海角大神

Has Joe Biden become America鈥檚 gaffe-prone intemperate uncle?

That question arises because the vice president of the United States on Wednesday had what some pundits are calling a two-gaffe day.

To be fair, the first misspeaking occurred on Tuesday, during a speech at the 40th anniversary conference of the Legal Services Corp. When speaking about his son Beau鈥檚 attempts to help members of the military straighten out problem loans, he referred to 鈥渟hylocks鈥� taking advantage of vulnerable service members.

This refers to Shylock in Shakespeare鈥檚 "Merchant of Venice," a Jewish moneylender. In the play, the character is greedy and ruthless, and the name has come to be an anti-Semitic slur.

Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), complained about Mr. Biden鈥檚 use of the S-word, saying it represents a 鈥渕edieval stereotype鈥� and 鈥渁n offensive characterization.鈥�

At the same time, Mr. Foxman praised Biden as a friend of the Jewish community and a 鈥渢olerant individual.鈥� And on Wednesday, Biden apologized.

鈥淎be Foxman has been a friend and advisor of mine for a long time. He鈥檚 correct, it was a poor choice of words,鈥� Biden said in a statement.

Then on Wednesday, Biden stepped in it again, using a term that some might consider offensive. Speaking at a rally for campaign finance reform in Iowa, he talked about meeting Lee Kuan Yew, former prime minister of Singapore, calling him 鈥渢he wisest man in the Orient.鈥�

The terms 鈥淥rient鈥� and 鈥淥riental鈥� are anachronistic and offensive to many Asians, as they seem to refer to a past world of exotic mystery conjured up by Hollywood as opposed to real life.

This caused many pundits 鈥� but particularly those on the right 鈥� to characterize Biden as the nation鈥檚 slightly dotty uncle, somebody who will say whatever darn thing pops into his head. After all, in the past he鈥檚 gotten in trouble for saying it helps to have an Indian accent when walking into a convenience store. He鈥檚 promoted shotguns over rifles as a means for self-defense and once referred to Barack Obama as 鈥渢he first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 like the Class of 1950 buried Joe Biden under their high school and said 鈥極pen in 2014,鈥� 鈥� tweeted right-leaning CNN "Crossfire" host S.E. Cupp.

Well, maybe. But consider the way Biden handled the S-word flap. He apologized quickly. And ADL national director Foxman approached him in the first place as a friend of the Jewish community who had made a mistake.

That鈥檚 one reason Biden does not get into more trouble than he does for his words: Many of the affected groups and/or individuals figure Biden is actually on their side. After all, Mr. Obama picked Biden for his vice president after Biden had made his 鈥渁rticulate and bright鈥� statement.

Plus, Biden gets away with his loose-phrases approach to speechmaking partly because he鈥檚 become less politically important as the end of the Obama administration approaches.

Let鈥檚 face it: Biden is not going to even be a serious player for the Democratic nomination in 2016 if Hillary Rodham Clinton runs. Yes, it鈥檚 early, but he鈥檚 54 percentage points behind her in national polls of Democratic voters, according to RealClearPolitics.

He鈥檚 second in a list of potential Democratic candidates only due to name recognition. If for some reason Ms. Clinton stops running, the race will be thrown into chaos, and other Democratic contenders will quickly emerge. Biden has run for president twice, and Democratic voters showed little interest in either race. Third time is not the charm in that context.

Still, there are some who think the old liberal mainstream media double standard is covering up Biden鈥檚 offenses.

鈥淚f Biden were a Republican people would be calling for his resignation,鈥� tweeted Daily Beast political reporter Olivia Nuzzi.