My favorite Joe Biden story-Nuts and Bolts

[PatSeg]

Thought I'd lighten things up a bit with the "nuts and bolts" story.

<Even when money was so tight the electric company would send a collector to the house to dun us, or when I had to put cardboard in an old shoe until Dad's next payday, nothing flustered my mom. When I was in eight grade, I got invited to the Presbyterian church for a mixer for all the kids in the public school. I was the Catholic kid; in Mayfield there weren't many Catholic families. I had to wear one of my dad's dress shirts, which were too long, so Mom rolled up the sleeves twice, French cuffs, and then we couldn't find any cuff links. It was Friday night, and my dad was working late, so my mother went to the basement, grabbed the toolbox from on top of the washing machine, and emerged with two nuts and bolts. When she started trying to secure my shirtsleeves with the hardware, I pulled away. "I'm not doing this, Mom!" I said. "I am not going to wear this. The kids will make fun of me."

"Joey," she said, "look at me."

"I'm not doing this. I am not doing this."

"Now look Joey, if anybody says anything to you about these nuts and bolts, you just look them right in the eye and say,'Don't you have a pair of these?"

But in the end I wanted to go to the dance. So I went. And when I was standing at the punch bowl filling a glass, somebody caught a glimpse of my makeshift cuff links. He grabbed me by the arm, held my sleeve up, and yelled, "Look at Biden! Nuts and bolts!"

I could feel the embarrassment in my face, and then the anger. But I remembered what my mom had told me. "You don't have a pair of these?" I said.

There was dead silence.....until my tormentor said, loud enough for everybody neaby to hear, "Yeah. Yeah, I got a pair of these. I got a pair of these."

About ten years ago my sister, Val, gave me a pair of Tiffany's sterling silver cuff links shaped like nuts and bolts to commemorate that dance, and to remind me.>

Promises to Keep, by Joe Biden

[jillan]

1. It's funny- whenever I see nuts and bolts now, I think about this story.

[PatSeg]

2. Me too!

It is a classic all-American story, like something out of a Mickey Rooney movie.

Just thought I'd humanize the political scene here. This board could use a lighter touch.

[jillan]

3. You are being the grownup on the board :)

[PatSeg]

7. I'm doing my impersonation of Jean Luc Picard!

But with HAIR!!! :rofl:

[1corona4u]

4. Awe....

That was so cool...I have to get his book....

[jillan]

5. You need to. You'll have an even deeper respect for Biden after you read it.

And - he writes about alot of the crap that we listen to here.

[PatSeg]

9. It is a great read

The chapter when his wife and daughter died was heart wrenching. I cried throughout the whole chapter.

[1corona4u]

10. I'm going out for it tomorrow....n/t

[PatSeg]

17. You'll like it

It rounds out the picture of him as a total person and the politics is fascinating.

[vickitulsa]

6. What a great story! Sounds real, too.

And I'd be willing to bet it IS true -- and not even shaded a bit for effect.

I'm more for Joe every day that passes.

Off to the Greatest Page with ya! More DUers need to hear about this one....

[PatSeg]

8. God, I remember junior high

and it was like that. Such an awkward age and the peer pressure was suffocating.

[1corona4u]

12. Oh, don't we know that...

the things our parents made us wear/do. I totally relate to him, because my mom use to make my sister and I wear really conservative clothing, and everyone thought we were dorks, LOL....we of course did the roll-up the skirt trick, as well as keep makeup in our lockers at school...peer pressure...

[PatSeg]

15. And how cruel kids can be

It is a really rough time. It helps to have a supportive family like Joe did.

[vickitulsa]

14. Wasn't it just? I never did fit in with any of the cliques.

The popular girls "rushed" me for the fledgling "sorority" (only the school officials wouldn't even let them call it a sorority back then), but I hated it after the first nightmare "breakfast" idiocy and declined any more of that. I was smart but low middle class, a cop's kid, and didn't feel right with the "rich kids."

My pals were other misfits ... and a couple of pariahs. I preferred horses to proms and frills. Never regretted my choices from high school, but it was NOT a pleasant experience overall. Wouldn't even go back for my 20 (or 30) year reunion!

And from everything I see these days, it's worse now by a factor of about 1000! I feel sorry for today's youngsters, but I gotta admit, it's also difficult to like most of them! :)

What I think of every time Joe Biden's name comes up is the hearings he held as Chairman of some committee or other (Armed Forces? Don't recall) in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. The man was amazing. I found it so hard to believe after listening to several days of those hearings with Joe's hard questions to the * administration minions that we would EVER actually go to war there. Still amazes me that it happened after those revealing moments and the utter lack of sound reasoning those jerks revealed.

