Posted on 08/31/2008 9:26:45 AM PDT by pissant
Joe Biden once got in trouble for plagiarizing a speech and inflating his academic record. So it will not surprise you to find that his famous working-class background turns out to be mythical. But it may surprise you to learn that Biden isn't the one who has trouble with the facts.
In his Wednesday night speech at the Democratic convention, Biden referred to "those of us who grew up in middle-class neighborhoods like Scranton and Wilmington [Delaware]." In the video preceding his address, he said that the people he knew as a boy didn't regard themselves as working class but as middle class.
So what did the news media report? "Sen. Joseph R. Biden accepted the vice presidential nomination of the Democratic Party with a speech that harkened back to his working-class roots in Scranton," said The Washington Post. The Wall Street Journal informed readers that "Sen. Joe Biden showcased his working-class upbringing." The New York Times said he "spoke frequently, and earnestly, of his blue-collar background."
No, he didn't. In fact, he did just the opposite. Anyone paying attention would have noticed as much. But the legend of Joe Biden, born in a welding shop, dies hard with political reporters, who find it easier to romanticize a gritty, hardscrabble childhood than a conventionally comfortable one.
The facts are there for anyone who wants to look at them. When Joe Biden Sr. died in 2002, his obituary in the News-Journal of Wilmington reported that when he married in 1941, "he was working as a sales representative for Amoco Oil Co. in Harrisburg."
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Excerpt:
That doesn’t mean the family never had financial trouble. Biden says they had to move in with his mother’s parents after one setback, and he remembers “when the electric company would send a collector to the house.”
For nearly a year, the father was reduced to cleaning boilers for a heating company. But middle-class people are not immune to unemployment and bad business deals, and the Bidens regained their footing before long.
So where did he get his working-class reputation? Partly it comes from Biden’s streetwise demeanor and his preoccupation with the fact that his family wasn’t as well-off as some of the people he knew—which seems to have given him a permanent chip on his shoulder. Partly it comes from his frequent tributes to blue-collar folks, such as the firefighters who took him to the hospital when he suffered an aneurysm.
He apparently comes from the same section of Scranton that Sen. Casey comes from. That Bob Casey, son of Governor Bob Casey, who was the son of the owner of the Casey Hotel.
That’s about as blue collar as they come, yep
Greenridge section of Scranton...back then, anything but “working class”.
A reminder to all; The Senator from Delaware, Joe Biden, who does have an opponent in this election Christine O’Donnell, besides passing himself off as defending the poor from credit card abuse while assisting in enabling legislation for banks to do so. Is also an excomunicated Catholic.... For updated report on Ayers & Obama big time funders of questionable projects http://www.theusmat.com
Biden’s hypocrisy knows no bounds. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2069846/posts
Sen. Joseph Biden - Bearing false witness...
Even if it was "working class," his father moved him to another are. Apparently, they did fairly well there and young Joe was sent to a very good school (a lot of good it did him). It reminds me of Edwards and his constant carping about his father being a millworker.
John was so proud of that, he became a high paid trial lawyer. Upon making his fortune, he promptly bought that mill, revitalized the area, and saved the jobs of all those toiling in the mill. Oh, yeah....wait a minute....he did nothing of the kind.
Seems like all these Dems with "proud working class roots" are pretty anxious to leave that world behind. Voters better wake the hell up.
another are = another area
converted the reference from cut & paste into hotlink:
And the article source link found there;
Joe Biden is as much “working class” as Barry Obama is “African American.” Which is to say, not at all.
Apparently, his dad knew wealth and made some bad choices in losing it. He was NOT a victim. He also was able, thanks to the opportunities capitalism presents, to regain financial security....opportunities that Obama/Biden would work to deprive others.
If his dad was so poor, how did Biden end up in a $1-million+ house on the same "estate" with his mother's house of equal value? Seriously Biden didn't make those millions for that house during his 30+ years as a "public servant" in the US Senate?
There's a reason only 9000 people voted for Biden for president. To know him is to love him.
Still is Lace Curtain, not Shanty.
I just found this. Funny how this isn’t a bigger story? It is nice someone looked into this modern day Abe Lincoln.
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