Senator Joe Biden – In the Dark

Very interesting article, and I appreciate the link included to the "Biden Blunders".
I have been thinking about whether or not the word "gaffe" is actually the best word to describe a situation where a candidate is just making things up? Is that a "faux pas" or "blunder" or is it a "lie" or "deception"? Is it a "delusion" or a "fantasy"?
Another thing that makes me go, "HMmmmm?" is that Republicans are accused of lying quite regularly - but the two Dem candidates on their ticket are really good at it, and the MSM does not fulfill due diligence in keeping it in check.
Glad to see a great post on this - keep it up!

What really chaps me the most is not that Biden told so many lies (he did) or that he told them with so much zeal (he did) but that no one seems to be focusing on the fact that most of the lies could not have been honest mistakes - they were deliberate misstatements - designed to mislead the American public.

Hi, Buster! Good post! I am still shaking my head that everyone in the media knew that Joe didn`t have his facts straight/lied but still gave him the debate on points! How does that work? Does truth account for anything with these people? My mother always warned me about smooth talkers!

No.

Hat tip to Cindy, I found myself using the word towards the end of my post after making the point that Biden’s debate answers were not gaffes.

Webster says a gaffe is a noticeable mistake. Biden's recollection of Franklin Roosevelt's television address in 1929 when the market crashed is a gaffe. In the debate, his mistakes were not noticeable to most viewers and even commentators are taking quite a bit of time to find, review, and annotate a complete list. He represented himself as a veteran of the Senate, the wise, gray-haired expert (plugs and all), and then misrepresented the truth – either intentionally or with a reckless disregard for the accuracy of his answers.

In either case, his responses do not deserve the treatment of simply innocent misstatements or gaffes like the Roosevelt on TV example. His answers were rattled off with a dizzying array of data designed to impress and overwhelm, regardless of accuracy, relevance, or the truth.