VEEP BAIT

In Defense of Biden

Dowd: Obama belittles his No. 2.

Maureen Dowd uses her column today to accuse President Obama of (gasp!) mocking his second-in-command. "Joe is nothing if not loyal," Dowd writes. "And the president should return that quality, and not leave his lieutenant vulnerable to 'Odd Couple' parodies." She cites as an example Obama's response to a question about Biden's pronouncement that “there’s still a 30 percent chance we’re going to get it wrong.” Obama responded: “I don’t remember exactly what Joe was referring to,” but added, with a laugh, “not surprisingly." It's a little odd to see the Queen of Snark righteously condemning a joke at a politician's expense—perhaps she's upset she didn't write it first?