VP "I'm smarter than you" Biden does it again

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**Frazzled**

I'm convinced Team Obama hired this guy for comedy relief. In the future, say what you want about Obama, but that was a smart move.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/17/oops-biden-reveals-location-secret-vp-bunker/?test=latestnews

Biden Reveals Location of Secret VP Bunker
The vice president, well-known for his verbal gaffes, confirms at a dinner the existence and location of a secret hidden bunker that Cheney is believed to have used after the 9/11 attacks.
By Jonathan Passantino

Vice President Joe Biden, well-known for his verbal gaffes, may have finally outdone himself, divulging potentially classified information meant to save the life of a sitting vice president.

According to a report, while recently attending the Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, an annual event where powerful politicians and media elite get a chance to cozy up to one another, Biden told his dinnermates about the existence of a secret bunker under the old U.S. Naval Observatory, which is now the home of the vice president.

The bunker is believed to be the secure, undisclosed location former Vice President Dick Cheney remained under protection in secret after the 9/11 attacks.

Eleanor Clift, Newsweek magazine's Washington contributing editor, said Biden revealed the location while filling in for President Obama at the dinner, who, along with Grover Cleveland, is the only president to skip the gathering.

According to Clift's report on the Newsweek blog, Biden "said a young naval officer giving him a tour of the residence showed him the hideaway, which is behind a massive steel door secured by an elaborate lock with a narrow connecting hallway lined with shelves filled with communications equipment."

Clift continued: "The officer explained that when Cheney was in lock down, this was where his most trusted aides were stationed, an image that Biden conveyed in a way that suggested we shouldn't be surprised that the policies that emerged were off the wall."

In December 2002, neighbors complained of loud construction work being done at the Naval Observatory, which has been used as a residence by vice presidents since 1974.

The upset neighbors were sent a letter by the observatory's superintendent, calling the work "sensitive in nature" and "classified" and that it was urgent it be completed "on a highly accelerated schedule."

Residents said they believed workers were digging deep into the ground, which would support Biden's report of a secret bunker, but officials never confirmed the purpose of the work performed.

The revelation is the latest from Biden, who has a long history of political blunders.

Most recently, he said in a televised interview that if a family member asked him about traveling he'd advise staying away from public transportation or confined spaces to avoid swine flu -- a remark described as "borderline fearmongering" by an airline spokesman.

**barlio**

That reminds me of the Family guy episode where they hired Meg an ugly friend so that she would look less ugly by comparison.

I bet he's actually a decent guy in real life. I don't like about 95% of the stuff he says, but he seems like a guy I would enjoy a beer with. He says what he wants to. I think that was one of the reasons why Cheney didn't get a lot of love. Besides being considered the "man behind the curtain" he was too guarded. Biden slips and says dumb stuff, but I wonder how much of that is an act.

**efarrer**

Frazzled wrote:I'm convinced Team Obama hired this guy for comedy relief. In the future, say what you want about Obama, but that was a smart move.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/17/oops-biden-reveals-location-secret-vp-bunker/?test=latestnews

Biden Reveals Location of Secret VP Bunker
The vice president, well-known for his verbal gaffes, confirms at a dinner the existence and location of a secret hidden bunker that Cheney is believed to have used after the 9/11 attacks.
By Jonathan Passantino

Vice President Joe Biden, well-known for his verbal gaffes, may have finally outdone himself, divulging potentially classified information meant to save the life of a sitting vice president.

According to a report, while recently attending the Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, an annual event where powerful politicians and media elite get a chance to cozy up to one another, Biden told his dinnermates about the existence of a secret bunker under the old U.S. Naval Observatory, which is now the home of the vice president.

The bunker is believed to be the secure, undisclosed location former Vice President Dick Cheney remained under protection in secret after the 9/11 attacks.

Eleanor Clift, Newsweek magazine's Washington contributing editor, said Biden revealed the location while filling in for President Obama at the dinner, who, along with Grover Cleveland, is the only president to skip the gathering.