Madness ... just plain, ugly, sheer madness.

No one president can readily pull this nation back from the brink of total insanity, but I'd trust Joe Biden more than any other running to take some major steps in that direction.

[PatSeg]

18. Any individuality was absolutely taboo

and once you were "out", you were out for good. In eighth grade I was ostracized for befriending a Hispanic girl whose family worked at the race track. Talk about loss of innocence. I knew nothing about bigotry and was shocked to hear hateful comments from kids I'd known all through grade school. It was a major life lesson for me.

As for the state of our country, I try to keep my expectations realistic. Undoing the horrible mess Bush has created will not happen overnight, but I'm picturing someone who can step in and make strong, decisive choices. I honestly can't think of anyone other than Joe Biden who is capable of that at this point. It will be a thankless job and an impatient public will be very critical, but I think he can weather the storm. I don't envy him though.

[vickitulsa]

23. Wow, great minds and all that.

See my post below, #22, I was writing just now before reading this one of yours.

I can't figure out why others in huge numbers have not seen the obvious qualities in Joe Biden that have been in evidence for many years and that would encourage them to consider what sort of president he would make -- and like what they see!

As with your son, it really just takes one good listen to Joe for a bit to know you're hearing a straight-talking realist with good sense and a LOT of savvy and smarts. And some affable humility to boot!

I can't stand the "debates," where the format and questions are so ridiculous and, frankly, rigged as well as staged. I honestly believe that most Americans are to the point of CRAVING to see and hear exactly what Joe IS.

I think we are all desperate for someone we can TRUST.

[PatSeg]

27. My son's reaction was significant

as he was not influenced by my opinion. He didn't know how I felt and he knew nothing about Biden at the time. His spontaneous, unbiased opinion reinforced my own.

[Basileus Basileon]

11. Ah, that's a great story.

How I love Joe.

[PatSeg]

19. My son connected with him instantly

and he's not easily convinced.

We were both supporting Kerry in 04 and one day he saw Biden on MTP, a show my son had no interest in. He listened to him speak for a few minutes and turned to me and said, "Why isn't HE running for president?" He had never seen him before, but has been an avid supporter ever since.

[Frustratedlady]

13. Neat Story!

It's always enlightening to hear those types of stories about people such as Joe...gives one a human touch.

K&R

[PatSeg]

20. I really respect him as a public servant

but it is also nice to "like" him as a person as well.

[Historic NY]

16. I like Joe, his state has a holiday....

after elections where rivals come together to bury the hatchet. They call it Return Day.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/legacies/DE/200002821.html

[PatSeg]

21. Yes!

I read about that in his book and I'd never heard of it before. What a great tradition.

[vickitulsa]

22. Just noticed your sig line Joe quote.

Glad to hear he said that outright and emphatically!

I feel like we're caught up in some nightmare movie script these days in our country. Like Devil's Advocate, where Darth Cheney is Al Pacino's character and Chimpy is a version of his younger "more appealing" sidekick (Keanu's character) ... still learning all the ropes and the many wicked pleasures of pure greed and power.

When actually we should be living the script from something more like The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Only with a successful and complete exorcism in this case!

Of course, Darth has absolutely NONE of the charm, dark or otherwise, of Pacino, but then this movie we're stuck in is the ugliest of real life horror stories, not Hollywood fiction.

But one thing Pacino said reminds me of Darth for sure. When Al tells Keanu that he's the one who was always overlooked, or underestimated -- because he "stayed small" and worked behind the scenes, not out in the open for scrutiny. Said he was the one with his "hand up Mona Lisa's skirt," and that "they never see me comin'."

That's what happened to us, I fear, really. Darth seemed small and insignificant -- even frail, with his heart problems and all. The country had seen him before in previous administrations, but hardly even remembered him in spite of his powerful positions way back then.

I wonder ... do you know if Joe has given any indication if he'd do what Clinton never did and hold the previous (Baby Bush) administration accountable for all they've done these past seven years? I mean, Pelosi and the sold-out DINOs may have impeachment off the table, but has any Democrat other than Kucinich, Joe especially, said or even hinted that there would be a time to make these criminals now in office answer for their crimes and treasonous, treacherous acts?

Frankly, since I do understand how Washington "works," I'd settle for even a strong hint that such an accounting would ultimately be pursued. Then it should be done with a real, practical, "nuts and bolts" approach that does not relent or cower until justice is done.

Could be the way to a genuine righting of the ship of state and taking back of our government for the people.

I just want to hear someone say it! Someone I can BELIEVE and count on to follow through! But also someone (like Joe) who wouldn't strike people as impractical or kooky at all, but rather very down to earth and sensible.

