Deseret News | Biden — liar or confused?

Reader comments
Readers' forum: Biden — liar or confused?

Anonymous | 7:19 a.m. July 10, 2009

I like biden; he's scrappy and true to himself even if he talks more than he should. And his mistakes should in no way diminish the fact that sarah is sharp as a pound of raw liver.

u forgot | 7:30 a.m. July 10, 2009

"this is the worst economy since the great depression".
"We underestimated the economy"
These guys are pure politicians and will say whatever is expedient at the time.

RedShirt | 7:55 a.m. July 10, 2009

I like today's story about Biden that said:

According to the White House schedule, Biden will not spend the remainder of the work day in private meetings that are closed press.

Instead: "The Vice President will spend the remainder of the day in meetings that are closed press."

The meetings aren't private, just not open to the press.

Comments continue below

lost in DC | 8:09 a.m. July 10, 2009

Liar or confused? try both

uncannygunman | 8:09 a.m. July 10, 2009

You've discovered Joe's personal liberal agenda--deliberately lying about when television was invented to convince people that it was actually invented by Al Gore's great-grandfather.

I'll alert the impeachment authorities.

Wes Lausten | 8:13 a.m. July 10, 2009

Thanks for a great letter, Marcia.

Lute | 10:09 a.m. July 10, 2009

Mrs. O. must have been truly terrified when "Honest Dick" Cheney had the job.

Mike | 10:19 a.m. July 10, 2009

In answer to the question asked by the headline, the answer is YES!

lost in DC | 12:25 p.m. July 10, 2009

Lute, are saying because you view one person as a liar it's OK for others to lie? Weren't you ever taught that two wrongs don't make a right?

He's an idiot | 1:10 p.m. July 10, 2009

I think Bidden is just an idiot.

How does the MAIN MAN responsible to head up, manage and be in control of spending the BILLIONS in the stimulus programs... not even know the URL (or "Web-number" as this old-fart puts it) for the website used to track and communicate this spending information to the public???

He's either becoming senile or he just doesn't care enough to stay informed on his job responsibilities anymore.

Stalwart Sentinel | 1:52 p.m. July 10, 2009

Biden is kooky, speaks purely on emotion, and lacks an internal 'filter' to be sure, but he has proven himself in various capacities over many years. Aside from constant re-elections, he has overcome great personal tragedy, done well in heading the Foreign Relations Committee, to pushing for civil liberties and VAWA, and remains pretty down to earth (Amtrak Joe).

The alternative, for a short while, ran a city that doesn't even have a fire department, spent like crazy on her wardrobe when given the chance, and seemingly quits when the going gets tough. Biden's still around, so for me, that alone puts him lengths ahead of the other.

Lute | 2:58 p.m. July 10, 2009

to Lost 12:25:
Happy to reply to your question. When Dick Cheney lied, bad things resulted, the worst of which was a ridiculous but costly war which made us more enemies than friends, and which we will still be paying for into the future. His lies helped cause suffering and death. If the worst Biden ever does is to miss in hindsight the date for invention of the TV, that's not too bad. Even if he set out to match Cheney lie for lie, at least no one's been blown to bits, bombed, orphaned or crippled as a result. As liars go, Biden is not even in Cheney's league IF you take consequences into consideration, wouldn't you agree?

Eric Samuelsen | 3:40 p.m. July 10, 2009

Calling Joe Biden a liar is a bit harsh. He does have a tendency to speak without thinking. He's also devoted his life to public service, with an enviable record of actual accomplishments. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, quit as soon things got a little tough. She's said all sorts of nonsense about how much frivolous ethics complaints have cost Alaska. On those questions, she's just made stuff up.

Re "Lute | 2:58 p.m." | 3:52 p.m. July 10, 2009

Lute | 2:58 p.m.

The left had NO mercy when it came to light that the past administration got bad information and acted on it. Yet you don't give a Lute when the current administration admits to doing the same thing, (Obama recently admited they didn't have all the information and acted on bad information, and the economy paid the price).

I agree the consequences were different in these two cases, but the actions on bad information were the SAME.

My point is...
You only complain about one. So to me that shows that you are partisan-hack (who only sees the faults of the other side and is intentionally-blind to the faults of your own side, just like the people you criticise for being critical of Obama's spending but who weren't quite as vocal about Bush's out of control spending).

Try to overcome the blatant partisan blindness and your postings will have more credibility.

Lute | 6:19 p.m. July 10, 2009

I admit I have more tolerance for a lie that DOESN'T end in war than one which does. "Got bad information and acted on it" is your phrase, aimed at generous treatment for Cheney and his ilk. I sure don't recall any hedging or doubts in those hundreds of announcements making a case for war when the facts weren't there. Do you recall the phrase "we don't torture'? More "bad information"? Yes - from our own government.

What amazes me now is that the same people willing to continue war PAST six years are now demanding a turnaround of the economy, furious that it hasn't happened in six MONTHS. Who's wearing "blatant partisan blinders" now?

