Paul Ryan vs. Joe Biden - A Debate With The Joker

Political Realities ^ | 10/12/12 | LD Jackson

[LD Jackson]

The title of this post does not fully express the disgust with which I watched the Vice-Presidential debate last night. Paul Ryan and Joe Biden sat down at a table in the first face to face meeting of the two tickets vying for the Presidency since Mitt Romney wiped the floor with Barack Obama. There was never a doubt that Paul Ryan would be in command of the issues. He always is and is more than capable of articulating them with precision and accuracy. There was also no doubt that Joe Biden would be on the attack and that is exactly what happened. Given his bosses performance in Denver, he had no choice. In that regard, he did not disappoint his supporters. From the beginning of the debate, he went after Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan with everything he could muster.

Why did I feel disgust while watching the debate? The first thing that comes to mind is the moderator. Martha Raddatz was completely horrible. The questions she asked were pertinent enough, but she consistently allowed Joe Biden to interrupt Paul Ryan, with almost no rebuke. By some counts, Biden interrupted Ryan 82 different times. There were several times during the debate when Paul Ryan was not allowed to even finish his answer. Most notably was during the exchange on Libya. I realize the debate had to move on at some point, but time after time, Ryan was interrupted by Biden, and then was not allowed to come back and finish answering the question. I have already read several articles that say Marth Raddatz did a fairly good job as moderator, but I disagree. She was an epic failure.

Going to the reason I titled this post as I did, Joe Biden reminded me of the famous character from the Batman comic series. The Joker always had a smile on his face and he was always laughing, but his humor would kill you. He and Batman were always talking to each other during their fights and no matter what happened, the Joker kept right on smiling. Every time Paul Ryan tried to answer a question in his serious and studied manner, Biden started laughing. That laughter almost always led into him interrupting Ryan while he was trying to get his point across. In that regard, Joe Biden won this debate, hands down. Paul Ryan was too polite to assert himself, even though he had every right to do so. He tried to answer the questions and the Joker kept right on laughing and interrupting.

On the issue of the answers each candidate gave, I didn't keep notes and failed to watch the last 15 minutes of the debate, but I believe Paul Ryan did okay on that. Of course, Joe Biden consistently and constantly called him a liar and misrepresented what Ryan was saying, but that was to be expected. There were several glaring examples of this tactic. It first cropped up when the two candidates were talking about Libya. With the facts that we now have available, I am surprised Biden stayed with his story, but that didn't seem to bother him. Even though we all know the Obama administration knew within a day that the attacks in Libya were coordinated terrorist attacks, Biden had no trouble throwing everyone under the bus, except the administration he works for.

Another example of this came during the exchange on Medicare and Social Security. Joe Biden continually accused Paul Ryan of lying about his plan, and that of Mitt Romney, to reform the two programs. He accused them of trying to lower Medicare benefits by turning it into a voucher program. Even though the voucher part is true, they are not trying to lower benefits. No current recipients of Medicare would be affected. Only future generations would see changes. Joe Biden completely fails to mention the pilot programs the Obama administration is allowing to be put into place that does exactly that. Current Medicare recipients are being forced into these programs, with no warning. They can then choose to opt out, but are not specifically given that information. This is a favorite tactic of liberals. They are accusing their opponents of being guilty of the very things they are in the process of implementing. Joe Biden is a master at it, as we saw last night.

One last about last night's debate. I am sick of hearing these calls for specifics from Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. As Ryan tried to point out last night, when asked for the specifics of their tax reform plan, Romney plans to sit down with Congress and work out the details of which loopholes will be closed. A note to the Obama administration, that's called bipartisanship. They should try it sometime and see how well it works. But again, Paul Ryan was not allowed to finish his answer, as the Joker started laughing and interrupted him, thus ending his chance of explaining the truth to the American people.

I would like to say Paul Ryan won this debate. I do believe he did no harm to the Romney campaign, but I'm not sure he helped it much. He had the right answers and he did a good job at trying to articulate what he knows, but he wasn't allowed to give those answers. In that regard, Joe Biden did a masterful job of controlling the debate. He was lying the entire time, but he played his role of the Joker very well.

[Timber Rattler]

Every time Paul Ryan tried to answer a question in his serious and studied manner, Biden started laughing. That laughter almost always led into him interrupting Ryan while he was trying to get his point across.

Which was precisely the Rat game plan for the debate...foil Ryan's ability to present unpleasant facts and figures with constant interruptions and with creepy smirks and Joker-like laughter.

Make no mistake, Biden's behavior was deliberately calculated and planned since he had nothing to lose but Ryan did.

