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Joe Bidens laugh-filled debate wasnt so funny on national security
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS ^ | October 13, 2012
Joe Biden
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS ^ | October 13, 2012
Joe Biden
The heat generated by Joe Biden at Thursday nights vice presidential debate cooled into object lessons in the danger of bombast by a top United States government official.
Bidens smirking theatricality while facing Republican Paul Ryan included exasperated putdowns and, at times, broad factual assertions whose grounding in truth was tenuous.
So it goes in skewering an opponents record.
Have a merry, if you like.
But the vice president went beyond the bounds where there is license to play fast and loose.
He did a disservice by extending his bluster into real-time issues of security and international relations.
First, there was Libya.
What happened leading up to the assault that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others, as well as the nature of the attack, are matters of compelling national interest.
Pressed by moderator Martha Raddatz that State Department personnel wanted more security there, Biden responded, We werent told they wanted more security. We did not know they wanted more security there.
The effect of the vice presidents flat, forceful denial was to convey to millions of viewers that the Obama administration at large had not been informed of rising fears on the ground in Libya.
Such an impression was false.
Only the day before, a U.S. security official told Congress that he had argued for additional protection for weeks. More, a State Department aide admitted she had turned down requests for stepping up safety with the intent of training Libyans to do the job.
Bidens speed-talking lack of precision left the White House on Friday to explain that when Biden used the word we, he was speaking directly for himself and the President.
The episode added to the Obama administrations markedly evolving accounts of the deadly Sept. 11 assault.
Those began with strong indications that the attack was a