RE: lute | 9:52 p.m. July 10, 2009

REgardless if anyone lied, if in actuality there were any lies,

Obama, Biden, and the democrats have NOT changed anything,

but are staying the course that the former adminstration set.

The last we left a country, (vietnam) 2.2 million peole were slaughtered,

where is your liberal comapassion for them?

Problably the same your liberal compassion for those in iraq is.

Larry W. | 10:30 p.m. July 10, 2009

BOTH!

Mc | 11:07 p.m. July 10, 2009

The definition of "lie" is to make an untrue statement with the intent to deceive. Just because something doesn't turn out to be the way you thought doesn't mean you lied in the first place. It means you were mistaken. If Bush and Cheney lied about WMD then Obama and Biden lied about the economy. I'm a reasonable thinking republican and I don't think they lied about the economy. They were just mistaken. You don't hear many reasonable thinking democrats admitting that Bush abnd Cheney didn't lie, they were just mistaken, just like the CIA and all of Congress were.

You keep forgetting | 8:25 a.m. July 11, 2009

There is a double standard for those who need national scrutiny. Old Joe is from the left and a Democrat, so the media recognizes him as one of "theirs". The effort is made to show his stupidness as just a bunch of silliness. "That is Joe being Joe", and the rest of us need to just shut up and not be critical. We need to be criticism if for the Republicans. Since Biden has had a long career of being a rubber stamp for the leftist agenda, he becomes a respected statesman. Put him through the meaningless, petty scrutiny that Palin has been though, and throw in the ridicules, hate agenda legal claims that she has had against her, and Biden might have been gone by now also.

Lute | 10:18 a.m. July 11, 2009

to Mr. 9:52
Let's see if I have this correct. In order to show my compassion for Iraqis, I should be in favor of CONTINUING our 6-year occupation? Are you sure the Iraqis agree with your theory? Didn't I just see pictures of them dancing in the streets anticipating us LEAVING?

to Mc 11:07
Thanks for your attempt to mediate. I personally don't see the two things you referred to (WMD and the economy) as being connected, and, yes, think that justifications for attacking Iraq were mainly lies. I will grant that the Bush folks thought they'd find SOMETHING to justify the WMD claim once they occupied the country, but even THAT failed.

gkw | 12:42 p.m. July 11, 2009

Biden or Sarah Palin? Looking at a catalogue of Biden’s gaffes, one is unlikely to find any that show a significant misinterpretation of his or the President’s role. While never actually saying he had With whom should we be more comfortable having our nuclear codes, Joe working-class roots, this is a myth perpetuated by the media, Biden has stretched the truth about his background more than once. But what about Palin’s hypocrisy and dishonesty? For example, she constantly railed against earmarks but as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska hired a well-connected law firm to lobby for nearly $27 million in earmarks, and continued to solicit earmarks as governor. A request form on Alaska Senator Ted Stevens’ Web site shows that she requested $160.5 million in earmarks in 2008, and almost $198 million for 2009 -- more, per person, than any other state. And she repeatedly lied about her record of support for the so-called “bridge to nowhere.”

gkw | 12:43 p.m. July 11, 2009

continued:
But most important, her gaffes reveal one who is woefully lacking in general knowledge and understanding of national and international politics -- who expected to be “in charge” of the Senate, expressed unconcern about being investigated for ethics violations because such charges would be, in her words, “automatically thrown out” by a non-existent “Department of Law,” and thought “perhaps” we should go to war with Russia over the Georgian crisis! I’m more comfortable with Biden.

Voter | 11:17 p.m. July 11, 2009

Biden is both.

Despite Obama's many serious flaws, the mere fact that Slow Joe is the VP causes me to pray daily for Obama's good health.

Obama selected Biden because Joe makes Obama look good. Or, maybe he just liked hearing Joe praise him as "...bright, clean and articulate."

Idahoan | 11:46 p.m. July 11, 2009

Mr. Biden was in the Senate for 30 years. He wasn't and isn't an economist. Yet can he really misread the economic data? Can a senator really misread the economy? Can he be so insulated to not understand the gravity of the situation? Did he not understand the information? I just have a hard time understanding how a guy can be in the Senate for 30 years and not realize the seriousness of economic downturns. The rest of the Obama team that misread it also are at fault.

I think Biden is out of touch with reality, so he doesn't see any problem with what he says. Whether it's a lie or confusion I'm not certain. He does look like a fool though. Remember when he divulged the secret location of a hiding place for the VP? He better hope he doesn't need that in the future.

Add your comment

Comments are monitored. Any comments found to be abusive, offensive, off-topic, misrepresentative, more than 200 words or containing URLs will not be posted.

Words Remaining

E-mail address: For internal use only. We may want to contact you to publish your comment (not your e-mail address) in the newspaper or for a separate story idea.