# The silence on Biden is deafening **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 1, 2007, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411 "2007-02-01T14:24:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411/41 "2007-02-01T19:45:22Z")
[QUOTE=Lamar Mundane] I don’t like Biden either, so this doesn’t bother me, but to say he is rascist is completely unfair. [/QUOTE] People can be a little bit racist, somewhat racist, etc. It isn’t the same thing as saying he’s a member of the KKK or a puppykicker or anything. The biggest issue is that we’ve been dealing with an bad speaker for years and someone prone to gaffes isn’t what most of us want. And it is a gaffe, no matter if you think he’s revealing his Grand Wizard hat or just tripping over his tongue. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411/42 "2007-02-01T19:47:40Z")
[QUOTE=jsgoddess] I believe he’s a little bit racist. And “libcred” hardly immunizes someone against racism. [/QUOTE] Indeed. Biden already caught a pretty hefty dose of flak from the netroots a couple months back because of [this](http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/politics/16150760.htm): > [@](#): > > The senator then pounced on a member’s announcement that the [Columbia, SC Rotary] club would hold its annual Christmas party at the state Department of Archives and History where members could view the original copy of the state’s Articles of Secession. > > Biden asked, “Where else could I go to a Rotary Club where (for a) Christmas party the highlight is looking at the Articles?” > > Biden was on a roll. > > Delaware, he noted, was a “slave state that fought beside the North. That’s only because we couldn’t figure out how to get to the South. There were a couple of states in the way.” > > The crowd loved it. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411/43 "2007-02-01T19:57:17Z")
[QUOTE=spifflog] I spend some time on Capital Hill [/QUOTE] Nitpick: the Capit **a** l is the city containing the Capit **o** l building. The hill\* is Capit **o** l Hill, after the building that sits on it. \*Dunno who considers that a _hill_, that’s the real linguistic travesty. It’s a barely perceptible rise in the ground. Kansas has bigger hills. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411/44 "2007-02-01T20:06:44Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] This thread is my very favorite kind of outrage: premature, factually incorrect outrage not about an event, but about someone else’s reponse to an event it - and even then, it’s an event I don’t think the OP cares about in the first place - he just wants to use it to bash people he doesn’t like. [/QUOTE] He has taken up \*\*Clothahump’s \*\* mantle from last year. He had three or four of these and then wised up. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411/45 "2007-02-01T21:52:01Z")
[QUOTE=Lightnin’] I don’t think it’s so much that the liberals are willing to give him a pass on this slip of the tongue, as it is liberals not being as willing as conservatives to manufacture outrage. [/QUOTE] BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! You guys slay me. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411/46 "2007-02-01T21:53:44Z")
> [@Jackknifed Juggernaut](#): > > Just look how close George Allen came to winning Virginia after using an outright racial slur. Keep in mind that up to about a month or two before the election, nobody seriously thought that Allen could actually lose. That comment did a lot to turn his easy re-election into a narrow loss. The wonder is not that he came so close to winning, but that so much of his support was destroyed. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411/47 "2007-02-01T22:08:45Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] He has taken up \*\*Clothahump’s \*\* mantle from last year. He had three or four of these and then wised up. Jim [/QUOTE] Good point. Starting one post in fours years on a political topic makes me a really right wing apologist. If this hit such a nerve with you, why don’t you just go on to the next thread? ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411/48 "2007-02-01T22:33:40Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! [/QUOTE] That’s okay. We like to laugh at you, as well. We just get to do it a lot more often. Seriously, though- assuming you popped your head into this thread to contribute, _rather than just insult liberal Dopers_ (which would be, you know, kinda against the rules of this particular forum)- do you disagree that this is an attempt to manufacture outrage where there shouldn’t be any? Name a situation like this one- or Kerry’s situation a few weeks ago- where it was a liberal trying to drum up outrage. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411/49 "2007-02-01T22:52:49Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! You guys slay me. Regards, Shodan [/QUOTE] So, I’m taking bets Shodan: when are you going to acknowledge the basic falsehoods at the core of your recent paint-by-numbers posts on the subject? My bet is: never. But wow me if you dare. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411/50 "2007-02-01T22:58:00Z")
[QUOTE=spifflog] Good point. Starting one post in fours years on a political topic makes me a really right wing apologist. If this hit such a nerve with you, why don’t you just go on to the next thread? [/QUOTE] It’s mostly that you started this thread. Again, let’s check the roster here: - there was no silence about it, you were just too lazy to check the discussion and it wasn’t neatly labeled “Biden is the worst guy evar!” - plenty of liberals piled on Biden. In fact, most of them did, and they did it before conservatives even woke up that this was maybe something they could whine about how liberals always give a pass to their own on - most of the underlying controversy: the worst interpretations of what Biden said, were mostly based on a crappy transcript that in retrospect doesn’t hold up all that well. So yeah, you’re bolwing a pretty low score this frame. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411/51 "2007-02-02T01:01:27Z")
