Joe Biden's potty mouth: In Delaware, this is not news
| Washington
Anybody with X-ray hearing might have noticed that Vice President Joe Biden dropped a major expletive during the signing of the historic healthcare reform bill on Tuesday.
Mr. Biden, speaking near an open mic, called the bill 鈥渁 big [bleeping] deal.鈥� (See video below.)
The White House confirmed 鈥� and apparently approved 鈥� the language. Soon after the event, press secretary Robert Gibbs tweeted: 鈥淎nd yes, Mr. Vice President, you鈥檙e right 鈥︹��
Folks in Delaware, Biden鈥檚 home state, weren鈥檛 surprised. Aside from his regular foot-in-mouth moments, he is also famous for his salty tongue.
鈥淢ore than his OTHER kinds of gaffes, I always thought Joe Biden鈥檚 use of such language might get him into trouble, frankly, during his presidential run(s),鈥� writes Wilmington, Del., radio interviewer Allan Loudell on his .
鈥淢r. Biden DOES seem to employ such language at public events more than some other politicians I've covered over the years,鈥� Mr. Loudell adds.
You鈥檇 think by now he would have learned that live mics are just about everywhere. Especially when the boss is signing historic legislation.
Of course, potty-mouthed politicians are nothing new to Washington. Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Dick Cheney. Who can forget, just a few years ago, the then-veep telling Sen. Patrick Leahy (D) of Vermont to go 鈥淸bleep] yourself.鈥�
Perhaps in this day and age, with expletives barely deleted on cable TV, such language is NBD. When this correspondent told a 17-year-old what Biden had said, she replied: 鈥淎wesome!鈥� Hmmm. This young lady doesn鈥檛 normally employ such language. At least around her mother.
And maybe, Loudell suggests, Biden helped the cause of healthcare reform. 鈥淧aradoxically,鈥� he asks, 鈥渄id 鈥榖lue collar鈥� Joe just make an intricate healthcare reform package more accessible to the 鈥榓verage Joe鈥�?鈥�
