Biden: “The President Has a Big Stick”

Really, someone needs to proofread Joe Biden’s prepared remarks before putting them in the teleprompter:

Daniel Drezner puts in best:

NOTE TO WHITE HOUSE/CAMPAIGN SPEECHWRITERS:   In the future, avoid having Biden utter any of the following:  ”big stick”, “hard power”, “pounding the enemy”,  ”won’t take no for an answer”, and “smooth-talking his adversaries”.

Am I missing anything?

I think that about covers it, but then there’s always the Vice-President’s proclivity to ad-lib.

FILED UNDER: 2012 Election, US Politics, , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Hey Norm says:

    I was going to type the inevitable President is a black man joke.
    Then I decided not to.

  2. Since they’re presumably doing due diligence by running them through a plagiarism detection service already, given Biden’s demonstrated gift for coincidentally repeating verbatim other politicians’ speeches, proofreading shouldn’t be that much extra work.

  3. Gromitt Gunn says:

    @Chris Lawrence: I’m sure the White House could convince Turn It In to construct a “porn-tastic euphemism” filter.

  4. Gustopher says:

    Hey, if it’s true…

    For some reason this reminds me of my favorite Bill Clinton joke.

    Q: Do you know why teenage pregnancy went down during Clinton’s presidency?
    A: it’s really a very demanding job, and cut into his time for socializing.

  5. Franklin says:

    Why does everybody have to act like 13-year-olds these days? The shtick is old. Doug, you’re a grown-up.

  6. michael reynolds says:

    Oh, great, now that Franklin’s gone all mature I can’t do my “Once you Gobama you never go back,” line.

  7. Gromitt Gunn says:

    @michael reynolds: I see what you did there!

  8. Hey Norm says:

    I am happy to see that not one of these comments has been judged to be “Helpful”.

  9. Rufus T. Firefly says:

    So, I take it there will be no attempts to replace “Hail to the Chief” with “Bom Chicka Wah Wah.”

  10. Murray says:

    “…someone needs to proofread Joe Biden’s prepared remarks”

    Why? Biden has been putting his foot in his mouth his whole life and those that it bothers won’t vote for Obama anyway.

    Personally, I like pols who let it rip and dare say “it’s a big fucking deal” when it is.

  11. Jenos Idanian says:

    “It’s twue! It’s twue!”

  12. anjin-san says:

    Hey at least we know why conservatives really hate him so much…

  13. An Interested Party says:

    Hey at least we know why conservatives really hate him so much…

    POTUS envy?

  14. anjin-san says:

    An Interested Party wins the innernets tonight…

  15. anjin-san says:

    You know, when you look at the GOP candidates, past and current, each and every one of whom has been on the cover of “Dork Life” magazine, and then you watch Obama on Jimmy Fallon the other night, you can see why there is more than one reason for them to hate him…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAFQIciWsF4

  16. Jenos Idanian says:

    @anjin-san: Yeah, Obama reciting talking points while a band doesn’t play “lyin-ass bitch” is totally cool. Especially when Obama doesn’t mention 1) this only affects incoming students, not those in college already, and 2) the change was agreed to and voted on by Congress and signed by Obama, who all agreed that the lower rate should be temporary and expire this year — kind of like the Bush tax cuts.

    And go ahead, tell me when war heroes John McCain and Bob Dole appeared on “Dork Life’s” cover. Or former pro football player Jack Kemp. Or Pat Buchanan.

    I realize none of them have the innate suaveness of Dennis Kucinich, or the inspirational trustworthiness of John Edwards, or the common touch of a John Kerry, but still…

  17. Jenos Idanian says:

    @Jenos Idanian: I need to correct myself: the legislation was passed by the House (under Speaker Pelosi) and the Senate (under Majority Leader Reid) in 2007. The Democrats set the lower rates to expire this year. Why shouldn’t we allow them to expire as intended?

  18. Tillman says:

    Why shouldn’t we allow them to expire as intended?

    Probably since circumstances when the bill was ratified by Congress have changed measurably in a negative direction. I mean, that’s what organisms do to survive, change and adapt according to circumstances.

  19. anjin-san says:

    @Jenos Idanian

    tell me when war heroes John McCain and Bob Dole appeared on “Dork Life’s” cover.

    If you are too stupid to figure out I am talking about this year’s candidates, that’s your problem. Add it to your already long list. My uncle fought at Frozen Chosin, I don’t need any input on war heroes from your candy ass.

  20. anjin-san says:

    In other news, Romney gives coma inducing speech to college students:

    The volume levels at the colleges President Obama spoke at this week as part of his campaign to keep student loan rates down hovered somewhere between “NBA playoff game” and “supersonic jet.” Mitt Romney’s address Friday at Otterbein University was not quite there yet.

    Mostly sticking to his go-to stump topics, Romney delivered a sleepy address to students at the Ohio school, some of whom seemed to struggle to stay awake. Sometimes it was a losing struggle.

    http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/04/college-students-not-exactly-fired-up-for-mitt-romney.php?ref=fpa

  21. An Interested Party says:

    Mitt Romney’s address Friday at Otterbein University was not quite there yet.

    Oh, so it was like that empty dark cavern when Romney spoke at Ford Field…this race is so shaping up to be just like 2004…

  22. Jenos Idanian says:

    @anjin-san: If you meant this year’s list of candidates, jackwagon, perhaps you should have specified so. Instead, don’t whine because I brought up “past” candidates — including the most recent nominee.

    And please cite the qualifications for “the cover of Dork Life” of Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, Rick Perry, and Michele Bachmann. I’ll grant you most of the rest, but you’re the one who put forward the open-ended “You know, when you look at the GOP candidates, past and current, each and every one of whom has been on the cover of “Dork Life” magazine…”