OK, I'm not going to harp or rant about this one for too long. But suffice it to say, Joe Biden really needs to learn a thing or two about the dignity of the office of the vice presidency, because when Biden isn't dropping F-bombs or saying something incredibly stupid as if we was George W. Bush's long lost twin, then he's off acting all thin-skinned (a very distinct trait of this White House) with an ice cream parlor manager. Here's what went down this weekend, according to television station WISN in Milwaukee (link to video at bottom, which has predictably also been picked up today by Drudge Report and Real Clear Politics):Biden, who's in Wisconsin to raise funds for dem Senator Russ Feingold, struts into a Kopps ice cream/frozen custard joint for a photo op and treats himself to some frozen custard. Biden asks the joint's manager, "What do we owe you?" The manager tells Biden, "Don't worry, it's on us," and then jokes with Biden, "Lower our taxes and we'll call it even." Biden is very clearly not amused and walks away without making any eye contact with the manager. Then, after what is described as a few minutes later, the two are seen together again, this time with Biden looking at the manager and telling him, in what I believe to be a fairly serious tone, "Why don't you say something nice instead of being a smartass all the time -- say something nice."
WISN reports that Biden would not take any questions from reporters following the ice cream parlor visit, but the reporter was able to get the manager to go on camera. The manager said he believed Biden was not happy with the "lower our taxes" comment, and also said that later Biden told him, "I'm just kidding." Now, whether the "I'm just kidding" was in reference to Biden's "smartass" blast or something else is not clear from the story.
But I think that's really a moot point. Even if Biden is claiming he was only "kidding" about the "smartass" comment, specifically, that's little more than a largely self-serving, non-credible statement given Biden's obviously serious tone in calling the dude a "smartass." But maybe Biden should be given the benefit of the doubt? After all, calling someone a "smartass" is always very fertile ground for humor and comedy -- a veritable barrel of laughs, as they say. Please. But regardless, as stated at the top, I'm not going to rant and rave about this, since there are much worse things a dude can be called than "smartass." But again, I would just implore the vice president to much more routinely start acting like a vice president instead of the result of some demented cross-breeding experiment between a drunken sailor and Dan Quayle. That's not much of a legacy.
http://www.wisn.com/video/24053410/index.html
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