According to Clift's report on the Newsweek blog, Biden "said a young naval officer giving him a tour of the residence showed him the hideaway, which is behind a massive steel door secured by an elaborate lock with a narrow connecting hallway lined with shelves filled with communications equipment."

Clift continued: "The officer explained that when Cheney was in lock down, this was where his most trusted aides were stationed, an image that Biden conveyed in a way that suggested we shouldn't be surprised that the policies that emerged were off the wall."

In December 2002, neighbors complained of loud construction work being done at the Naval Observatory, which has been used as a residence by vice presidents since 1974.

The upset neighbors were sent a letter by the observatory's superintendent, calling the work "sensitive in nature" and "classified" and that it was urgent it be completed "on a highly accelerated schedule."

Residents said they believed workers were digging deep into the ground, which would support Biden's report of a secret bunker, but officials never confirmed the purpose of the work performed.

The revelation is the latest from Biden, who has a long history of political blunders.

Most recently, he said in a televised interview that if a family member asked him about traveling he'd advise staying away from public transportation or confined spaces to avoid swine flu -- a remark described as "borderline fearmongering" by an airline spokesman.

So he ratted that the cowardly Cheney had hidden in the basement? Big deal. Not one sitting VP had been that much a coward before, why should any after?

Biden finds the bunker ridiculous because it is ridiculous. Cheney was such a chicken hawk he hid in the basement issuing orders rather then traveling to the proper places for doing so.

Find a real scandal, this one isn't even close. The only scandal here is the cowardice of the last VP.

**Frazzled**

You're not much on nuclear protocol are you?

Besides who said it was a scandal? I said it was funny.

What Biden should have said was, he's been authroized to announce a new secret bunker is being built, and show pictures of the old bunker (show slides of a broken down Kripsy Kreme or other fast food joint).

**mcfly**

So he ratted that the cowardly Cheney had hidden in the basement? Big deal. Not one sitting VP had been that much a coward before, why should any after?

Biden finds the bunker ridiculous because it is ridiculous. Cheney was such a chicken hawk he hid in the basement issuing orders rather then traveling to the proper places for doing so.

Find a real scandal, this one isn't even close. The only scandal here is the cowardice of the last VP.

Um, excuse me? It was built in 1974 and has been used as residence of the presidents since? How is he a coward for doing what others had done before him? And if he is the first one to use it, he is also the first one who needed to. The terrorists almost BLEW UP THE CAPITAL!!! If you have seen the movie, The Day After Tomorrow, what did the VP do? Did he sit on his butt in DC or did he fly to Mexico to make sure the USA still had a leader in case the president died? It's not that Cheney was cowardly, its that he was making sure the future of the country was secure. If you have half a brain you could figure that one out.

**Mattlov**

efarrer wrote:Find a real scandal, this one isn't even close. The only scandal here is the cowardice of the last VP.

Wow. It takes a real moron to think of it like that. Do you also believe Obama is the Messiah?

Those bunkers exist for a reason, and that is to protect sensitive personnel in case of attack.

The VP is "sensitive personnel" and 9/11 was an attack. Bunker being used as it is supposed to be used. Also, those bunkers ARE the proper place to send orders and such in times of crisis. It is a safe and protected location to continue coordination of assets in a crisis. In the case of 9/11, if Cheney HADN'T gone in there it would have been folly. Not that he had much choice. When you have an agency like the Secret Service telling you to GO HERE, you do it.

**efarrer**

mcfly wrote:
So he ratted that the cowardly Cheney had hidden in the basement? Big deal. Not one sitting VP had been that much a coward before, why should any after?

Biden finds the bunker ridiculous because it is ridiculous. Cheney was such a chicken hawk he hid in the basement issuing orders rather then traveling to the proper places for doing so.

Find a real scandal, this one isn't even close. The only scandal here is the cowardice of the last VP.

