Opinion: Say it ain’t so, Joe
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
As the debate over the debate winds down, I’m gearing up for the debate over the debate over the debate. To wit: How many Second Amendment advocates will it take to give Joe Biden a hiding over his insulting comments toward a gun owner named Jered Townsend?
The First State’s senior senator fired up his feisty demeanor twice last night, first by making a nasty crack about a proud gun owner and later by calling the evening’s touchy-feely last topic by its true name: ‘a ridiculous exercise.’ As you might expect, it’s the gun crack that’s got people hoppin’ mad:
Many thumbs down from bloggers great and small:
Mickey Kaus says the insult shows Biden ‘lacks even moderately calibrated snap judgment.’
Robert of Stony Brook loses bowel control.
Hamstress in the Garden of Eden says Biden ‘made a complete ass out of himself’ and notes that Biden could have simply made his opening crack without belaboring the issue of poor Townsend’s mental health.
The Instapundit says all the Democrats will be wounded in this crossfire.
Howard ‘Extreme’ Mortman says get some help yourself, Joe!
And as if to reiterate every old chestnut about the angry bloggers and the aloof MSM, CNN’s John King calls Biden the evening’s winner.
Wonkette and Delaware Dave Weigel have more here and here.
Although I’ve never supported Biden, I’ll say that last night’s controversial comments proceed from the one thing I like about him: his off-the-cuff-itude (which was in much better form when he gathered wool on the topic of the Iraq withdrawal). To expand on the Hamstress’ comment above: The initial crack was within bounds. A guy who’s that into his rifle and makes a public display of his affection sets himself up as the target of unkind fun-making. It’s weird to be that lovey-dovey with any inanimate object; Townsend brought the ridicule on himself. Where Biden steps over the line is in trying to expand his witty barb into a serious point about gun laws and mental illness (which didn’t even depart in any interesting way from Bill Richardson’s earlier point on the same topic). The rules of courtly insult are quite clear on this: Humiliate your interlocutor and then bring the conversation back around to the only subject that matters — yourself.
[Ed. note: Thanks to our lousy blogware provider, you’re getting a post from yesterday morning this morning. Don’t think of it as old; think of it as seasoned.]