Sorry if I'm ranting a bit, but sometimes I just feel so discouraged and soooo fed up, and thinking about a Biden presidency gives me stirrings of HOPE. We don't really need -- and cannot expect to find -- a miraculous knight in shining armor who rights every wrong overnight. No one would believe in "too much," right? And Washington simply cannot be moved that fast, anyway -- not any more, not in modern times.

Everything that happens there is like in "super slow-motion," like everyone's bogged in quicksand or knee-deep mud.

But we have to make a START!

[Frustratedlady]

24. Your ramblings are my thoughts.

I don't want to hear him expose what he might do in a public forum--although it might not matter, since they will figure out a way to insulate themselves from prosecution--but I sure would like to know his feelings on the "legal disposition" of this cabal...particularly, the top tier.

How can we bring others into the fold on Joe? Unless something happens between now and January 3rd, Joe will be my choice in the Iowa caucus. I can fight for him that night, but it would sure help to have the attendees already swaying in his direction.

As you can see from my username, I am also at wit's end. I just hope I live long enough to see justice served.

[PatSeg]

26. Love your movie scenario

It really nailed Cheney, always in the shadows for decades. I've seen pictures of him as a young man and he had that same dark, brooding look, a totally joyless creature with a blank, unreadable face. He is one of those strange people who appears to never have been "young". His relative obscurity all these years was one of his strengths.

As for Biden holding this administration accountable, here is what he said a few months ago in a Newsweek interview: "The alternative, and it's taken me time to think through, I think we should be acquiring and accumulating all the data that is appropriate for possibly bringing criminal charges against members of this administration at a later date."

Your movie comparisons of real life may have sparked a dream that I woke up from. Joe Biden and his wife were delayed on their way back to DC and there was some emergency that caused congress to be locked down. Biden couldn't get into the building and members of congress weren't allowed out. I was waking up but I knew where the dream was headed - a terrorist attack destroys congress and Biden is left on the outside to fight evil single-handedly with his faithful sidekick Jill!!!

The inevitable side effect of too many movies and too much politics, I'm afraid.

[vickitulsa]

35. Ditto here with the movies and politics!

I never get out for "entertainment," can't afford movies in theatres anyway, and don't like the way the sound is way too loud and I can't get bathroom breaks without missing parts of the movie! So I just wait till they make it to the small screen in one form or another.

But being a virtual shut-in, I do watch a lot of tv. And although I mostly enjoy "educational" stuff -- especially the high quality programming on the History Channel and the Discovery Channel(s), plus Animal Planet and a few others (including the Weather Channel!) -- I do catch reruns of the various incarnations of Star Trek, serious dramatic series of the Law & Order and CSI sort, and I also watch a fair number of "old" movies -- many that I've seen repeatedly.

The cool thing about watching a movie (or documentary, for that matter) that you've seen more than once already is that in the best ones, there are always new bits that you missed the first or second time around. That can often add a lot of depth to what's offered up by the creative types.

And like you, themes and scenes from the dramas or other programs I have seen fairly often creep into my dreams -- bundled with my interests in politics, science, philosophy and psychology, among other things. I totally LOVED your dream about Congress, with Joe being locked out but then ending up the only one left to pick up the pieces and move us forward! :applause: How revealing is THAT?

If I lived in Iowa, I'd be doing a LOT of talking with anyone who would listen about our choices for president and veep, I know that. Don't know if I could sway anyone, but I do believe that if folks would give Joe a chance to reach them, they'd seriously consider him. Like you said, he has that combination of folksy charm plus intelligence that really shines -- and his breadth and depth of experience becomes apparent and plays powerfully in his favor as well.

Especially after the nightmare we've lived through these many years with the buffoon-in-chief fratboy at the helm! :argh: :puke:

Lately the events in Bangladesh have haunted me, and I dread the morning I wake up from a dream about THAT. :cry: Just saw on the Weather Channel an adult man there weeping and talking about the devastation, and it broke my heart!

Every time I think I have it really bad....

We're still having amazing Indian Summer weather here in OK, and I spent most of today putting up Christmas lights outside on my humble, tiny old motorhome that's been my permanent residence the last five years, and this simple task lifted my spirits a lot. Bright sun today, cool, cheerful lights tonight!

This season can be the most depressing of all, largely because for so many, there isn't much to celebrate about their own lives OR the condition of humanity on this planet, and how many folks (don't) care about each other anymore.

But I am a resolute glass-half-full type myself, and my optimism always makes a strong comeback no matter how hopeless it may look these days. I have some really neat, positive dreams along the lines of yours, too, and I love those!

