Obama surprises Biden: Happy Birthday, Joe!

[Coexist]

http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/happy_birthday_joe/

Vice-President-elect Joe Biden turned 66 years old today.

To celebrate, President-elect Barack Obama surprised him at the Transition's Chicago headquarters yesterday with cupcakes, candles, and a stirring rendition of Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday, Joe!

[walther]

1. My 401K is down 50% from a year ago; I don't have much patience for this crap!

Sheese. Come on people. Americans retirement funds are down 50%! Good Lord! Tell us some answers instead of passing out cupcakes!

[chelaque liberal]

2. Ah, Obama is not the president yet...

[Coexist]

3. yes, Heaven Forbid friends share a moment of comraderie on a birthday that YOU don't approve of

8 years of vacation boy, and your pissed at this?

enjoy your stay.

[Sherman A1]

4. Mine 401k is down 50% as is yours, but I think we can have a minute or two

for a Happy Birthday and a couple of cupcakes. It's not going to make your retirement savings any better or worse to allow for folks being courteous and civil enough to say hope you have a good birthday.


:shrug:

[GardeningGal]

5. How about you place that blame where it belongs - on the Bush

Administration. It's pretty hard for the Obama administration to do anything to change things until they actually take office.

[walther]

8. yup that will work for another six months, then what?

Everytime I try that on my conservative wife she points out who has congress righ now. I am tired of sleeping alone.

[TygrBright]

13. Uh-huh. Thirteen years of GOPpie control of Congress, and eleven months of Dem control...

...and it's the Dems' fault yer 401k is in the toilet?

Somewhere the underside of a bridge is suspiciously untenanted...

speculatively,
Bright

[prolesunited]

14. By a *very* narrow margin

which means everything gets stalled in the Senate, which ties their hands in accomplishing anything because the GOP would rather see the nation go down in flames that let the Dems get credit for accomplishing anything. But you know that, right?

Either you're very disingenuous or not very well informed. Which one is it?

[stillcool]

18. A 50-50 Senate...

with Joe Lieberman as the tie-breaker does not a majority make..regardless of what your wife may think. Kind of hard to get anything passed when you have a corrupt government from the top down. There is not one government agency that the Bush Administration has not decimated. Too bad you and your wife weren't a little more worried 4 years ago.

[Caretha]

20. Kid, you need

to sleep alone. You don't sound old enough or smart enough for consensual sexual relations.

But you probably are old enough to order pizza. What are your favorite toppings?

[rucky]

6. That's why they didn't spring for a real cake. n/t

[tabatha]

7. Why did you not protest aoutside the WH years ago?

[Muttocracy]

10. If your 401k is down that much, you must have had a really bad strategy

And you're freaking out because they paused working for a few minutes of cupcakes? Would you have had a heart attack if they'd taken Biden out to lunch?

[GoesTo11]

24. You ain't been paying attention

Stock markets overall are down more than 50%, from S&P 500 (a broader index than Dow Jones) to just about every market index in the world. Being largely in diversified stock mutual funds was in retrospect a bad strategy, but it was also basically the standard recommendation for people below age 50 or so.

[4 t 4]

16. Ah, Come on, they're not even in office yet

pray to your lucky stars they will maybe save you and your wife and all the rest of us.

[PVnRT]

21. Is it Jan. 21st, 2009, yet?

Oh, it isn't. So you can stop spouting that new right-wing bullshit about this being Obama's reception now.

[Doodler71]

26. You need to stop and take a breath of humanity. I'm sure they stop for pee breaks too.

GMAB you are outraged over a birthday cake?

[grace0418]

30. America's been having problems long before it started affecting your 401k. Were you saying anything

then? Have you been saying this all along? Or did you just start harping on the President-Elect, who isn't even President yet?

[Lisa0825]

31. I hope you enjoyed your short stay.

[Liberal Dose]

32. You do realize that Obama will not be inaugurated until January 20th.

Right? :eyes:

[AngryOldDem]

33. So is mine.

But I can still see clear to acknowledge birthdays, and such.

Sheese.

Happy birthday, Mr. Vice President-Elect!

:toast:

(And while I wrote that, my 401K dropped another half-percentage point.)

[Coexist]

9. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOE!

[onethatcares]

11. I join the "Happy Birthday, Joe" sentiment

it's been a terrible previous 8 years. I am so happy to see someone in the Whitehouse that actually has a smile.

Peace

[TygrBright]

12. This is the guy who responds to school kids' letters, and calls campaign workers' grieving relatives

...and otherwise demonstrates that he is committed to NOT losing sight of the human scale of things in the vast and complex picture of government.

I really, really like this man.

Also... notice something about this story? This took place at transition HQ in Chicago. Biden is there, presumably putting in a day's work with everyone else. Biden is not gonna be sidelined over at the Naval Observatory, fine-tuning his itinerary of ceremonial appearances in third-tier venues.

I really, really, REALLY like these guys.

I may not always agree with this Administration on policy matters, strategies, etc., but I'm confident that I'll never have to blush for how weaselly, sleazy, or otherwise tacky their modus operandi might be.

And that's a huge thing.

appreciatively,
Bright

[Coexist]

15. what a great thought.

that was really nice.

[alarimer]

19. I certainly like them as people a lot more than Bush and Co.

Cheney gives me the creeps.

[bigtree]

17. ha!

:kick:

[PVnRT]

22. He didn't pop out of a big cake naked?

[Coexist]

23. no, but I hear he did the Marilyn rendidtion of happy Birthday

[nuxvomica]

25. I wish I saw this yesterday

It was my birthday, too. And my first name is "Joe" also. I didn't know I shared both with the VP-elect. BTW, it was also RFK's birthday.

[ProfessorGAC]

27. Well, Happy B-Day, Joe!

The Professor

[nuxvomica]

29. Thanks, Professor

This has certainly been the year of the Joes, both the good and the bad ones. ;-)

[goclark]

28. It's lovely, it's the Special times that get you through the hard ones

They need to have moments to remember.