Um, excuse me? It was built in 1974 and has been used as residence of the presidents since? How is he a coward for doing what others had done before him? And if he is the first one to use it, he is also the first one who needed to. The terrorists almost BLEW UP THE CAPITAL!!! If you have seen the movie, The Day After Tomorrow, what did the VP do? Did he sit on his butt in DC or did he fly to Mexico to make sure the USA still had a leader in case the president died? It's not that Cheney was cowardly, its that he was making sure the future of the country was secure. If you have half a brain you could figure that one out.

The bunker was built in 2002. The residence has been in use since 1974. Keep it straight.

Terrorists blew up a single building in the capital (which remained in use so I guess damaged would be a better descriptor).

A movie is a movie.

The president was secure. There were many existing secure locations for the VP that had been in use since there was a real enemy. The terrorists never had a real chance to attack your VP.

**ShumaGorath**

It was a dumb thing to mention in such a formal setting, but it's hardly "the one to top them all". Fox just loves its yellow journalism. Bidens a smart guy when he keeps his giant mouth shut, Cheney had the same issue when he was in office. Everything that came out of his mouth in public was a gaffe, insult, somewhat frightening, or just didn't make sense. Bidens pretty much doing the same job.

The VP is "sensitive personnel" and 9/11 was an attack. Bunker being used as it is supposed to be used. Also, those bunkers ARE the proper place to send orders and such in times of crisis. It is a safe and protected location to continue coordination of assets in a crisis. In the case of 9/11, if Cheney HADN'T gone in there it would have been folly. Not that he had much choice. When you have an agency like the Secret Service telling you to GO HERE, you do it.

I'm pretty sure 9/11 happened before the bunker was built. As for the use of the bunker itself.. Well terrorism isn't really something you can build a bunker for. By its very nature it's unexpected, and there is little that can be done to prepare for it. Cheney doesn't have a magic watch that makes a chirping sound 20 minutes before a terrorist attack. That bunker would be useless. It's clearly not going to be suitable as a nuclear bunker, and in the event of full scale war there are already dozens of locations they could have traveled to that are considerably safer than that.

Cheney is a cold warrior. He doesn't really understand the methods used to fight and prepare for terrorism. His response to danger is to build big solid buildings so he can sit in the basement and shout orders through a radio. That doesn't work any more in any situation. Nuke are too powerful and terrorism is too unexpected.

**Frazzled**

ShumaGorath wrote:It was a dumb thing to mention in such a formal setting, but it's hardly "the one to top them all". Fox just loves its yellow journalism. Bidens a smart guy when he keeps his giant mouth shut, Cheney had the same issue when he was in office. Everything that came out of his mouth in public was a gaffe, insult, somewhat frightening, or just didn't make sense. Bidens pretty much doing the same job.

Exactly. Thats why we need to make fun of it.

here's how Biden should have done it

New Bunker after stimulus plan

Old bunker with Cheney in disguise (Cheney's hidden under the towel)

**Ozymandias**

efarrer, you seem to mistake protocol with cowardice. If the President is potentially in danger, they move the VP somewhere safe and separate so that if the unthinkable happened and someone crashed a plane into the white house next and killed the President, we'd still have a head of state ready to lead.

To say it was cowardice is incredibly ignorant. If it was Gore and Lieberman during 9/11 the exact same protocol would have been followed.

**Frazzled**

But would Al Gore have hidden under a towel?

**efarrer**

Mattlov wrote:
efarrer wrote:Find a real scandal, this one isn't even close. The only scandal here is the cowardice of the last VP.

Wow. It takes a real moron to think of it like that. Do you also believe Obama is the Messiah?

Those bunkers exist for a reason, and that is to protect sensitive personnel in case of attack.

