So which Joe Biden will show up at Thursday’s debate? Joe the Jokester or Biden the Babbler?
Say what you want about Senator Joe Biden. But there’s no denying the fact he’s one of the more entertaining politicos in town.
Looking for a guy who blurts out the occasional inconvenient truth? Then Biden’s forehead-knocker about the “terrible” Obama ad – the one that mocked John McCain as computer illiterate — certainly made your day.
Are you one who goes for self-effacing humor? Then I’m sure you enjoyed his recent admission that “Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice-president of the United States of America.”
Do you take a liking to the occasional malapropism? Then Senator Biden’s introduction of his boss as “Barack America” no doubt won you over.
Get a kick seeing a person stick his foot in his mouth? Earlier this month Mr. Biden shouted to Missouri State Senator Graham, “Chuck, stand up, let the people see you.” Senator Graham is paraplegic and confined to a wheelchair.
Do you get a chuckle from overdone praise that borders on condescension? Then you cottoned to his description of Michelle Obama’s convention address as “the most remarkable speech I have heard in my life.”
And let’s not forget Senator Biden’s memorable description of Mr. Obama as “bright and clean.”
Sometimes he takes hilarious liberties with historical fact, like when he spoke of Franklin Roosevelt going on television after the stock market crash of 1929. And you thought the guy wearing the “Buck Stops Here” sign was Herbert Hoover!
And yes, Senator Biden’s remarks provide pundits like me with a continuing supply of fresh material, assuring us of gainful employment and ample waistlines.
Biden’s handlers nimbly shrug off the stumbles by saying they afford him credibility with the average Joe. “It would be a huge mistake to try to strip away the authenticity that’s been his greatest strength for 35 years,” argues spokesman David Wade.
But authenticity isn’t exactly the right word to describe how the good senator paints his role in securing passage of the Violence Against Women Act. Biden often brags he is “proud” of the law he championed back in 1994.
But by any measure, his signature legislative has been a bust. According to Angela Moore Parmley, PhD, at the Department of Justice, “We have no evidence to date that VAWA has led to a decrease in the overall levels of violence against women.”
Two Sundays ago on September 21, a woman from Linwood, Kansas was arrested for aggravated assault after allegedly trying to run over her husband. The next day, Sheral Lee Smith of Jackson, Mississippi was charged with illicit sexual activities involving a 14-year-old boy. And last Tuesday Prena Louis of Visalia, California was jailed for stabbing her boyfriend in the arm.
All within a three day period.
But under VAWA, these women simply don’t exist, and neither do their victims. How can that be?
It’s a combination of the name of the law — the Violence Against Women Act – and the fact that the whole shebang has been hijacked by a group that proudly calls itself the VAWA Mafia.
Go to a VAWA-funded training session, and you’re more likely to hear a neo-Marxist rant about patriarchal power than anything that resembles valid science. And if an abusive woman calls for help, the shelter worker will say her violent outburst was provoked by her boyfriend; ergo, there’s no need for her to sign up for anger management classes.
In July I began my investigation of abuse shelters around the country.
Over the last three months I have reported on a series of horrific incidents at these facilities. These include the callous mistreatment of a blind woman at Womencare in Bellingham, Washington and shady legal dealings by the SafeNet shelter in Claremore, Oklahoma.
In Florida, the situation has spun out of control: the tragic deaths of a 2-year-old toddler and a resident at SafeSpace in Stuart; a shelter director’s assault of an employee at the Naples Center for Abused Women; and the sexual assault of a four-year-old girl at Another Way in Lake City.
I have also documented physical assaults, sexual exploitation of residents, child abuse, drug abuse, discrimination against male victims, employees with criminal records, misappropriation of assets, and lax oversight procedures. I have found that only 1 in 10 shelter residents is there on account of physical violence. The rest are there because they are homeless, drug-addicted, or simply in need of a free baby-sitter.
So which Joe Biden will show up at Thursday’s debate? Joe the Jokester? Biden the Babbler? Biden the Pundit-Pleaser? Or all the above?
Just don’t expect to see much of Joe the Authentic, especially when the conversation comes around to the Pandora’s Box legislation that Senator Biden says he is so proud of.
careyroberts@comcast.net
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