Once again, Biden reminds us that things could be worse. He could be President of the United States.
Vice President Joe Biden, apparently alone among the president’s senior advisers, suggested last spring that the commander-in-chief not send a special forces hit squad to kill Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
Biden apparently didn’t feel sufficiently certain that the al Qaeda founder and mastermind of all the 9/11 killings was in the house where he was suspected to be to prompt an armed covert incursion by American forces into the territory of an ally in the war on terror…
“The President, he went around the table with all the senior people including the Chiefs of Staff. He said, I have to make this decision what is your opinion? He started with the National Security adviser, the Secretary of State and he ended with me. Every single person in that room hedged their bet, except Leon Panetta.
“Leon said GO. Everyone else said 49, 51, this…
“It got to me. Joe what do you think? I said ‘You know I didn’t know we have so many economists around the table. We owe the man a direct answer. Mr. President my suggestion is, ‘Don’t go.’ We have to do two more things to see if he’s there.’”
Is that the sort of thing you would go around telling people? Well now, you’re not Joe Biden, are you?
Keep this in mind the next time somebody tries to tell you Obama made a difficult decision that only a great president could ever make. Sure, compared to the guy he picked to replace him in case of emergency. Obama really is a competent president… if your baseline is Biden.