Salon.com > Joe Biden

Julia Louis-Dreyfus hangs out with Joe Biden

Fri, 03 May 2013 15:56:00 +0000

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who plays a vice president on HBO's "Veep," recently had lunch with vice president Joe Biden, who regaled her with racy jokes, his motorcade and a cell-phone selfie:

Hillary Clinton is still the clear favorite in a potential Dem primary

Thu, 02 May 2013 15:52:00 +0000

A new poll from Quinnipiac University finds that Hillary Clinton is still the clear favorite to win in a potential 2016 Democratic primary field. If she doesn't run, Biden is the frontrunner by a significant margin.

From the poll:

Ms. Clinton would get 65 percent of Democratic votes compared to 13 percent for Vice President Joe Biden, 4 percent for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and 1 percent or less for Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. If Clinton is not in the race, Biden would get 45 percent, with 15 percent for Gov. Cuomo, 6 percent for, Gov. Patrick, 3 percent O'Malley and 2 percent for Warner.

Were the Tsarnaevs nuts or revolutionaries?

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:00:00 +0000

Why do we Americans find it so important to believe that terrorists and assassins in the U.S. can be dismissed as mere emotionally disturbed maniacs, rather than viewed as revolutionaries in the thrall of militant political or religious ideologies? Why are so we intent in removing the political from political violence?

These questions are timely, following Vice President Joe Biden’s dismissive description of the Boston Marathon bombers as “knockoff jihadis.” Mere amateurs, these brothers, who were capable of murdering several marathon participants, maiming scores more and shutting down a major city and even rail lines for hours or days. The real amateurism, it might be suggested, is that of the pundits and journalists trying to psychoanalyze the Tsarnaev brothers and their relations from a distance.

But there are already reports that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving killer, has said that he and his brother acted in response to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — wars that they considered to be attacks on Islam. What if this really was the motive? What if these brothers really were sincere Islamist revolutionaries, like the thousands of others who have rallied to militant jihadism in the past several decades, whether they were connected to international Islamist networks or acting on their own? That doesn’t exonerate their brutal crimes in any way. But surely Islamist terrorists are best understood in terms of the common Islamist ideology they share, rather than personal or familial experiences that are unique to each.

Slain MIT officer memorialized

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:57:00 +0000

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Slain Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier was remembered Wednesday for his dedication to law enforcement and his love of people as thousands gathered at a campus memorial.

Vice President Joe Biden joined students, faculty and staff, and law enforcement officials from across the nation at Briggs Field for the service to honor an officer who was already well-respected by his colleagues and superiors, and popular with students after little more than a year on campus

Collier was fatally shot on April 18, three days after the Boston Marathon bombings that killed three people. Authorities say he was shot by brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was charged Monday in his hospital room, where he is in fair condition with a gunshot wound to the throat suffered during his attempted getaway. His brother, 26-year-old Tamerlan, died Friday after a gunbattle with police.

"My heart goes out to you," Biden told Collier's family. "I hope you find some solace in this time of extreme grief."

Collier's casket was positioned in front of the thousands who gathered on a bright, sunny spring day. Music of bagpipes echoed through the field and a large American flag, suspended high about the crowd between two fire department ladder trucks, flapped slowly in the breeze.

Best of the Salon limerick contest

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 15:00:00 +0000

The best limericks submitted by Salon readers since the election:

So we’ve come to this point, as a nation,

Where a white man with money and station,

Is no longer a shoe-in,

So the Right Wing’s now stewin’:

“’Tis the End of Civilization!”

Bruce F. Cole

Kamuela, Hawaii

From Delaware hails our VP,

A fiscal cliff jumper is he.

He'll work on your pecs,

Offer old ladies sex,

Won't someone please put this guy on TV?

Josh Klemons

Madison, Wis.

Where’s Obama’s diversity minder–

His “qualified female” staff finder?

He’s named white guys galore,

To positions top-drawer,

Perhaps he should borrow Mitt’s binder.

Madeleine Begun Kane

Bayside, Queens

Did we have an assault weapons binge?

Just the thought should make all of us cringe.

Can we trust NRA,

To be honest when they,

Are the voice of a lunatic fringe?

Stephen Whitred

Barriere, B.C., Canada

In a tale of pro cycling woe,

Doping brought down a mighty hero.

But one detail I find,

Really frazzles my mind,

Who knew Oprah still had her own show?

