Newsweek: An Inconvenient Truth Teller (Biden)

[fugop]

Really interesting piece, esp. if you're a fan of Joe.

An Inconvenient Truth Teller

Joe Biden had a question. During a long Sunday meeting with President Obama and top national-security advisers on Sept. 13, the VP interjected, "Can I just clarify a factual point? How much will we spend this year on Afghanistan?" Someone provided the figure: $65 billion. "And how much will we spend on Pakistan?" Another figure was supplied: $2.25 billion. "Well, by my calculations that's a 30-to-1 ratio in favor of Afghanistan. So I have a question. Al Qaeda is almost all in Pakistan, and Pakistan has nuclear weapons. And yet for every dollar we're spending in Pakistan, we're spending $30 in Afghanistan. Does that make strategic sense?" The White House Situation Room fell silent. But the questions had their desired effect: those gathered began putting more thought into Pakistan as the key theater in the region.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/217090

[napi21]

1. I love Joe & his honesty. It doesn't matter who hes talking to,

he tells it like he sees it. So much better than the many previous VPs who were yes men around the Prez, or of course the one who was a dictator!

[chieftain]

2. I have resented the effort to turn Joe into a clown.

It seemed that the corporate media decided to treat him as a joke. I have no idea what their specific motivation is but it really pisses me off. I am happy to see the VP weigh in on critical issues and finally get some of the type of recognition he deserves instead of the snark that todays "journalists" so prize.

[fugop]

3. They're just so lazy

The media loves nothing more than to be the "mean girl" of the world. It seems more and more as if they spend all their time looking for some other person to destroy with their snark and ridicule. They've got hours of time to fill, and they're too lazy to try and cover actual stories. So instead, they latch onto something that's easy to yap on and on about to their audience. Gore was "boring." Kerry was "elitist." Bush was "a guy you want to have a beer with." Cheney was the "mastermind." Mccain and Palin were "mavericky!!!" They've tried (and been somewhat successful" to make Biden a clown. I was so happy to read this story, giving Joe some credit.