The VP is "sensitive personnel" and 9/11 was an attack. Bunker being used as it is supposed to be used. Also, those bunkers ARE the proper place to send orders and such in times of crisis. It is a safe and protected location to continue coordination of assets in a crisis. In the case of 9/11, if Cheney HADN'T gone in there it would have been folly. Not that he had much choice. When you have an agency like the Secret Service telling you to GO HERE, you do it.

It did not, per the article above exist prior to 2002. Instead Cheney would have gone to one of the many existing secure facilities in the vicinity of DC. Hiding in a bunker under your own home while amusing in it's 1950's retro style is actually a pretty amusing conceit. Any enemy capable of launching a legitimate attack (rather then symbolic).

As to Obama... Well the last clowns failed on every front possible. It'll be hard for him to do worse.

**Frazzled**

OK note to self, efarrer is waaayyyyy too serious on a Monday.

But you didn't answer the essential question, would Al Gore hide or not hide under a towel? I'm being serial guys! Serially!

**dietrich**

You're kidding about Gore, right? He'd just show up in his tight jeans and intimidate everyone with his manhood. I wish that I could remember which magazine cover that was, but it was quite funny.

**barlio**

efarrer wrote:As to Obama... Well the last clowns failed on every front possible. It'll be hard for him to do worse.

Never underestimate the power of change.

@Frazzeled: He would only hide under the towel if he was financially invested in the production of said towel.

Always bring a towel, you never know when you'll need it.

**Frazzled**

dietrich wrote:You're kidding about Gore, right? He'd just show up in his tight jeans and intimidate everyone with his manhood. I wish that I could remember which magazine cover that was, but it was quite funny.

How VP's would have handled
***Carter's VP. Who? enough said.

***Ford, would have tripped on the carpet, kicked over the red phone and inadvertently woke Brezhnev up.

***Bush. Would have called in the CIA. Becuase back in his day, the CIA were real men, and ate bad guys for breakfast. Then he would have invaded Panama.

***Bush's VP. Would never have made it because he would have been looking for the secret "dore."

***Gore. As we've said, he would have intimidated them with his manhood. Serially.

***Cheney. Well, at least he didn't nuke Borneo...

**mcfly**

OK note to self, efarrer is waaayyyyy too serious on a Monday.

But you didn't answer the essential question, would Al Gore hide or not hide under a towel? I'm being serial guys! Serially!

Al Gore would have frozen with terror and then wet himself. Then he would be shoved under the blanked by the Secret Service.

And efarrer, I used a movie as an example because it is what a vice president would be told to do to keep the nation safe.

And the terrorists were going to blow up the capital, and the white house.

Three days later, as he was flown from a Minnesota jail to New York, Moussaoui said he saw the trade center ruins and told the federal marshals transporting him: "It is smoking good."

Moussaoui testified that had he not been arrested he would have tried to fly into the White House on a fifth hijacked plane.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/03/27/moussaoui/index.html

**ShumaGorath**

We know that they were gunning for the white house.

BUT CHENEY DOESN'T HAVE A GOD DAMN TIME MACHINE AND THE BUNKER WAS BUILT A YEAR LATER.

**Frazzled**

ShumaGorath wrote:We know that they were gunning for the white house.

BUT CHENEY DOESN'T HAVE A GOD DAMN TIME MACHINE AND THE BUNKER WAS BUILT A YEAR LATER.

How do you know Cheney doesn't have a time machine Shuma? The Penguin, er Cheney, is capable of anytthing

Waa waa waa

**dietrich**

And don't forget, one of the jobs of the VP is to lead the Time Space Continunum Police. I saw it on Futurama, so it must be true.

**mcfly**

ShumaGorath wrote:We know that they were gunning for the white house.

BUT CHENEY DOESN'T HAVE A GOD DAMN TIME MACHINE AND THE BUNKER WAS BUILT A YEAR LATER.

Yep a year later when the country was still worried about more attacks and thinking that the war was a good thing. Bin Ladin was still scaring everyone, and airports were so tight you couldnt carry any liquid on a plane.

