A Reporter of Plaigirism Plaigirizes

Maureen Dowd admits to plaigirism. Oh the irony. Somewhere Joe Biden is smiling.

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Waiting on Biden's Breakdown

Sarah Smith of Wonkette thinks the Veep is headed for a nationally-televised breakdown wherein he will physically assault Barack Obama.

Exaggerate much?

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Biden: America Will Do More, but America Will Ask More Too

Say what you will about Biden's rough-and-ready demeanor behind a mic: cowboy this aint. Good news, that.

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Biden Watch

The VP heads to Germany next week to address an international conference on security policy.

Also, the Google Earth satellite photo of the VP's residence in Washington D.C., which had been blurred during Dick Cheney's tenure, became clearly visible shortly before the inauguration. Talk about transparency.

Finally, Biden has apologized to Chief Justice Roberts for joking on him last week. When was the last time a U.S. Vice President apologized for anything. Dumb joke; classy recovery.

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Bagging ON Biden

When I read the story about Joe's crack on Chief Justice Roberts during Wednesdays swearing in of senior staff, my reaction was, "Where's the story?" I still don't think it's a story, but having watched the video of it, it's clear that the President was not amused and that Biden was unclear about what was going on. It didn't look good. It's a funny line--"My memory is not as good as Justice Roberts"--but, in the context of what was happening and when, it wasn't helpful. You can read it all over Obama's face.

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Bagging for Biden (Who Needs No More Bagging)

Our boy was sworn in as the 47th Vice President of the United States today. It occurred to me, watching the proceedings, how shallow must be my recent enthusiasm for the Senior Senator from Delaware. Not un-genuine or otherwise false, but shallow: lacking in the depth due a person who now stands not only among the world's great shapers of events, but as one of them without a superior, save one.

I attached myself to Biden in the summer of 2007, a time of professional upheaval when the most appealing thing about the man to me was his clear and direct manner of speaking that honored the complexity of hard questions and proposed concrete answers at the same time. In my work, I wanted to be like him: intelligent, articulate, confident, and able to screw up without calling it quits. I still want to be like that, even more so now for the role Joe Biden occupies.

Look, now, for commentary of the Vice President on this blog that is more substance than schoolboy enthusiasm. I offer it as a parsing of public service at the highest level, hoping that it will illuminate the citizenry for whom Biden today vowed to "preserve, protect, and defend, the Constitution of the United States."

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Bagging for Biden: It's All Over (And It's Only Just Begun)

Biden is the Vice President.

Be still, my beating heart.

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"Let Me Say It Again"

Biden rocked it. He was back on his heels for nearly the first 45 minutes of the debate as Palin exhausted herself with winks and linguistic gimmicks, all of which worked beautifully on television. But you can only keep that up for so long. Biden was steady and consistent, not overagressive and yet not deferential. People will say that Palin exceeded Biden's expectations, and I don't think that's true. Biden has expressed nothing but esteem and high regard for the Governor since the day she was announced. Tonight he showed up her utter lack of substance by the abundance of his own. This exchange on Afghanistan is perhaps the best example.

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