Joe Biden pulls a Chris Matthews (SNL Style): Libya and Lies

After the first Presidential debate in Denver, Saturday Night Live did a skit making fun of MSNBC post debate coverage. The skit had Chris Matthews freaking out, saying that President Obama should not of let Mitt Romney speak.  The fictional Chris Matthews claimed this was how you win a debate.

So did Joe Biden do any better than President Obama in his debate?  On Libya he blamed others, lied about his war voting record, and tried to keep Ryan from speaking.  The left is calling this a good night.  Things must be getting bad for the left if what we saw from Biden was a successful debate.  

Joe Biden and Paul Ryan squared off in the only Vice Presidential debate of this election cycle.  It seems that Joe Biden decided to take the fake Chris Matthews advice, attempting to keep Paul Ryan from talking at the Vice Presidential debate.  Below is an example video of him doing just that: 

Brit Hume and Greta Van Susteren did not seem to like the way Biden was acting at the debate.



To be sure, this video is just one sample of the rudeness by Biden last night.  Biden looked like an angry old man.  Ryan looked like a young man who is in charge of the facts.  He did look taken aback by the way Biden was acting.  

Toby Harnden wrote this over at his blog:

"...Biden's performance here in Danville, Kentucky was both comical and self-defeating. Just as Al Gore sighed and rolled his eyes in 2000, so Biden smirked and guffawed. He gesticulated wildly and jabbed his finger. He interrupted Ryan and the moderator Martha Raddatz. Many women and swing voters will have hated it." 

"Perhaps the even bigger problem the Obama campaign will have in the coming days is that Biden, again just like Gore in 2000, repeatedly exaggerated and mischaracterised for effect. And worse than Gore - who was caught in a series of small lies in 2000 - Biden was demonstrably untruthful in some big respects." 

One of the things that shocked me the most that Biden said at the debate is that he did not vote for either of the two wars started while Bush was president.



Talk about a bunch of malarkey; Hot Air, Yahoo, and Fox News have shot down this lie.  Its time that the Obama administration takes some responsibility; which is what Biden said to Ryan about Romney's 47% comment.  

I noticed this lie right away when Biden said it; however, I did not hear a whole lot about it until the following day.  The Washington Free Bacon seems to have broken the story first.

This from The Washington Free Bacon: 

"Vice President Joe Biden accused Rep. Paul Ryan of putting two wars on the 'credit card,' and then suggested he voted against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq."  

"Then Sen. Biden voted for the Afghanistan resolution on Sept. 14, 2001 which authorized 'the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States.”' 

"And on Oct. 11, 2002, Biden voted for a resolution authorizing unilateral military action in Iraq, according to the Washington Post." 

Could anybody imagine what the press would have been saying if it was Ryan or Romney that looked to the camera and flat out lied to the American people.  They would have spent all week talking about it.  Instead, since it was Biden, they are barley discussing it. 

However, despite all the distortions coming from Biden at the first debate, the one thing he said that will likely have the largest impact came at the start of the debate.

During the debate, Moderator Martha Raddatz brought up Libya.  Ryan criticized the Obama administration's handling of the security situation.  Raddatz pressed Biden on this: "And they wanted more security there" she said.  

Biden: "Well, we weren't told they wanted more security there. We did not know they wanted more security again." 

This comment from Biden was a outright lie.  Just the other day State Department officials "acknowledged they knew about, and turned down, requests for more security."  Thank God Ryan corrected Biden by saying that  "there were requests for extra security; those requests were not honored."  

Biden also attempted to blame the Intelligence Community for their botched handling of security for our Benghazi embassy. Biden said "That was exactly what we were told by the intelligence community. The intelligence community told us that. As they learned more facts about exactly what happened, they changed their assessment." 

Harnden covered this on his blog too:

 "Eric Nordstrom, expressed frustration at how his appeals for more resources were rebuffed."

 "Lt Col Andrew Wood, former head of a 16-member U.S. military team that helped protect the embassy in Tripoli, testified: 'We were fighting a losing battle. We couldn't even keep what we had. There were requests for extra security; those requests were not honored."

Now the Obama administration is trying to blame the Romney/Ryan campaign for politicizing the Libya attack.

Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter said to Bret Baier that "In terms of the politicization of this ... the entire reason that this has become the political topic it is, is because of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. It's a big part of their stump speech. And it's reckless and irresponsible what they're doing."

Romney responded by saying This:

"It's its an issue because this is the firs time in 36 years that an ambassador has been assassinated," before adding that "This is an issue because we were attacked by terrorists on Sept 11. This is an issue because Americans wonder why it took so long for you and your administration to admit it was a terrorist attack.

"This is a very serious issue and they deserve serious answer, and I hope they come soon."

Romney is correct, Ryan was also correct at the debate; the way the Obama administration has handled the Libya story is disgraceful.  They started by attempting to shield the president from political consequences.  They continue to place blame on everyone but themselves.  They are attempting to bully people into not talking about it.  This is not what a successful campaign does.   

Lastly, I just want to point out that Dr. Keith Ablow has a wonderful article out over at Fox News about the psychological perspective of the Vice Presidential Debate.  It is indeed interesting.