuclear — need not arrive on the tip
      of an intercontinental ballistic missile with a return address. That's
      why the Joint Chiefs of Staff argue that an ICBM launch ranks last on
      the "Threat Spectrum," while terrorist attacks constitute the greatest
      potential threat to our national security.

      The administration's obsession with missile defense — with a price
      tag in excess of a quarter-trillion dollars for the layered program on
      the president's wish list — is doubly troubling because of the
      attention and resources being diverted from critical efforts to
      address genuine threats. While the president says nonproliferation is
      a high priority, his actions speak louder. Notwithstanding promises of
      new efforts, the fiscal year 2002 budget that he requested would have
      cut more than $100 million out of programs designed to corral Russia's
      "loose nukes," provide help that Russia has requested to destroy its
      chemical weapons stockpile and prevent unemployed Russian scientists
      from selling their services to terrorist organizations.

      Only when it comes to missile defense is the administration pushing
      hard. But nothing could be more damaging to global nonproliferation
      efforts than to go forward with Star Wars. Russia has enough offensive
      weapons to overwhelm any system we could devise, so the real issue is
      what happens in China and throughout Asia.

      ======

      VP Joe Biden as a Senator had never been a fan of national missile defense, but now?

  • Barbara Boxer,  Carly Fiorina,  Joe Biden

    Ca-Sen Video: Carly Fiorina Welcomes Joe Biden Back to California

    California U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina video: “ZERO”

    Carly Carly fiorina is welcoming Vice President Joe Biden back to California in order to campaign and raise money for Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer.

    From the press release:

    The Carly for California campaign today welcomed Vice President Joe Biden back to California for the second time in the last month in yet another attempt to rescue Barbara Boxer’s political career by launching a new Web video titled “Zero,” highlighting Biden and Boxer’s refusal to admit the failure of the economic stimulus plan they championed and their utter lack of understanding about what it takes to create jobs for the people they were elected to serve.

    “Joe Biden and Barbara Boxer are proof that more time spent in elected office does not translate into the ability to create more jobs. After more than six decades in the insular world of Washington politics, Biden and Boxer still don’t understand that government doesn’t create jobs – and that’s bad news for the 2.2 million out-of-work Californians who are paying the price for the failed policies of Barbara Boxer,” said Carly for California Press Secretary Andrea Saul. “But instead of looking to the private sector to stimulate the kind of long-term job creation our nation needs to put our fellow Americans back to work, Joe Biden and Barbara Boxer are yet again fighting side by side to save one job and one job only: Barbara Boxer’s.”

    Wonder if Slow Joe is up for a GAFFE today?

  • Barack Obama,  Joe Biden

    Joe Biden Plays HARDBALL with President Obama


    Vice President Joe Biden has got President Obama “under pressure.”

    Joe Biden just can’t keep his mouth shut. OK, I know that’s not exactly breaking news. But at a time when Democrats are supposed to be focussed on the
    November 2nd mid-terms and Barack Obama has not even announced he will seek a second term, did Biden really need to declare that he’ll be on
    the 2012 ticket?

    Here he is shooting from the lip to the New York Times:

    “I tell you what, there’s real trust, that’s why he’s asked me to run again,” Mr. Biden said Monday, dropping this tidbit at the end of a 40-minute conversation, just before he dashed off to his third fund-raiser of the day. “Look, he said, ‘We’re going to run together, are you going to run?’ I said, ‘Of course, you want me to run with you, I’m happy to run with you.’ ”

    Poor Hillary and poor Obama who is now locked in – sort of like President George H. W. Bush with the unpopular Vice President Dan Quayle.

    Joe Biden knows how to play “hardball.”

  • Day By Day,  Joe Biden

    Day By Day October 8, 2010 – Biden Time

    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    Zed, you blew it with the Vice President Slow Joe Biden shtick because nobody takes this gaffe prone POL seriously. Look at Biden’s latest.

    Vice President Joe Biden got a laugh from his audience at a Wisconsin fundraising event Thursday when he tried to rile the crowd about the economic collapse of 2008.

    “We want to reward people who manufacture things in the United States, in Wisconsin, not to take them overseas to China and to other countries!” he said to a silent room at the event for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Tom Barrett, according to a White House pool report.

    He continued, saying, “You’re the dullest audience I’ve ever spoken to,” at which point he got applause and laughs. “Do you realize how many jobs Wisconsin lost? It’s staggering!”

    Joe Biden should be let loose and let Biden be Biden. Slow Joe cannot help who he is.

    But, is there any doubt who was leaking the story that Hillary Clinton would be replacing Biden for the 2012 election?

    Previous:

    The Day By Day Archive

  • Barbara Boxer,  Carly Fiorina,  Joe Biden

    CA-Sen Video: Carly Fiorina Welcomes VP “Slow Joe” Biden to California

    The latest web video from the Carly Fiorina Campaign, “Political Point”

    A hearty welcome to “Slow Joe” Plagiarizing Biden, Vice President of the United States to the big OC (Orange County, California). He is town to raise money for Senator Barbara Boxer who is in a tight race against Republican Carly Fiorina.

