Was That Before Or After The Pilgrims Flew Into Logan ?

As an Obama supporter I say Thank God that the media has been ignoring Joe Biden.

Nothing angers me more than history gaffes. And he managed TWO history gaffes in one statement.

As a public school graduate who only took the SAT once- because once was enough to get me in at all of the schools I applied to- some of them rather selective ones- I resent that remark. Having said that, I agree that it would be embarrassing for Obama if they covered Biden more. This, of course, is why he's the VP candidate.

LOL!!! I'm doubly amused that his opening phase has to do with leaders knowing what they're talking about...

"Just in case some of you attended public school"

My public school education was just fine thanks.

Hahaha...Patrick, you are right...had this been McCain or Palin, they would have been crucified in Times Square!

That said . . . I find myself in the position of defending Joe Biden.

Elrod, PattonGuy, Polimom . . . the great thing about Joe Biden is that he is a smart man who is also batshit crazy.

Elrod, you teach Poli Sci, I believe? Isn't it better to have honest flawed politicians than "cookie cutter" square-jawed posterboys and girls . . . not a hair out of place . . . who have nothing to say or contribute?

Look at LBJ . . . who was crazier than a bag full of ferrets. He gave the US the Great Society and civil rights legislation.

Frankly, I think you folks are wrong. As with Reagan, I suspect many Americans are amused and charmed by Biden's open nuttiness. This isn't illiteracy, as with Quayle, this is pure lovable wackness.

Biden is smart and competent . . . just somewhat nutty.

And what is wrong with that?

By the way, I not only went to public school but also community college and a state university, so I have no issue with public school, its just a standard joke line.

In addition my Mom was a school librarian for 20 yrs, so I have deep respect for educators.

God, this brings to mind all of the wacked out British prime ministers I can recall.

Salisbury, the great aristocrat, riding his tricycle well into old age . . . a servant behind to push him up hills, and then hop on the back while the PM rolled down hill at top speed.

Or Gladstone, who would wander the streets of London while PM, lecturing prostitutes to convert them to the straight and narrow.

Or Churchill, who spent much of his day in the nude, puffing on his cigar and reading the newspapers. When staying at the White House, FDR rolled in one day to find Churchill still stark naked at noon.
FDR said an embarrassed apology, and was about to roll back out, when Churchill thundered: "The Prime Minister of England has nothing to hide from the President of the United States."

If you ever visit London, be sure to tour the Cabinet War Rooms in Whitehall -- that were sealed in 1945, and recently re-opened. The highlight of the tour, for me, was the small room where Churchill had a direct secure phone line to the White House.

This room was, however, disguised as Churchill's private W.C. or toilet.

Churchill would disappear in there for hours at a stretch talking to FDR . . . and his staff and everyone else in the War Rooms staff thought Churchill was on the toilet for all that time!!

Even in the Blitz, with bombs dropping everywhere and Hitler raging in Europe, Churchill enjoyed his wacky toilet humor.

So yes, I say give Biden a break. If he becomes VP . . . it will be a fantastic four years!

This has only been four weeks. Can you imagine . . . ?

Marlowe,
No, I teach history. That's why I get angry at botched historical analogies. I especially hate screwed up Civil War analogies because that's my specialty.

Patrick, I share your respect for educators. My Mom and her Mom were public school teachers. And I've always had a love of libraries. :-)

Curious that Patrick chose to write about a FIVE SECOND GAFF by Biden and overlook Joe's eloquent FORTY MINUTE speech "Biden: McCain “dangerously wrong” on foreign policy"

Joe Biden gave a speech today in Cincinnati where he ripped into the failed Bush/McCain foreign policy, and laid out clearly the different approach he and Obama would take to keep us safe and regain our good standing in the world.

This week, John talked about the judgment required to be Commander in Chief. He’s right: nothing is more important than judgment. But time and again, on the most critical national security issues of our time, John McCain’s judgment was wrong.

John is more than wrong — he is dangerously wrong. On a question so basic, so fundamental, so critical to our nation’s security, we can’t afford a Commander-in Chief so divorced from reality and from America’s most basic national interests.