I’m not bothered by what Biden said, not because he’s a Democrat but because his remarks were innocuous. Just like Rush Limbaugh’s remarks did not even register on my radar. If the whole presidential campaign is going to be one “let’s get outraged!” moment after another, then I need get a barf bag ready. Because I’m sure I’m going to get very sick before too long. And if the whole presidential campaign is going to be one “where’s your outrage!?” moment after another, then I’m going to look at finding temporary work outside of the country. The sad thing is that the Dems look bad whatever they do. If they voice a complaint about racial insenstivities, they come across as whiny, oversensitive, PC crybabies. If they stay silent, they can be painted as hypocritical, or worse–soft on racism. I can’t wait till people start making sexist gaffs. At least poor Obama can then catch a break. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411/52 "2007-02-02T02:34:58Z")
sen. obama= articulate, sen. kennedy=inarticulate. pres. bush= inarticulate, pres. clinton=articulate. some people are well spoken and others, uh, ah, em, not. i think it crosses all lines of race, social standing, etc. i did not think biden meant non-ebonics speaking, just well spoken. bright, meaning smart, clean meaning no scandal or skeleton in the closet. i did think he could have said the whole thing differently, it did have a bit of patronising tone to it. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411/53 "2007-02-02T02:51:13Z")
My earlier post (#9) was unsuitable for GD. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411/54 "2007-02-02T03:01:10Z")
It’s about someone’s history and record and whether or not it’s manufactured outrage. In the case of Allen, a number of instances were cited from his past showing that this was not a one-time misspeak but common for him. Besides, the name he used was commonly used as an insult by his mother’s fellow nationals. Hardly a coincidence. If Biden had a long history of uttering slurs, the outrage would be justified. He doesn’t, it seems, so trying to whip people into a frenzy over it is just another Swiftboat tactic. In short, chill. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411/55 "2007-02-02T03:07:35Z")
[QUOTE=spifflog] This board is remarkably silent on Senator Biden’s comment about Obama “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” he said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.” As has been pointed out in other posts, if this were some old white Republican, like McCain for example, Jessie Jackson the rest of the left would have him in a headlock beating him senseless. And there would be about 200 posts here talking about how the bad evil racist Republicans are totally out of touch. The Washington Post surprisingly put the story on front page - only four square inches and below the fold of course.. Is this just a case of “as long as he’s my kind of guy I’ll give him a pass” or are the Dems really in love with Biden? [/QUOTE] Swing and a miss. Thanks for playing. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411/56 "2007-02-02T03:35:33Z")
> [@](#): > > sen. obama= articulate, sen. kennedy=inarticulate. pres. bush= inarticulate, pres. clinton=articulate. some people are well spoken and others, uh, ah, em, not. i think it crosses all lines of race, social standing, etc. Not really. Bill Clinton is one of the most gifted public speakers of my lifetime, and it would sound weird to me if one of the first few words someone used to describe him was “articulate” or “well-spoken”. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411/57 "2007-02-02T03:59:38Z")
This just in: Bush recently called Obama “articulate”? And get this, no liberals got outraged! Are we losing our edge? ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411/58 "2007-02-02T04:04:30Z")
Uh oh, another “articulate” quote: “People really like him. He’s very smart. He’s also very articulate. And I think he might have the sharpest wit of anyone in the field,” Sullivan (the chairwoman of the Democratic Party in New Hampshire,) said. Except wait, she was talking about Chris Dodd, a white guy. THATS RACISM!!! “Intelligent, articulate, who is Barak Obama?” -opening words of a CNN promo from over a week ago. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411/59 "2007-02-02T11:29:15Z")
After eight years of Bush I think an articulate President would be grand, even if he’s a baby killing fascist – as long as he doesn’t make me feel embarassed to listen to him it’ll be hunky-dorry. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411/60 "2007-02-02T14:07:12Z")
[QUOTE=Apos] So, I’m taking bets Shodan: when are you going to acknowledge the basic falsehoods at the core of your recent paint-by-numbers posts on the subject? My bet is: never. But wow me if you dare. [/QUOTE] Which “basic falsehood” do you think you are talking about? That, if a Republican said anything similar, the Usual Suspects would be screaming racism? That’s not a falsehood; it is an obvious truth. Feel free to deny it if you like. It is true nonetheless. > [@Lightnin'](#): > > Seriously, though- assuming you popped your head into this thread to contribute, rather than just insult liberal Dopers (which would be, you know, kinda against the rules of this particular forum)- do you disagree that this is an attempt to manufacture outrage where there shouldn’t be any? Well, if you feel yourself to be insulted, you can try reporting the post to a mod. But as regards your rather weak attempt at a point, what I am saying is that, if a Republican said what Biden did, you would be manufacturing outrage. Thus, if what Biden says deserves outrage, and you aren’t outraged, then you are being hypocritical. If a Republican says it and you _are_ outraged, then you are being a hypocrite. Which is it, by the way? > [@](#): > > Name a situation like this one- or Kerry’s situation a few weeks ago- where it was a liberal trying to drum up outrage. See above. This is one of those “prove that water is wet” kinds of attempts at a hijack. If you are capable of seeing the selective outrage of the Usual Suspects on the SDMB, then no cite is necessary - it’s obvious. If you can’t, then no cite would suffice. “None so blind as those who will not see”, and all that. Have fun with your denial-fest. Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silence-on-biden-is-deafening/390411.md?page=4)