    Fiorina’s campaign has released a web video, “Political Point,” that reminds Biden that Boxer voted against the 2007 bill that included funding for body armor and brain trauma treatment for the troops. It includes a clip of Biden railing against those who voted against the bill to score “political points.” “There’s no political point worth my son’s life. There’s no political point worth anybody’s life out there,” Biden argued.

    It is noteworthy that President Obama has not shown his face in the Republican enclaves of Southern California where he is extremely unpopular. As far as Biden is concerned, he is forced to come to very blue California to raise money for an entrenched Senator who remains vulnerable.

    Does this say anything about how badly the Democrats trail presently and will do on November 2nd?

  • Barack Obama,  Bill Clinton,  Day By Day,  Hillary Clinton,  Joe Biden

    Day By Day June 14, 2010 – Eyes Front

    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    Speaking about Slow Joe Biden…..does anyone expect Joe to be on the ticket with President Obama in 2012?

    If Obama is declining in popularity, do you think the Democrats will want to recycle Hillary Clinton?

    Answer: Democrat leaders will want to resurrect Bill Clinton for Florida, Ohio, Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia – along comes Hillary to the rescue.

    Previous:


    The Day By Day Archive

  • Day By Day,  Israel,  Joe Biden

    Day By Day June 3, 2010 – rEvolution



    Day by Day by Chris Muir

    And, then, there is Darwin’s special contribution to American politics, Vice President Slow Joe Plagiarizing Biden:

    Vice President Joe Biden offered the White House’s strongest defense yet of Israeli’s actions off the coast of Gaza this week in an interview with Charlie Rose airing tonight on PBS.

    “I think Israel has an absolute right to deal with its security interest. I put all this back on two things: one, Hamas, and, two, Israel’s need to be more generous relative to the Palestinian people who are in trouble in Gaza,” Biden said, according to a transcript of the interview, in which he went on to discuss Hamas’s control of Gaza:

    “[The Israelis have] said, ‘Here you go. You’re in the Mediterranean. This ship — if you divert slightly north you can unload it and we’ll get the stuff into Gaza.’ So what’s the big deal here? What’s the big deal of insisting it go straight to Gaza? Well, it’s legitimate for Israel to say, ‘I don’t know what’s on that ship. These guys are dropping eight — 3,000 rockets on my people,'” Biden said.

    Out of the mouth of a true POL – constituency politics at its best or its worst.

    In the meantime, Israel remains threatened and the Palestinian ordinary people suffer.

    Previous:

    The Day by Day Archive


  • Beau Biden,  Joe Biden,  Mike Castle

    Delaware GOP Congressman Mike Castle to Run for United States Senate in 2010

    Delaware’s Congressman Mike Castle and the Congressional Delegation join the Air National Guard for the Groundbreaking of their Network Warfare Squadron Building in New Castle

    Republican Congressman Mike Castle will be running for the United States Senate in Delaware.

    Rep. Mike Castle (R), a fixture of Delaware politics and a prominent centrist in the House, will announce Tuesday that he is running for an open Senate seat in 2010 — a victory for Republican strategists in a Democratic-leaning state where Castle has been politically dominant.

    Looks like a full court press by the National Republican Senatorial Committee to challenge the Democrats’ super-majority in the United States Senate. This seat was previously occupied by Vice President Joe Biden and Castle’s likely Democrat opponent is Biden’s son, Beau.

    More on the race from Jim Geraghty.

    Update:

    NRSC Chairman Cornyn’s Statement On Rep. Mike Castle’s Senate Candidacy

    Today, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), issued the following statement in response to U.S. Representative Mike Castle (R-DE) officially announcing his bid for the U.S. Senate:

    “Mike Castle’s announcement today instantly transforms Delaware into one of the most competitive Senate races in the country in 2010. As an independent and experienced statesman who has earned the respect of Republicans and Democrats alike, Congressman Castle has a proven record of representing the people of Delaware in a bipartisan fashion, and we are thrilled that he has decided to take this next step toward extending his career of public service in the United States Senate. The NRSC will ensure that Mike Castle has all the necessary resources to win this seat next November.”


    Technorati Tags: , ,

  • Barack Obama,  Democrats,  Joe Biden

    Vice President Joe Biden Calls Fellow Democrats “TURKEYS”

    Joe-Biden-Hands-Up Slow Joe Biden on 2010: If GOP Flips House Seats Then Its Over for Barack

    Senator and now Vice President Joe Biden

    Slow Joe Plagiarizing Biden GAFFES his way to laughs again.

    “These guys are smart, “Biden asserted. “Some of the guys Chuck (Robb) and I have campaigned for are turkeys. Not all Democrats are created equal, while most Republicans are.”

    Watch out Joe. When you meet up with Barack again he will certainly give you the look – The Evil Eye.

    Here are just a few of other Joe Biden gaffes. Joe Biden = the gift that keeps on giving to the GOP.


    Technorati Tags: