The Revealing Words of Joe Biden

The words of Vice President Joseph Biden, speaking at Arlington National Cemetery (open in popup) ring true:

This is the highest honor of my public life that has been given to me to be able to address all of you on this hallowed ground.

As much fun as I have with Mr. Biden, every once in a while he says something right. That is usually followed by something incredibly painful or fun, depending on the moment, and today we get both.

The Vice President then revealed that he had also laid the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington.

In order for the President to be able to attend a neighborhood barbecue, Vice President Biden had greeted the representatives of the Gold Star Moms, the mothers of those killed in war.

Giving attribution to John Milton, the clean and articulate Biden noted that those who wait for the return of loved ones from war also serve.

Some of you have stood and waited for a loved one that did not return, and live now with the knowledge that you will one day be reunited with them and our Heavenly Father.

Later in the speech at Arlington, Biden wondered what the heroes of wars past would think of the current generation of warriors.

For the forces of globalization have made the world across which they must fight much smaller. And as the world around us shrinks, it means trouble halfway around the globe can and will visit us, no matter how high our walls, or how wide our oceans. Our men and women in uniform know full well that the promise and peril of this time have never been greater. The threats to American security are more widespread geographically than ever before. And the spread of weapons of mass destruction and dangerous disease, economic dislocations and the growing gap between the rich and the poor, ethnic animosities and failed states, the challenges of freedom and security that we face from radical fundamentalism. No, this generation of warriors stands watch, protecting America’s interests against all of these new threats.

Biden noted that military strength is required to defend the nation, and that would not change in the future,

Nor will our sacred obligation, the only obligation that our government has that is truly sacred, our sacred obligation is to provide these warriors with everything they need to complete their mission, and everything they need, and I might add deserve, when they come home.

Well said, Mr. Biden.

So while the Vice President holds little official power to back this rhetoric, in speaking for the Administration he clearly shows its full and enduring commitment to national defense and military power, a commitment to which we at The Minority Report intend they be held.

But the Vice President drew a distinction between the current crop of sophisticated, intellectually deep fighting elite and the brainwashed cannon-fodder that went before them:

But these new warriors are a special breed. They’re warriors, but they’re also bright, educated — and committed, like those who’ve gone before. They understand that the example of our power must be matched by the power of our example. And we owe it to them to recapture the totality of America’s strength. For all of you know our ultimate strength lies in our values. That’s what brought every one of the men and women in this hallowed cemetery to ultimately give their lives.

If only earlier generations had been just a little brighter and better educated, they may have avoided losing the totality of America’s strength by tromping on her values and besmirching her name.

In an apparent slap at the President, Mr. Biden linked his policies directly with weakening America by turning us away from our values:

The objective of our new enemy is to change what we value, to change how we live our lives, to change what it means to be an American.

Thanks for the word of caution, Mr. Vice President.