Joe Biden opens the door

It’s suddenly commonplace for feminists to say of Joe Biden that “he doesn’t get it.” The statement, though, is question-begging because the word “it” covers a lot of ground, much of which is controversial.

What’s fair to say about Biden is that he hasn’t been paying attention. It’s not just that Biden is making light of his touchings of women and girls. Consider this excerpt from a Washington Post story about Biden’s jokes on the subject:

I have never been disrespectful intentionally to a man or a woman. You know, that’s not the reputation I had since I was in high school for God’s sake.

(Emphasis added)

Uh oh. With these words, Biden has opened the door to scrutiny of his high school days. Now, Biden has no right to complain if some women he doesn’t remember alleges that he stole a kiss from her, or worse, 60 years ago. Clearly, Biden hasn’t been paying attention.

It’s questionable whether Biden’s conduct of 60 years passes full muster under the feminist standards of today. But even if it does, what’s to prevent a Kamala Harris or Elizabeth Warren supporter from “remembering” misconduct by Biden?

Though Biden wants to say the “right” things about his predicament, but he can’t restrain himself from saying the “wrong” things. Hence the joking.

I assume this is because Biden thinks it’s ridiculous that he’s in a predicament over his hugging and kissing. Again, he hasn’t been paying attention.

It’s understandable that Biden feels the way he does, though. This flap is, indeed, ridiculous.

The incidents now being held against Biden occurred in public, typically on stage before a large crowd. The recipients of Biden’s touchings did not complain (and most still aren’t complaining). Neither did the media or even the feminist “police,” to my knowledge. His conduct was not an issue until Biden became a potential obstacle to the nomination of candidates the “victim,” some in the media, and the feminist police prefer.

It’s especially rich to see President Trump and some of his most uncritical supporters piling on Biden for his touchings. Trump famously bragged about grabbing women by their private parts. He latter claimed he was lying about this, but more than a dozen women have accused Trump of groping them.

As far as we know, Biden has never groped anyone. He committed his lesser “transgressions” in plain view because no one considered them transgressions at the time. It’s not even clear that the “victims” genuinely consider them transgressions now.

At most, his actions are of the “he made me feel uncomfortable” variety. In other words, they are trivial.

I don’t feel sorry for Biden, though. He’s not above piling on opponents in distress over trivialities. And let’s not forget Biden’s over-the-top behavior when he debated Paul Ryan in 2014.

The bottom line on Biden is that he’s a low-grade hack whose rise to within, um, sniffing distance of the presidency is due in part to dumb luck and in part to the screwed up politics of our era. If our screwed up politics stop him from making it all the way to the top, he should not be heard to complain.

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