Don't think I slept enough to even get a dream going last night but that means tonight could bring a whopper!

This has been a great thread, tsegat01, with lots of good contributions and food for thought. I'm glad you started it -- and kept it alive! Too many good threads "die young" here at DU, it seems to me. Another problem with modern culture: short attention spans and not enough careful thinking and deep concern that is maintained over time.

:pals:

[PatSeg]

37. Same here about going to the movies

We go a couple times a year, but for the most part I wait until a movie comes out on DVD and even then I don't seem to find the time to watch many of them. Evidently I'm making up for that in my sleep.

I've been through a lot in my life, but I've never seen anything that comes close to the last seven years. It is as if every negative aspect of humanity is rising to the surface and I suppose that could be a positive thing. It is easier to combat what you can see. Hopefully people have the will to confront it.

My feelings vacillate between optimistic and pessimistic. The optimist generally wins out, as I don't see any other choice.

[vickitulsa]

36. Forgot to mention -- I LOVED Joe's statement re accountability of the * administration!

That is VERY heartening to hear, and thanks for the info. I'll bet Frustrated Lady and some others are glad to get that input as well.

I didn't know, either, until recently that Joe was NOT a gazillionaire like virtually every other candidate of ANY party. Man, I'll bet that fact alone would appeal hugely to so many Americans!

I'm not a frequent Bible-quoter, but that old parable about how hard it is for a rich man to get through the eye of a needle has always been one of my favorites. Like so many of the great Teacher's lesson-stories, it communicates so well and resonates, as we like to say these days! Same with what Jesus told the rich young man who was devout but balked at the very idea of selling all he had, giving it to the poor, and taking up his cross to follow the Master....

They even tax food here in Oklahoma! I mean, how wrong is that??

*Sigh*

[PatSeg]

38. And the irony is

many Dems keep accusing Biden of being a corporatist. If that were the case, then where's all the corporate money? He sold his home to pay for his kids college tuition!

[murbley40]

25. Kick&rec

[ginchinchili]

28. LOL...great story, tsegat01. Thanks, you just brightened my day.

[PatSeg]

30. Thought we needed a little "brightness"

Yesterday was getting really nasty! Was there a full moon or something?

I figured if this didn't work, I'd have to go back to "kitten blitz"!

[murbley40]

29. Kick

[Byronic]

31. Thanks tsegat

I love that story. I remember watching a video clip of Biden recounting this exact tale. He told it with such a twinkle in his eye, but you could tell he was re-living it! He sure has that celtic genius for telling anecdotes and stories.

If Biden becomes president I think he should suggest his staffers and supporters wear nuts and bolts cuff links. It could be the Biden version of President Kennedy's PT-109 tie clasp! lol.

[PatSeg]

33. He is a great story teller

He has the ability to be both folksy and intelligent at the same time. He draws people in with the folksy charm and then keeps them with the intelligent discourse. Perfect combination for a president.

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

32. This guy Biden

Has made me reconsider my choice. I was never really familiar with him, until recently. I decided to check out more on him after the last debate because I liked what he said and liked what he had said in past debates. After visiting his page online and various videos and statements by him, my hubby made his choice...Biden. Me? Well, at this point it's Biden, Edwards and Obama. I'm really hoping for a "Kerry" performance in Iowa and a roll into the nomination.

[PatSeg]

34. I think a "Kerry performance in Iowa" is what we're

going to see. I've felt that for a long time now.

[Jennifer C]

39. Love it

I listened to Joe speak about "Promises to Keep" on Book TV on the weekend. He told the nuts and bolts story and I had such a huge smile on my face after hearing it.

I haven't read his book yet, but I'm going to get it asap.

[PatSeg]

40. Its a good read

Very down-to-earth and informative as well.

[frogmarch]

41. Thanks for posting this wonderful story!

It's a keeper. Now I'm going to buy Joe's book.

[mrfixit]

42. He can be as folksy as he wants. He's STILL not the best candidate.

Here's why:

http://www.vote-smart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=S0150103

11/19/2002 Homeland Security Act of 2002 - Voted Y
10/11/2002 Use of Military Force Against Iraq - Voted Y
03/02/2006 USA PATRIOT and Terrorism Prevention Reauthorization - Voted Y
10/06/2004 National Intelligence Reform Act of 2004 - Voted Y
10/25/2001 USA Patriot Act of 2001 - Voted Y
09/14/2001 Military Force Authorization resolution - Voted Y

He would be the best candidate IF AND ONLY IF Dennis Kucinich is out of the race. In my opinion, it's just too soon to have to compromise.