Lo, It's Joe!

It is Saturday morning and MSNBC has cameras focused on the crowd of journalists gathered outside Sen Joe Biden’s house in Delaware.  He got the news that he has been chosen as the VP nominee for the Democratic ticket this November.

One has to feel bad for journalists, columnists, the general talking class and junkies whose weekend is blown. The decision at the moment seems like a gamble (until Obama wins in November). Even those getting ready to head to the airport to get to Denver for the Convention have to spend some time now (not to speak of waiting so long) mulling over and commenting on the prospects of this choice and the timing of the decision.

For India and Indians, Biden is a mixed blessing. He is on record saying that he supports India, its nuclear program, its territorial integrity (especially when it comes to Kashmir). He had blasted George W, Bush for ignoring India earlier in his term. He supports the nuclear pact that the Indian parliament passed and has been in a tizzy over it for some time.
He has been commuting to Washington D. C. for years and apparently visits Indian owned and operated businesses. He lives in an area of the country that is multiethnic and compared to most states around it, Delaware is more mixed, with dominant university populations. We hope all that has bred into him more tolerance and patience as he mouths off his way to Vice Presidency.

However, Biden is exceptionally arrogant. He has ambitions to carve up Iraq, with some modifications in language as the responses were harsh, in the same style as the British carved up West Asia (Middle East for the rest of you). He exhibits an ownership of the global map with highhanded moral postures that seeks to determine everyone else’s future with dominating U. S. interests.  He can mouth off solutions to world problems as if he is deciding everything by himself. There has rarely been a statement of humility and eagerness to know about the world. It is possible he does his homework better than anyone else. But that may well be the problem. Knowledge should bring humility as much as confidence, but never arrogance.

However, he does not seem to get out of his house, even at 6:41 on Saturday morning, August 23, 2008. The wait is frustrating indeed!

August 23, 2008