Follow link for full transcript

But then again... maybe it's not curious at all.

Hmm - how come not one comment about how old Biden is, and if he is senile, and if he is capable of serving his full term? Because every single time McCain makes such a mistake, those types of comments come a'flyin. Not that I am implying any bias, mind you.

Patrick asks: "Wonder what would happen if McCain or Palin had said something like this."

"What would happen IF"? Now that's rich... But to your question:

Some will give him a pass... Brit Hume: McCain's Gaffs a "Senior Moment"

And others won't... McCain's YouTube Problem Just Became a Nightmare

Mea culpa, Elrod.

Yes, I can see why that can be irritating if one is passionate about the history of a particular period.

But I feel there is too great a focus on gaffes in this election.
Even Obama has made his share, and he is an unusually disciplined candidate.

Hey, let Joe be Joe!

But in answer to the question raised, neither McCain nor Palin could make these gaffes. You see, they don't do question and answer. Well, OK, I think John took maybe three today, and Sarah actually took a few from Katie. But they are the exceptions necessary to prove the rule.

Just in response to the comments.

I posted this because I thought it was amusing. I didn't attack Senator Biden at all, the most political I got was to muse on what McCain would get if he slipped. In either case I don't think its a big deal, other than one side getting a little more of a pass.

But mostly I thought it was simply funny.

I would hope all of us could see some things in life w/o partisan lens, but then maybe not.

O.K... I do non-partisan, too. After all we're not at the end of the line quite yet! :)

Sort of like McCain saying he invented the Blackberry....we got more important things to worry about now.

Thanks for the link Steve, nice interlude!

Sort of like McCain saying he invented the Blackberry....

The thing about gaffes is, they're funny and inconsequential if a person says them once, realizes the error, and corrects them. When they say them a second time or more, then you begin to wonder.

What has Joe Biden talked as he if saw him on TV and tried to explain what he said on TV. Crazy? Wacky? Insane? Out of his mind making stuff up? Seeing visions of things that didn't happen. This guy is one heart beat away from being president.

How many Presidents died in office and how many of those were because of old age???

And for you Biden lovers out there... give me one expample of anything Biden has done politically that wasn't a screw up

The difference between a Gaffe and a flat out made up lie told as if it really happened. I would be one thing if he screwed up the name of the person on TV but the fact is there was no TV. So Biden has never seen or heard nor was it ever said... completely made up a complete fabrication and a total lie.... not a mistake or a gaffe... A LIE after he just got done saying it is important to actually know what you are talking about. And if she would have followed up and said "Joe... WTF are you talking about?" I am sure he would have been able to explain that it wasn't FDR, it wasn't on TV and it never happened - that he never heard it, he never saw it.... and that he doesn't know what he is talking about

Wikipedia
Gaffe =
A gaffe is a verbal mistake, usually made in a social environment. The mistake may come from saying something that is true, but inappropriate. It may also be an erroneous attempt to reveal a truth. Finally, gaffes can be malapropisms, grammatical errors or other verbal and gestural weaknesses or revelations through body language. Actually revealing factual or social truth through words or body language, however, can commonly result in embarrassment or, when the gaffe has negative connotations, friction between people involved.

A grammatical or literary error is more embarrassing in the company of intellectuals, professors or serious students, just as errors of science can be embarrassing among scientists or doctors. The protagonist attorney in the film Liar Liar plays on the nature of truth revelation, however, and its ambiguous or unexpected consequences.

As used by some journalists, particularly sportswriters, "gaffe" becomes an imagined synonym for any kind of mistake, e.g., a dropped ball by a player in a baseball game. Philosophers and psychologists interested in the nature of the gaffe include Freud and Gilles Deleuze. Deleuze, in his Logic of Sense, places the gaffe in a developmental process that can culminate in stuttering.

