Doug Ross @ Journal

We're Slashing the Price of Strawmen at Crazy Joe's!

John Roberts (PBS)
If you're looking for a patron saint of obstructionists, look no further than "Slow Joe" Biden. Gearing up for the Supreme Court nomination process, Biden is out to get as much face time as possible, no matter how embarrassing the venue or his remarks. In a speech yesterday, Biden discussed a government that would limit the number of children a family could have and might outlaw all stem-cell research. The implication, of course, is that these are directions in which John Roberts might guide the court.

And, no, I don't think he was drunk, though he was doing a passable imitation.

These strawmen simply represent the advance scouts of the Democratic offensive. Raise strawman after strawman and let the nominee waste time hurdling useless calumny.

Biden, of course, is on the Senate Judiciary Committee. His goal is simple: to get as much camera time as possible during the confirmation process, thereby thwarting Hillary's 2008 advance publicity campaign.

And he obviously has no shame. In 2003, Biden supported Roberts' nomination to District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. Does the word hypocrite come to mind?

Do me a favor and ook up plagiarism in the dictionary. You get... Joe Biden. No, I'm not kidding. Webster's Online Dictionary defines plagiarism using several famous examples including:

...Senator Joseph Biden was forced to withdraw from the 1988 Democratic Presidential nominations when it was revealed he had failed a course in law school due to plagiarism. It was also shown that he had plagiarised several campaign speeches, notably those of British Labour leader Neil Kinnock and Senator Robert F. Kennedy...

If Biden had an ounce of dignity, he'd have resigned his Senate seat then and returned in disgrace to his home state. Instead, he's hung around for a couple of decades, dispensing obstructionist rhetoric as a MassPort truck dumps road salt during a snow storm.

Consider the John Bolton nomination, the vote for which was hamstrung by a litany of document requests and procedural rigamarole led by Biden and Chris Dodd. What egregious crime had Bolton committed? Nothing so serious as Biden's admitted plagiarism, that much is certain:

No wild accusation was ever proved, other than that he sought the removal of two intelligence analysts for incompetence and insubordination. Notably, both the 9/11 Commission and Robb-Silberman Commission said policy makers have a responsibility to question and challenge intelligence analysts.

That's the extent of Bolton's crimes. He sought to have a couple of analysts removed, which at least two bipartisan commissions have characterized as a perfectly legitimate practice.

Once the issue of analysts had been resolved, Biden and friends resorted to shell game of procedural requests. Biden's money quote?

I would consider the failure to produce the requested documents in a timely manner a lack of cooperation.

It's another case of moving goalposts, one of the Democrats' favorite games. Obstructionism didn't work for Tom Daschle, he of the recent ex-communication. And it won't work for the next series of Democratic leaders either.

Just don't count on Biden coming to grips with that anytime soon. Fact is, there's no disputing Biden's nickname in the blogosphere. "Slow Joe" Biden is a name that will live in infamy, wherever and whenever obstructionism raises its ugly head. Fortunately, Biden and his vast intellect are no more likely to get the Democratic nod in '08 than is Jessica Simpson. Slow Joe just doesn't know it yet, which is pretty much par for the course.