Cheatin’ Joe

This is pretty cool, from Rolling Stone via Political Animal:

Joe Biden: I was in the Oval Office the other day, and the president asked me what I would do about resignations. I said, “Look, Mr. President, would I keep Rumsfeld? Absolutely not.” And I turned to Vice President Cheney, who was there, and I said, “Mr. Vice President, I wouldn’t keep you if it weren’t constitutionally required.” I turned back to the president and said, “Mr. President, Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld are bright guys, really patriotic, but they’ve been dead wrong on every major piece of advice they’ve given you. That’s why I’d get rid of them, Mr. President — not just Abu Ghraib.” They said nothing. Just sat like big old bullfrogs on a log and looked at me.

Biden’s a funny duck. I hope everyone remembers his 1988 presidential bid, in which it was discovered that he had lied about his class standing in college, had been nailed for plagiarism in college, and was in fact lifting his best campaign sound bites from a British politician. As I recall, it was a Dukakis operative who called him out on it. At the time, I don’t think anyone had any idea why Biden was running for President; now I think I understand a bit better. He’s a real smart guy, he’s respected by his peers, and he gets to the point quickly. His contempt for this administration is nothing short of inspiring; try to find a clip of his denunciation of Ashcroft in the torture memo hearings.