Joe Biden and Al Haig

The buck stops here?

When I read this article it kind of reminded me of Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of State Al Haig when, after an assassination attempt on the president’s life, Haig said:  “I am in control here.” Of course, Haig forgot about the vice president.  And the Speaker of the House.  And a few more, too!

Here’s how Joe Biden is doing:

With President Obama off on vacation, his second in two weeks, unofficial Acting President Joe Biden has stepped into the vacuum, claiming credit Thursday for the successes of the administration’s $787 billion stimulus package and fielding questions on health care reform — something his boss hasn’t done in nearly two weeks.

The vice president, borrowing Mr. Obama’s teleprompter for a speech before a friendly audience at the Brookings Institution, said “I” more than a dozen times as he pointed repeatedly to progress on the economy and to his lofty role in the process.

“Every week — with notable exceptions — I hold a Cabinet meeting. And most of the Cabinet secretaries attend,” he told the audience in Washington.

Mr. Biden said he had also talked to “every single governor except one, who’s now a former governor.” The crowd laughed, getting the reference to former Alaska Republican Gov. Sarah Palin. “By the way, it wasn’t by design. She was going to be on a couple of times and couldn’t for other reasons,” he said defensively.

In a presidential-like declaration, Mr. Biden said the buck stops with him. “I take responsibility for mistakes that were made,” he said at one point.

Biden channels Haig.

It’s hard to take Biden seriously even on one of his good days.  Usually the gaffe-prone vice president tells the truth, which is why he’s “gaffe-prone.”  For example, when Swine Flu became a hot topic he said there’s no way he’d let his family take public transportation or fly on commercial airways.  Everybody was thinking what he said but, of course, Biden was expected to say the opposite.  It was funny when he was forced later to “modify” his statements.

Well at least we have somebody “taking responsibility” at the White House even if he’s really not responsible for much.

The thing I like about Biden is he’s funniest when he tries to be serious.  Why did Obama pick him again?  I guess he was afraid he might wake up with a knife in his back were Hillary Clinton his VP pick.

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