Has Joe Biden Lost His Marbles?

Sure, he’s always been known as a loose cannon. And he was never one of the brighter bulbs on the Senate’s rather dim Christmas tree. But, still: at some point, don’t you have to wonder whether something has gone seriously awry? Scott wrote this morning about Biden’s wacky tribute to the bin Laden raid–the most audacious act in 500 years! And it had only a 48% chance of success!–but that wasn’t the only WTF moment that Biden provided within a 24-hour span.

At the White House, Biden introduced the Prime Minister of Ireland, Enda Kenny, and his wife Fionnuala, who have been paying a post-St. Patrick’s Day visit to Washington. Biden introduced them with a joke that has widely been interpreted as sexual, but I think that is wrong: he was suggesting that they are drunks. “Lubricated has a different meaning” for the Irish, Biden explained. You almost have to see it to believe it; Biden says of the Prime Minister and his wife that “there is no doubt about them staying oiled and lubricated.” And Biden wasn’t ad libbing; he appeared to read this gem off a script. Roll the tape:

Seriously: why did this not provoke an international incident? Only because no one takes Biden seriously, I suppose. But isn’t it reasonable to wonder whether Biden is losing his marbles? The alternative, to paraphrase Bob Dylan, is that he had no marbles to lose.

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