Tom Foltz

Fort Wayne, Ind.

Although your new limerick contest is thrillin',

My brain appears not to be willin'

When every new verse

Than the last one is worse.

Pic of the day: Joe Biden meets the “Veep”

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 21:14:00 +0000

Vice President Joe Biden met with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, the star of HBO's "Veep," in his office at the White House. In an audio recording posted on the Vice President's "Being Biden" blog, Louis-Dreyfus describes the visit:

"This is a picture of two Vice Presidents hard at work in the Vice President's office in the West Wing. I came to have lunch with Vice President Joe Biden and I surprised him by sitting at his desk, so he thought he'd just ask my advice on various briefs he had to deal with. And I was happy to give him my advice, which he paid no attention to whatsoever. Which is why he's such a wise Vice President."

Here's the audio:

Vice-presidential historian on “Veep”: “This is nothing like reality”

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Before the first season of "Veep" premiered last year, star Julia Louis-Dreyfus was sure to stipulate just how much work she'd done to ensure her performance as a disempowered vice president was realistic. She told an assembled group of critics:

“What was most interesting to hear was what was it like living at vice president’s residence. What’s the reality of that? It’s surprisingly small. Where does the secret service go? What happens if you have to get up at midnight to go to bathroom? I was interested not in the grandeur of it, but the real nitty gritty of it. Certain questions were not answered directly and I thought that was interesting.”

While Louis-Dreyfus may have nailed the questions about the security detail on "Veep," the show's second season (beginning Sunday) has a long way to go on the broader strokes, said vice-presidential historian Joel Goldstein, of Saint Louis University, who watched some but not all of season 1.

"I really like Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and I think she's terrific, but when I saw the show, my reaction was -- this is nothing like reality. Since Mondale, the vice president has really been a big deal."

How to talk about a woman’s looks

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 11:45:00 +0000

There were, perhaps, stupider things said recently than “How did it become so difficult to call a woman good-looking in public?” but I didn't happen to hear them. So congratulations, Dylan Byers of Politico. Your commentary on the president calling California Attorney General Kamala Harris “by far, the best looking attorney general" made my brain hurt.

It is not "difficult to call a woman good-looking in public," not in a world where women's looks are considered public property, to be commented on, uninvited, whether it's on the street, in a job interview, or in the press. Many people find it quite easy to do, many of them men, and many people who should know better, like Barack Obama.

This is hardly the first time Obama has been smarmily sexist under the guise of paying a compliment. In the same New York magazine story on Christine Quinn in which Mayor Michael Bloomberg was notoriously quoted saying, "Look at the ass on her," Obama got a pass for a more politely phrased brand of creepiness. According to the piece, Obama said to a Republican legislator, 32-year-old Nicole Malliotakis, that she didn't look a day over 23. Quinn promptly joked that Malliotakis should become a Democrat, and the president chimed in, “Come on, honey! I said you’re pretty! I said you look 23!”

My colleague died for peace

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:46:00 +0000

Two years ago Ahmed Shihadeh enjoyed a peaceful, if routine, life as a married young man living and working in the suburbs of Damascus. A master’s student in economics at Damascus University, he, like everyone else around him, never accounted for a popular revolution or subsequent government crackdown to abruptly upend his world.

Only one of the millions of ordinary Syrians whose day-to-day existence has been dramatically altered by the conflict in the country, Ahmed was suddenly compelled by the extraordinary circumstances around him to change from an ordinary student working at a local bank into an activist fighting to undermine a violently repressive government. Amid the increasing chaos, Ahmed left his studies to join a group of peaceful activists to found a citizens’ newspaper named Enab Baladi, created to disseminate local news on the revolution.

Ahmed found himself thrust into a world where he lived under constant threat and had to operate in secret, printing and distributing physical newspapers with the knowledge that he would be tortured and killed were his work discovered. The contrast with the normal life he enjoyed two years ago could not be starker, but as much as the situation deteriorated and the world he inhabited slowly ceased to exist, he refused to leave his home or his aspirations for a democratic Syria. Ahmed would write of the revolution he fought for:

Obama is channeling Bush fever in Iran

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 16:00:00 +0000

A gold star if you can guess who made the following four statements without clicking on the links. Hint: Two were by an aggressive, hawkish, Republican, one of which was famously said over 10 years ago. Two others are by the more erudite, constitutionally savvy, liberal, moderate, current president. You remember him: He’s the one Hillary Clinton taunted in 2008 as not being tough enough to answer the phone at 3 a.m. At this point, it’s safe to say that we no longer need to worry about that.

