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Fri column ping

Joe Biden makes case for ... term limits
By Howie Carr | Friday, October 12, 2012 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists

Photo by AP
Hey Joe Biden, what’s so funny?

The only real takeaway from this debate is we really need term limits for politicians. Joe Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1972 at age 30. Somewhere around 1992, he should have had to go out and get a real job.

Nothing like having to answer to a boss to make you a little more humble. What’s up with the smirking? It seemed like Clint Eastwood was back up on stage, this time in character from “Gran Torino.”

“Get off my lawn!”

Not that it’s saying much, but Joe Biden was better than his boss, “Barack America,” as he’s been known to call Obama. But he got off to a rather poor start with his finger-pointing about Benghazi. Whose fault was this disaster? Biden’s story didn’t jibe with the latest rationalizations. He said, “We were not told that they wanted more security, we did not know they wanted more security.”

Huh? Hasn’t that statement been “inoperative,” as Ron Ziegler used to say, since at least Wednesday? That’s a poor way to start a 90-minute debate, with a big whopper.

And Martha Raddatz — maybe inviting Barack to her second wedding should have disqualified her. Why didn’t she interrupt Biden as much as she interrupted Ryan? I remember her when she was Martha Bradlee of Ch. 5. Martha Bradlee wouldn’t have let Biden get away with all that high-school Harry malarkey, to coin a phrase.

Man, Biden really is an old-line Democrat. He waved the bloody shirts, all of them. These Republicans, they want to get rid of home-mortgage deductions, and Medicare, and Social Security, and oh yeah, Roe v. Wade.

Speaking of which, his religion guides his life. That’s why he used to vote against abortion in the Senate, just like Ted Kennedy. Then the polling numbers changed, and now, well, never mind. He wouldn’t attempt to impose his beliefs on anyone else. Except, of course, about how much money “millionaires” need to live on. Then, he’s quite sure he knows how to, you know, “level the playing field.”

Rep. Paul Ryan was OK. He showed deference, never taking the bait from the garrulous old fool. He got off his one allotted zinger, answering Biden about Mitt Romney’s 47 percent crack, saying the vice president surely knows what it’s like to have something come out of your mouth not quite in the way you intended.

Biden mentioned that Ryan had his own 47 percent moment, when he said that 30 percent of the American people are “takers.” But does anyone outside of MSNBC really doubt those numbers? Mitt’s problem was his number was too high. Ryan’s was about right.

Do you want to ever watch another vice presidential debate? I’m not sure if the problem is with the debates themselves, or the fact that Joe Biden seems to be in all of them.

Enough with the undercard. Let’s get back to the main event.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1061167091

here was Thursday’s
Liz Warren loses her way even in land of moonbats
By Howie Carr | Thursday, October 11, 2012 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists

Photo by Christopher Evans
The only difference between last night’s debate and the first two was the audience. There were more moonbats. They come with the territory — public television.

It’s getting to the point where most viewers can come up with the responses before the candidates get their rebuttal time.

“I didn’t vote for your boss ... 288 combat missions ... We have a Buffett rule in this state ... He had a chance to vote for women ... $350,000 salary for one course ... millionaires and billionaires.”

At least he finally nailed her on “hammered,” when she dropped the H word and he said something like, “Drop the hammer.”

The crowd booed. Somewhere Big Bird was smiling.

But Granny last night dusted off a new favorite word — investment. This can likely be attributed to the debating tips she got from Mike Dukakis — did he phone in from his tank? The Duke always loved the word “invest” in all its variations. Usually he was talking about investing in a “national model.”

Talk about a dog whistle for hacks. They know what an investment is. It’s a tax on somebody who works to be given to somebody who doesn’t. It’s an investment “in the future.” Their future, not yours.

They don’t call the 413 area code “Happy Valley” for nothing, but despite its crunchy-granola, Vermont-y ambience, Granny still can’t seem to figure out exactly where she is. Remember, last spring she thought they had a seacoast. Last night she mentioned “out here in Massachusetts.”

Odd turn of phrase, like Obama landing in Hawaii and saying he liked returning to “Asia.” Scott Brown certainly picked up on it. In his next turn, he immediately said, “I’m from here.”

But the strangest thing Granny said was her reference to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as a “baby agency.” A baby agency? Its budget is already $550 million, 60 percent of its 958 employees make more than $100,000, and the director’s secretary makes $165,139 a year. If that’s a baby, it’s Rosemary’s baby.

How many times is she going to mention the economic plans that were graded by the Boston Globe, and guess what, she came out ahead of the Republican! Who’d-a thunk it?

You want some more stats from the Globe, Granny? On Sept. 30, you were five points ahead in a poll, and the Globe put it above the fold on page one, the lead story. Yesterday, Scott Brown was four points ahead in a poll, and the Globe used it as a news-in-brief item on page B2.

One pitch Brown threw her that she didn’t bite at: four bucks a gallon for gas. It doesn’t work in her narrative about “Big Oil.” Don’t want voters remembering that $1.84-a-gallon gas on Jan. 20, 2009.

Give Granny credit though. She supports “nuanced approaches” and “clear objectives.” She also thinks we need to “get serious.”

Why didn’t Scott Brown think of that?

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1061166810