Monday, October 20, 2008

JOE BIDEN, BARACK OBAMA

Biden: 'We're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.'

Stop the presses. I actually agree with something Joe Biden said, and I don't think it was a gaffe.

"Mark my words," the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."

"I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate," Biden said to Emerald City supporters, mentioning the Middle East and Russia as possibilities. "And he's gonna need help. And the kind of help he's gonna need is, he's gonna need you - not financially to help him - we're gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it's not gonna be apparent initially, it's not gonna be apparent that we're right."

I've been asking Obama waverers if they thought Putin and Medvedev would take it easy on the new guy while he learns the ropes. Russia's a good bet, but you have to wonder if Hezbollah and Hamas would feel like they could take some shots at Israel while the new president settles in. Ahmadinejad might enjoy rattling the saber, and seeing if Obama still makes good on his pledge for a summit without preconditions within one year. If Kim Jong Il is still alive and kicking, God knows what he'll try with a new guy.

If America thinks the community organizer and the verbose fossil who thinks we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon are the guys to handle it, that's their call. But the voting public should know what it's getting into.

UPDATE: Hmmm.

For the first time in American history the FBI has begun vetting likely officials of the next administration before the election, to ensure they have security clearance to deal with crises on day one.

Intelligence chiefs expect an attempt to emulate the terrorist strikes on Britain when Gordon Brown took power and are concerned that Russia or Iran could use the 77 days of paralysis between the election and the inauguration on January 20 for acts of international brinkmanship, like the invasion of Georgia.

An official involved in the transition discussions told The Sunday Telegraph: "There has been no specific threat but the assessment is that someone will try something.

"It could be a terrorist attack on US assets overseas. It could be the leader of a rogue state chancing his arm. Putin and Ahmadinejad have form."

I'm hoping that, if Obama is elected, he nominates the best attorney general, secretary of state, secretary of defense, secretary of homeland security, etc., he can find. But if a crisis is unfolding, the Senate will probably be under enormous pressure to confirm the nominees and get them into their jobs as quickly as possible. That seems like less than ideal circumstances for the Senate to exercise appropriate scrutiny.

10/20 09:12 AMShare