[V_TWIN]

“Biden’s behavior was deliberately calculated and planned”

Yep, but by all accounts it backfired big time.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

This was posted and should be posted on every thread about the Ryan-Biden debate.

Proverbs 29:9 When a wise man has a controversy with a foolish man, the foolish man either rages or laughs, and there is no rest.

[cuban leaf]

Proverbs 29:9

If a wise man has an argument with a foolish man, the fool only rages or laughs, and there is no rest.

The bible seems to cover pretty much everything.

The debate reminded me of the courtroom scene in Idiocracy.

[SMARTY]

Plagiarizing ME, from earlier:

Joe strikes me as a guy who is putting on an act.

He wants to come off as a cool and smart guy... in that order.

The trouble is, Joe is just a not-too-bright guy who looks plum dumb when he’s trying to pass himself off as ‘smart’. When he sees it isn’t convincing anyone, he gets mean and surly....

He’s just your typical Liberal with a whole lot of ego and no real interest in logic or demonstrated facts.

Never mind that he has an innate lack of respect for anyone with opinions which are more sophisticated than his own....also your basic Liberal behavior.

Biden’s basically the ‘Ted Knight’ of American politics... just as shallow, vain and out of touch as the silly peacock in the Mary Tyler Moore show. His dismissive and smart-alek approach to engaging an opponent and to deciding a course for the strongest, wealthiest, free-est nation in the known universe is very immature and out of place in the debates.

Shame on him.

Ryan is tons more and better informed, so he had to step down to even discuss issues with Joe... sort of like trying to kill an ant with a bowling ball.

It was a waste of HIS time and OURS

[richardtavor]

I had the opposite take. biden appeared to be drunk and disoriented.

[circlecity]

What an excellent post and perfect scriptural citation. Well done true and faithful servent.

[RayChuang88]

Last night's debate can be summed from this passage:

If a wise person goes to court with a fool, the fool rages and scoffs, and there is no peace. -- Proverbs 29:9 (New International Version English Bible)

No points on who the fool is.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

What an excellent post and perfect scriptural citation. Well done true and faithful servant.

"erkyl" is the Freeper who posted it. Credit where credit is due. Just re-posting it everywhere because that scripture nails the overall tone of the debate.

[Timber Rattler]

I have no doubt that Biden lubricated himself with some sauce before going on stage (which may have amplified his behavior), but in watching that farce last night, it seemed clear to me that the Rats treated it like a hockey game and meant to body check Ryan every time he got the puck so that he could not score or even get it across the center line.

[marychesnutfan]

The author SHOULD have watched the last 15 minutes as Ryan nailed it several times. Ryan also got the last words in since stupid Radovich had Biden go first on closing words.

Biden revealed the plans for the second Obamination reign (God forbid it should occur) when he said, “we plan to level the playing field.”

That said more than he realized - “We Plan to Level the Playing Field”! Chilling words. Biden let it slip.

[Venturer]

The author says:

I didn’t keep notes and failed to watch the last 15 minutes of the debate

I know what you mean friend, I couldn’t watch it all either.
It was sickening.
It made my teeth hurt.

I kept leaving and coming back hoping it would get better, but Biden was still there ,Chuckling and making an ass of himself.

It’s frightening to think Biden is Vice-President of the United States. The only good thing is when he leaves in January he won’t be going back to the Senate.Hopefully he goes back to Delaware and is never heard from again.

[cuban leaf]

Beat me by two minutes? Amazing!

The good news is that that meme has gone viral.

[Haiku Guy]

They used to say, somewhat unfairly, that Hillary Clinton reminded every divorced man of his ex-wife.

Last night, Joe Biden reminded every divorced woman of her ex-husband.

Joe Biden handled the debate the way the Obama Administration has governed. He refused to listen to anybody else and talked over every other opinion. It was like he felt that he did not have to convince anybody, because he already has all the votes he needs.

I suspect the Democrats will learn otherwise on November 6th.

[Republican Extremist]

This debate was between a young lion and an old hyena.

[Haiku Guy]

There is an old legal adage:

If the facts are on your side, argue the facts.
If the law is on your side, argue the law.
If neither the facts nor the law are on you side, bang on the table.

[EEGator]

“First of all...just look at him. Um...he talks like a fag...”

[V_TWIN]

“we plan to level the playing field.”

Yeah, I don’t think he meant that in the “make tings even sense” what i’m afraid of is he meant it in the “lay it to waste” sense.

[V_TWIN]

“we plan to level the playing field.”

Yeah, I don’t think he meant that in the “make things even sense” what I’m afraid of is he meant it in the “lay it to waste” sense.