1) "I have made the position of the United States of America clear: Iran must not get a nuclear weapon. This is not a danger that can be contained. As President, I have said to the world that all options are on the table for achieving our objectives. America will do what we must to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran."

2) "One thing is certain. The United States should never allow Iran to threaten the world with a nuclear bomb."

The week in 10 pics

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 13:00:00 +0000

From March Madness to Michele Bachmann's craziness, a look at the images that defined the week

Russian hackers release sensitive information on stars including Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Biden and Clinton

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:46:00 +0000

A growing list of celebrities have been hacked (TMZ first reported 12, then 14, but the recent count is 17), including Michelle Obama, Donald Trump, Kim Kardashian, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. Unlike many other high-profile celebrity hacking incidents in recent memory, which include the release of George W. Bush's emails and photos of paintings, the Russian hackers doxxed the stars, meaning that they outed the stars by publishing personally identifiable information available on public record. But the hackers also published sensitive information, including social security numbers, bank statements and more.

The full list of victims, according to the hacker's Web site:

Michelle Obama, Kim Kardashian, Joe Biden, Robert Mueller (FBI Director), Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder (U.S. Attorney General), Charlie Beck (LAPD Chief), Mel Gibson, Ashton Kutcher, Jay Z, Beyonce, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears,Sarah Palin, Hulk Hogan, Donald Trump, Arnold Schwarzenegger

Roger Ailes calls Obama “lazy” in new book

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:24:00 +0000

Vanity Fair released an excerpt from a new book about Roger Ailes by Zev Chafets, Rush Limbaugh's biographer, called "Roger Ailes: Off Camera," which includes some candid quotes from Ailes about everyone from President Obama to MSNBC to Newt Gingrich.

Here are the highlights:

On MSNBC:

“M.S. is a damn disease”

On Rupert Murdoch:

“Does Rupert like me? I think so, but it doesn’t matter. When I go up to the magic room in the sky every three months, if my numbers are right, I get to live. If not, I’m killed. Our relationship isn’t about love—it’s about arithmetic. Survival means hitting your numbers. I’ve met or exceeded mine in 56 straight quarters. The reason is: I treat Rupert’s money like it is mine.”

On Newt Gingrich:

Brian Lewis, his spokesman, asked Ailes for guidance on how to respond to Newt. “Brush him back,” Ailes said. “He’s a sore loser and if he had won he would have been a sore winner.” Lewis nodded.

Ailes was silent for a moment and then added, “Newt’s a prick.”

On Obama:

Biden insists Obama “is not bluffing” on Iran

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 16:13:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — Seeking to reassure anxious Israelis and their American supporters, Vice President Joe Biden vowed Monday that the United States won't back down from its pledge to use military action to thwart Iran's nuclear program should all other options fail.

"President Barack Obama is not bluffing," he said.

In a prelude to Obama's upcoming trip to Israel — his first as president — Biden told a powerful pro-Israel lobby that the U.S. doesn't want a war with Iran, but that the window for diplomacy is closing. He said prevention, not containment, is the only outcome the U.S. will accept.

But in a sign the U.S. is still reluctant to embroil itself in another Mideast military effort, Biden cautioned more than 13,000 Israel supporters at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's annual conference that if Israel or the U.S. acts too hastily, without exhausting every other reasonable option, they could risk losing the backing of the international community.

"That matters because God forbid we have to act, it's important that the rest of the world is with us," Biden said to muted applause.

In fight for House, is Obama his own worst enemy?

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 12:40:00 +0000

President Obama's new belief that most Republicans don't want to work with him, and that to pass much of his agenda he'll need to fight to win a Democratic congress in 2014, presents a critical question: Will declining to get involved in House races last year come back to bite him?

The president's plan to stump for his party’s congressional candidates in 2014 is a good idea. While some measures have managed to get passed, he's mostly suffered through the first two months of his second term – and far more of his first – frustrated by Republican filibusters, fake crises, fiscal cliffs, debt ceilings, sequesters, and reflexive opposition (to say nothing of a potential government shutdown later this month).

Hillary the field-clearer

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:39:00 +0000

The latest round of conversation about Hillary Clinton’s impact on the 2016 Democratic landscape is playing out this week.