Wikepedia Types of lies
The various types of lies include the following:

Fabrication
A fabrication is a lie told when someone submits a statement as truth, without knowing for certain whether or not it actually is true. Although the statement may be possible or plausible, it is not based on fact. Rather, it is something made up - or it is a misrepresentation of the truth.
Note: it is entirely possible (and common) for one to fabricate a lie and believe it.
Examples of fabrication: "The dog ate my homework", or "I did unplug the iron".
Bald-faced lie
A bald-faced (or barefaced, or boldfaced) lie is one which is told when it is obvious to all concerned that it is a lie. For example, a child who has chocolate all around his mouth and denies that he has eaten any chocolate is a bald-faced liar.
Lying by omission
One lies by omission by omitting an important fact, deliberately leaving another person with a misconception. Lying by omission includes failures to correct pre-existing misconceptions. A husband may tell his wife he was out at a store, which is true, but lie by omitting the fact that he also visited his mistress, although it is disputable whether or not this is actually a lie. In most cases, the person has not directly denied a truth, but merely omitted some part of what transpired.
Lie-to-children
A lie-to-children is a lie, often a platitude which may use euphemism(s), which is told to make an adult subject acceptable to children. A common example is "The stork brought you" (in reference to childbirth).
White lie
A white lie would cause no discord if it were uncovered, and offers some benefit to the liar, the hearer, or both. White lies are often used to avoid offense, such as telling someone that you think that their new outfit looks good, when you actually think that it is a horrible excuse for an outfit. In this case, the lie is told to avoid the harmful realistic implications of the truth. As a concept, it is largely defined by local custom and cannot be clearly separated from other lies with any authority. As such, the term may have differing meanings in different cultures. Lies which are harmless (but told for no reason) are generally called white lies.
Noble lie
A noble lie is one which would normally cause discord if it were uncovered, but which offers some benefit to the liar and assists in an orderly society, therefore potentially beneficial to others. It is often told to maintain law, order and safety. A noble lie usually has the effect of helping an elite maintain power.
Emergency lie
An emergency lie is a strategic lie told when the truth may not be told because, for example, harm to a third party would result. For example, a neighbour might lie to an enraged husband about the whereabouts of his unfaithful wife, because said husband might reasonably be expected to inflict physical injury should he encounter his wife in person. Alternatively, an emergency lie could denote a (temporary) lie told to a second person because of the presence of a third.
Perjury
Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law, or in any of various sworn statements in writing. Perjury is a crime, because the witness has sworn to tell the truth and, for the credibility of the court to remain intact, witness testimony must be relied on as truthful.
Bluffing
Pretending to have a capability or intention which one does not actually possess. Bluffing is an act of deception which is rarely seen as immoral, because it takes place in the context of a game where this kind of deception is consented to in advance by the players. For instance, a gambler who deceives other players into thinking he has different cards to those which he really holds, or an athlete who indicates he will move left and then actually dodges right, is not considered to be lying. In these situations, deception is accepted and indeed expected as a tactic.
Misleading
A misleading statement is one where there is no outright lie, but there still remains the purpose of making someone believe in an untruth.
Dissembling
"Dissembling" is a polite term for lying, though some might consider it a reference to merely misleading. It is usually considered to be a euphemism for lying.
Exaggeration
An exaggeration occurs when the most fundamental aspect(s) of a statement is true, but only to a certain degree. An example of this sort of lie is when someone says they are so hungry they could eat a horse.
Jocose lies
Jocose lies are those which are meant in jest, and are usually understood as such by all present parties. Teasing and sarcasm are examples. A more elaborate instance is seen in storytelling traditions which are present in some places, where the humour comes from the storyteller's insistence that he or she is telling the absolute truth, despite all evidence being to the contrary (i.e. tall tale). There is debate about whether these are "real" lies, and different philosophers hold different views (see below).
Promotion lies
Advertisements often contain statements which are incredible, such as "We are always happy to give a refund", or exaggerated predictions such as "You will love our new product".
Belief systems
It is alleged[1] that some belief systems may find lying to be justified. Leo Tolstoy is cited[2] as describing religious institutions as "the product of deception [and] lies for a good purpose".

Aren't words just swell! ;-)