I was on vacay last week and didn’t get a chance to say how awesome this was:

But it gets even better! The Hill is reporting this morning:

Joe Biden’s office has complained to the Senate press gallery about a confrontation the vice president had with a conservative journalist last week on Capitol Hill.

Biden aides asked whether Senate rules were broken in the wake of the contentious exchange between the vice president and the reporter.

Jason Mattera, who works for Human Events, a conservative magazine, used a pretext to catch Biden off guard in a Senate hallway and grill him on claims the vice president has made about jobs legislation.

Biden’s office has also contacted the standing committee of correspondents, which oversees the gallery, regarding whether Mattera broke the rules by ambushing him.

Oh my. The effrontery.

Say, isn’t it part of a reporter’s job to get into places he’s not supposed to be and talk to people he’s not supposed to talk to? It used to be, anyway. Or maybe that only counts when the people he’s supposed to leave alone are Republicans.

And what was Mattera’s “pretext”?

Biden’s visible irritation might be explained by how he was lured into the short interview.

As the vice president left the Russell caucus room, Mattera weaved his way through the entourage, shook Biden’s hand and asked him to pose for a photo. While shaking Biden’s hand, Matter asked him if he felt “regret using a rape reference to describe Republican opposition to the president’s bill.”

Oh, okay. It’s fine to get your picture taken with the Vice President of the United States, as long as in the process you don’t commit any acts of journalism. And if you do, prepare for intimidation tactics from those in power. Better to just smile and keep your questions to yourself, kid. This is America.

(“What if it was Cheney reacting like this to a question he wasn’t prepared to answer?” Well, first of all, it’d be the top news story for days…)

P.S. Incidentally, Biden is wrong on the facts. So there’s that too.

P.P.S. Mattera responds: “They’re suggesting that my credentials get yanked and I be investigated for asking a completely legitimate question… Bring it on. I’m a credentialed member of the media and I have a little something-something called the First Amendment on my side.”