It started with a piece by Politico’s Jonathan Martin, who spoke with a number of Democratic governors in Washington last weekend and reported that there’s a “broad recognition” among them that Clinton could clear the field if she enters the race – or at least run as a front-runner like we’ve never before seen. That prompted Ed Kilgore to note that, historically speaking, there really hasn’t been such a thing as clearing the field, and that if nothing else Clinton will face “someone with a resume that commands at least minimal respect” should she run.

Town hall questioner says Biden was being sexist on guns

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 21:47:00 +0000

The woman who asked Joe Biden about guns at a Parents Magazine town hall says that she felt the Vice President's response - that she should just buy a shotgun - was sexist.

Kate Ernest had asked Biden earlier this week: “Do you believe that banning certain weapons and high capacity magazines will mean that law-abiding citizens will then become more of a target to criminals as we will have no way to sufficiently protect ourselves?” In response, Biden laughed and said that he's told his wife, Jill Biden, "Jill, if there’s ever a problem, just walk out on the balcony, put that double-barrel shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house."

He added that you don't need an AR-15 to ward off intruders: "Buy a shotgun."

Ernest said on Fox News that she felt Biden was dismissive. “I think it was poor advice and it comes off a little sexist,” she said. “Like, ‘let me tell you what you need’ versus, you know, ‘arm yourself or protect yourself in a way that you feel necessary."

Watch:

The gun control long game

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:37:00 +0000

Addressing House Democrats during their annual retreat this week, Vice President Joe Biden encouraged them to cast aside two decades of fear about the political ramifications of embracing gun control and to act boldly on the issue.

“The ability, because of all this happening, to misrepresent our positions no longer exists as it did in 1994,” he said. “The world has changed. The American public has changed. You can go into areas you’re told you can’t go and politically survive. I’m telling you, the times have changed.”

‘94 is a key date in the history of gun control politics. That year’s midterm election came after two years of complete Democratic control in Washington, a period in which President Clinton and his party (with some scattered Republican assistance) enacted the Brady Bill and an assault weapons ban, the first gun legislation to make it into law in a quarter-century. But when Democrats suffered an historic drubbing that November, losing the House for the first time since 1954 and the Senate too, it became common wisdom within the party that their activist agenda on gun control had hurt them.

Salon limerick contest

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 15:59:00 +0000

Salon readers dissect Manti Te'O's troubles, the recipes at Burger King and the political scene:

I feel sorry for poor Manti Te’O.

Turns out his sweetie pie wasn’t reo.

It was just his best friend,

Playing those tricks again,

“I’m not gay,” Manti says - oh, pleo.

Mark Childress

Key West, Fla.

Republican Redux

I grew up with William F. Buckley

Well known for his sesquipedality

His rhodomontade

Was oft a charade

But it beat out today’s right-wing sophistry.

Deborah MacFadden

Ridgefield, Conn.

Barack relies more on Joe,

Whose popularity continues to grow,

He’s doing just fine,

With approval fifty nine,

Joe’s catching up, but does Hillary know?

Kiran Parekh

Wayne, Ill.

There once was a "man" named Rand Paul.

Who thought himself Ruler of All.

His mental artillery,

Was pilloried by Hillary.

His sword was revealed to be small.

Deborah Newell Tornello

St. Petersburg, Fla.

As Burger King searches discreet.

For equine in each patty treat,

Consumers can now,

Joe Biden vs. Lindsey Graham: Who knows more about post-apocalyptic survival?

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 20:30:00 +0000

Crazy as it may sound, one of the debates in the fight over gun control in Washington right now is whether you’d be better off using a shotgun or an assault rifle to defend yourself against marauding bandits in some kind of post-apocalyptic hellscape.

On one side, Vice President Joe Biden, who favors reinstating the ban on assault weapons, said last week in a Google hangout that after a big earthquake or natural disaster, you wouldn't want an assault weapon anyway. “A shotgun will keep you a lot safer -- a double-barreled shotgun -- than the assault weapons in somebody’s hands that doesn’t know how to use it, even one that does know how to use it,” Biden replied.

But this week, South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who opposes reinstating the assault weapons ban, said Biden is wrong. Invoking the 1992 Los Angeles riots during a Senate hearing on gun legislation Wednesday, Graham said that while he respects Biden's opinion, “I think I would be better off protecting my business or my family if there was law and order breakdown in my community, people roaming around my neighborhood, to have the AR-15.”