I like the idea of Joe Biden's foot up Dick Cheney's a** rather than it's usual position in Biden's mouth.

Ron Reagan, on "Hardball(s)" last evening, was more accurate than Biden when he called Cheney an "unindicted [sic] war criminal."

(When will "unindicted," so often employed during Watergate, be accepted by SpellCheck and dictionary.com?)

It is really rich to hear Cheney accuse Obama of dithering over what to do in Afghanistan, if Cheney and Bush hadn't ignored the war there for 7 years maybe it wouldn't be such a mess

I love Joe Biden. He says what he thinks. Honesty - how refreshing.

Cheney, pretty much the best Veep we've ever had. Biden, Ron Reagan, Obama - sound and fury who do not and can not signify much.

Time will get to the bottom of it all. I'm willing to wait.

I find Biden a breath of fresh air. Too bad a Democratic VP hasn't gone on to much of anything in so long.

Joe Biden - telling it like it is?

"Mr. Biden spent much of this week in Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic assuring leaders in the region that the cancellation of Mr. Bush’s antimissile shield in favor of a more mobile replacement was not a concession to Russia, as Mr. Cheney and others contended."

If Biden is saying it ain't, than that's a bald-faced lie. Of course it was a concession to Russia. And he's a moron if he thinks anyone on Russia's doorstep is gonna believe otherwise.

To make it worse, we got played by them... they were supposedly gonna get tougher with Iran in exchange for us dropping missile defense, and then OOPS! Change of heart. And Hilary can't even get a meeting with Putin. Huge diss. (Hmmmm, about as big as the diss from Obama when he wouldn't dine with Sarkozy. Or when the Dalai Lama has to come AFTER the Chinese.)

Obama's "dialogue" strategy plays well at home, but the people we need to show strength to are laughing at us...

Larry, could you proffer some evidence in support of your assertion?

BTW, Frank Gaffney was the Cheney surrogate on "Hardball(s)" last evening. Another chickenhawk who favored war fought by others, he copped serial deferments from an alleged boil on his bum. A true protégé of Perle. Wiki describes him thusly:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Gaffney

Last evening, in the absence of credible arguments, Gaffney lashed out at Ron Reagan with the formulaic "Your father would be ashamed of you." He proffered no evidence in support of his assertion.

Larry, you could have stopped at "... he's a moron ..."

Ever notice how in the past vice-president candidates were chosen to help carry a certain state or region of the country. Now it seems that they are chosen so that the fear that this moron could actually become the president makes the country protect the president more than ever?

GM - Nope. Not interested in getting in a Link War... which inevitably happens on these blogs. I'll just offer that I've seen that assertion of a quid pro quo in quite a few places, and I believe it. You may believe otherwise. It's no secret that Putin still runs the country and that boy don't play.

I will say that one of my favorite places for news concerning Russia is this site: http://www.robertamsterdam.com/

Incidently, an interesting wrinkle came up regarding Iran the other day. Not sure how much credence to put into it... but there's been some scuttlebutt that the uranium that Iran has been enriching has impurities that they've been unsuccessful in dealing with. Hence their suddenly willingness to have Russia handle enrichment. The f'd-up part is that supposedly, the uranium as it stands now is already sufficiently-enriched for producing power, which is supposed to be their whole "reason" for developing nuclear facilities in the first place. Wouldn't surprise me if true, and would again show that Russia really has no interest in working with the international community to keep nuclear bomb production out of the hands of the Iranians. Then again, those Ruskies are crafty, so this also could be their attempt to control Iranian nuclear capabilities...

Who knows? All I know is this - these are dicey, messy, ugly processes... and all the feel-good American "engagment" and "dialogue" in the world doesn't mean a hill of beans to those folks.

Larry K, I was responding to Larry, not to you. You had not posted while I was drafting my response to Larry.

But while you're on the blog, Larry K, was your observation regarding VP selections based on anyone besides Quayle and Cheney?

I like Joe Biden, and his rep as a gaffe machine is greatly exaggerated. Except for the infamous "sneeze" incident:

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/gaffe_prone_biden_embarrasses

I will say that one of my favorite places for news concerning Russia is this site: http://www.robertamsterdam.com/

Amsterdam hires professional bloggers to write articles for both his blogs. And, he's well known for representing rich Russians and criticizing the Russian government "conspiracy" for not letting them off.

Hence their suddenly willingness to have Russia handle enrichment.

Wrong. it's been publicly discussed for over two years.

The f'd-up part is that supposedly, the uranium as it stands now is already sufficiently-enriched for producing power, which is supposed to be their whole "reason" for developing nuclear facilities in the first place.

It's not "already sufficiently enriched" to produce power. That's an easy one to educate yourself about--no, not from blogs, not from the US propoganda machine, but from the IAEA and scientists themselves.

and would again show that Russia really has no interest in working with the international community to keep nuclear bomb production out of the hands of the Iranians

Why should they? It's clear that the US and other countries have every interested in keeping power (especially nuclear arsenals) unto themselves. Given that the US has killed a half million people using nuclear weapons, I'm not sure what credibility it has telling other countries who can and can't have nuclear weapons.

Then again, those Ruskies are crafty, so this also could be their attempt to control Iranian nuclear capabilities...

Which is exactly what the US and Israel are trying to do.

Biden gives me the creeps.

If Biden gives you the creeps, Darth Cheney must have had you hiding under the bed in terror.

Like so many others I too love Joe Biden. He always tells it like it is. He also said Cheney was irrelevant, and I think that was better wording...LOL.

By the comments, it appears a few do not know Biden's extensive history nor what has occured in detail on this latest trip. I encourage anyone interested in the missle defense system, these countries and our adminitration to actually do objective reading. It was a very successful trip for the vice president and our nation.

Joe Biden is brilliant in foreign policy...always has been, and as VP, I believe he has stepped it up a notch.

Biden also has a larger and more diverse portfolio and responsibilities set than any vice president in our history, and he's doing and excellent job. That says a lot about Biden, but it also says a lot about our president's trust in Joe's abilities. Biden has taken a huge role in foreign policy, ARRA stim spending, middle class task force, clean energy, and even health care.

He is one of the best campaigners and fundraisers for Democratic candidates...a gift he has always had with reaching audiences with straight talk and honest delivery.

Sorry, inconsequential gaffes do not interest me. I understand media and detractors like to latch onto such trivia and run with it. I prefer unique elected officials like Joe Biden. He is a treasure to this nation and I am glad he chose a life of service.

Many can't do it, but I say give Biden positive acknowledgement he truly deserves.

"Brilliant in foreign policy ... always has been" - Biden voted against the 1991 Gulf War and for the 2003 Iraq invasion. Let's pray he spares us further brilliance.

Yes, Biden is well-known for brilliance in foreign policy. Sadly, as stated earlier, the unwise "surge/band-aid" fix was a temporary feel good for the U.S. and no more. Another vote on which Mr. Biden was found to be correct.

Sadly too, there has been a continued loss of military and civilian lives (gasp) as well as millions upon millions upon millions of U.S. dollars only to see, as Biden predicted, absolutely no positive long-term effect of the surge.

More than just a little embarrassing, wouldn't you say? Tragic. It was a strategic failure and only prolonged the inevitable.