So, yeah, it is logical for there to be a bunker. The Secret Service would want to take every measure they could to keep him safe.

**reds8n**

And the terrorists were going to blow up the capital, and the white house.

The whole capital ? With 1 plane ? Really ? I never knew Americn building standards were that bad.

This would be the White House the President wasn't in on the day in question too yes ?

Al Gore would have frozen with terror and then wet himself

Possibly. Sure is lucky then that the leader you did have didn't sit round in a classroom doing feth all for.... oh.

Isn't it every Ameriacn's right to have their own bombproof bunker under their house anyway ?

I believe over here MPs can put it on their expenses.........

**Frazzled**

Thats true. It also explains why he has Towlie. If you're fighting that kind of evil at a moment's notice, you have to have the best towl technology can provide.

**Frazzled**

I think he meant the Capital Building.

Actually later he would have been closer to a bunker, as we were concerned (and still should be) about some *&(^ with a backback nuke crossing the border and irraditating Washington or NY.

Sorry, I'm being serious. Clearly I need Towlie as well.

**ShumaGorath**

mcfly wrote:
ShumaGorath wrote:We know that they were gunning for the white house.

BUT CHENEY DOESN'T HAVE A GOD DAMN TIME MACHINE AND THE BUNKER WAS BUILT A YEAR LATER.

Yep a year later when the country was still worried about more attacks and thinking that the war was a good thing. Bin Ladin was still scaring everyone, and airports were so tight you couldnt carry any liquid on a plane.

So, yeah, it is logical for there to be a bunker. The Secret Service would want to take every measure they could to keep him safe.

Which is why you build bunkers in unknown locations a little less obvious then that. This was just idiocy. You don't put a bunker in a place that quite possibly is going to be attacked anyway. That kind of reduces the effect of the "secrecy". Also as I said before you can't use a bunker against a terrorist attack, because by definition they are surprise attacks.

**mcfly**

reds8n wrote:

And the terrorists were going to blow up the capital, and the white house.

The whole capital ? With 1 plane ? Really ? I never knew Americn building standards were that bad.

This would be the White House the President wasn't in on the day in question too yes ?

You know as well as I do that they messed up and crashed in Pennsylvania.

Al Gore would have frozen with terror and then wet himself

Possibly. Sure is lucky then that the leader you did have didn't sit round in a classroom doing feth all for.... oh.

Isn't it every Ameriacn's right to have their own bombproof bunker under their house anyway ?

I believe over here MPs can put it on their expenses.........

Should I make this clear then? I believe Global Warming speeding up due to human presence is a lie, and he is a

**Frazzled**

OK serious mode again. part of the issue SHuma is
1. AlQaeda's signature prior to that (and on 9/11) was multiple attacks at the same time. They were concerned about multiple attacks trying to take out Shrub and Darth at the same time.

2. Its standard policy. In case of a major or potential attack upon the US, the P, VP, and Speaker (they tried but she was convinced they were lying to her) are split up, along with various other members. I can guarantee SCOTUS was in lockdown, and the Constitution went into its bunker. The IRS needs no protection of course, even Al Qaeda knew not to mess with the IRS. After a nuclear war only the cochroaches, IRS, and telemarketers will survive.

**reds8n**

My understanding is that Washington could in all likelihood be improved by being burnt to the ground anyway ?

Just out of interest and basing this entire line of questioning off of things I HAVE SEEN IN THE MOVIES, who is the next in the chain of command after the VP then ?

**mcfly**

reds8n wrote:My understanding is that Washington could in all likelihood be improved by being burnt to the ground anyway ?

Just out of interest and basing this entire line of questioning off of things I HAVE SEEN IN THE MOVIES, who is the next in the chain of command after the VP then ?

Speaker of the House.

You think Bush was bad?

Well, she's (in my mind) evil.

**Frazzled**

Nancy Pelosi, God have mercy on our souls.

Seriously, on both points.