3899

Yeah, it made more sense in the Cold War, but even then it’s purpose was retaliatory. It was more a matter of technology and response time that they put in it the hands of the POTUS.

If NORAD saw a full scale launch from Russia or China, there would be plenty of time to notify the Executive and respond accordingly without giving said Executive a free hand to just launch for no reason at all with no failsafe.

3900

Acting AG Whitaker accused of something that isn’t REALLY awful, but I’m sure it would have been quite a scandal in days gone by. He claimed he was smarter than he really was.

3901

As far as I’m concerned that should be grounds for immediate termination. Shouldn’t the standards for the US Attorney General be higher than this?

3902

In a normal presidency? Yup. With Trump? He’s a paragon of virtue.

3903

For fuck’s sake, CNN, stop being such pussies. Say the President LIED to the troops. Misleads? Fuck off, CNN.

3904

I’m not sure if you are kidding or not here.

We’re talking about his claim that he was an academic all American in college, right?

3905

Not kidding. I don’t think we should be ok with our attorney general lying to pad his resume. This is an easily disprovable fact. If he’ll lie about something like this multiple times, why should we trust him on anything else?

3906

That’s totally reasonable, but I’m curious if that feeling is consistently held.

Do you hold Joe Biden to the same standard? He made much more significant lies about his academic credentials, and he became vice president of the United States.

3907

I doubt the politician exists that hasn’t lied on their way to whatever position they currently occupy. So while disappointing, I expect it from anyone in politics but would prefer that AG be held to a higher standard. I know it’s not going to ever happen but it’d be nice.

3908

Biden spent most of his career as an elected official, not an appointed one. We’re also talking about an attorney here. Someone you’re supposed to be able to trust to a greater extent.

Having said that, while I am fully against this practice of padding or just outright lying on a resume, it’s a fairly common practice mostly because the way we hire in this country is pretty screwed up to begin with. It’s not worth spending time on in this case.

If they say they had a degree or passed the bar and didn’t… well that would be different.

3909

Joe Biden was elected directly by the people, he was not appointed. It isn’t the exact same thing. Not to shy away from your point that we should hold all of our government officials to high standards, but the people voted for Biden, nobody voted for Whitaker.

3910

So you don’t hold him to the same standard, and it’s ok for him to have lied.

Does that make sense to you?

Hey, Trump was elected too, so i guess it doesn’t matter that he lies about everything.

You are gonna have a real hard time when you choose not to be guided by a consistent set of moral and ethical principles.

3911

What lie are you referring to?

He once lied about being in the top half of his law class at Syracuse in a speech. He was almost immediately called on it, apologized, and corrected the record.

That’s the only Biden lie about his academic credentials I’m aware of. When he made them, he was already serving his third senate term.

3912

No, that’s not really what happened.

In 1987, Biden was questioned by reporters, at which point he went off on a crazy rant about how his IQ was higher than the reporter’s, and then proceeded to make a bunch of lies, one of which was the lie that you referenced there.

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. claimed during a campaign appearance in New Hampshire last spring that he finished in the top half of his law school class, although records indicate he finished near the bottom, Newsweek magazine reported today.

In a videotape released by the public service cable network C-SPAN, the Delaware Democrat was asked at a campaign stop in Claremont, N.H., about what law school he attended and how well he did.

“I went to (Syracuse) law school on a full academic scholarship,” said Biden, who has been beset by revelations that he plagiarized in law school and used portions of a speech by British Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock without credit.

On the tape, Biden says he “ended up in the top half” of his class.

“I won the international moot-court competition. . . . I was the outstanding student in the political science department (as an undergraduate). . . . I graduated with three degrees from college,” Biden told the questioner.

‘Higher IQ Than You’

A clearly angered Biden added: "I think I probably have a much higher IQ than you do.

Last week, however, the presidential candidate said at a news conference that he had finished 76th in a law school class of 85. Records he released indicated he had a partial, need-based scholarship as well as student loans.

The tape was aired April 12 as part of the network’s “Road to the White House” series, C-SPAN spokeswoman Nan Gibson said.

Newsweek magazine said Biden does not mention the moot-court competition on his resume and did not win the political science award at University of Delaware, where he received a single B.A. in political science and history.

Biden told the New York Times that he was “frustrated” and “angry as hell” about the Newsweek report.

“It’s so easy to make things look like there’s something sinister about them,” he said. “I guess every single word I’ve said is going to be dissected now.”

You can actually watch the video here:

Just to be clear here:
Everything Biden says in that clip is a lie. He didn’t graduate with honors. He didn’t have a full academic scholarship. He didn’t win any of the awards he suggested.

He didn’t even graduate with the number of degrees he says there.

And this is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to lies told by Joe Biden over the years.

3913

I’m not a Biden fan, and I’m not a particular expert on this situation, but there do seem to be important differences between the two situations.

  1. Whitaker lied, in print, on his resume. The resume is a considered and official document, and it’s fairly common to find out someone lied on their resume and then to fire them. The actual lie seems kind of petty and small potatoes (e.g. it’s not like he claimed to have a degree he did not actually have), but it was there. Biden’s lie by contrast was spoken off the cuff and in the heat of emotion when trash talking a reporter. That’s not good, but it’s not quite as bad.

  2. Biden’s lie helped sink his presidential campaign. The dems already had this test, and we passed, and we decided that the liar shouldn’t be our candidate for president. Again, not a Biden fan, and I think it’s unfortunate that he has as much clout as he does. But I’m not sure that the one fabrication (which was my entire lifetime ago) should preclude him from forever holding high office.

3914

Bingo. You pretty much covered it.

Fine with Biden.

Not fine with Whitaker.

3915

You either care about honesty, or ya don’t.

If you only care about it when your political opponents lie… Then ya don’t.

3916

I would raise a third possibility: I can see things in shades of gray and you rarely seem to, and furthermore I frankly do not value your opinion much on this particular subject. So, I guess we’re at an impasse.

Life goes on.

3917

He wasn’t elected president. People cared. I am not sure why you’re trying to suggest we don’t. When the Democrats lie, they are often held accountable. When the GOP is caught, not a damn thing happens to them. I mean the worst liar on the planet is in the oval office right now under the GOP flag. And everyone around him spends hours a day trying to cover for those lies, including an entire news network. Why the hell are you trying to school the Democrats about liars? I think you need to take your complaint over to the other field.

Lying on Resume is so common it’s ridiculous. It’s not even an uncommon thing, and I still think it’s a terrible thing do to.

3918

Sure. He was elected vice president, though. And folks are taking about him running for president again.

People did care. But now, apparently some folks are fine with it.

While, simultaneously, pretending to be outraged over another guy making an even less severe lie.