Joe Biden?

I try to get excited about politics. I try. I used to give them money, but I had a long talk with myself and I stopped doing that. It's not supposed to be about money, it's supposed to be about ideas. It is about money, but I don't have to support a bad idea.

I saw the stories yesterday that said Barack Obama was ready to announce his running mate, just as the Democrat convention was about to start. I went to Obama's site and signed up for the text message alert so I'd be on the announcement list.

The little chime went off and I opened the text message. Joe Biden, it said. Joe Biden? The politics of change meets business as usual in Washington. The perfect pair, I suppose. Just as Joe's hair plugs were starting to blend in and he had maxed-out his golden tan, he'll be ready for prime time politics.

Ugh.

The guy who declared that "you can't go into a 7/11 without an Indian accent" is the Democrat vice-presidential nominee.

The guy who in September 1987 had his own presidential campaign run into serious trouble when he was accused of plagiarizing a speech by Neil Kinnock, then-leader of the British Labour Party.

The guy who, while a first year law student at Syracuse Law School, plagiarized a law review article in a class paper he wrote.

Biden also released his undergraduate grades, which were unexceptional. Further, when questioned by a New Hampshire resident about his grades in law school Biden had claimed falsely to have graduated in the "top half" of his class, (when he actually graduated 76th in a class of 85) that he had attended on a full scholarship, and had received three degrees. In fact he had received two majors, History and Political Science, and a single B.A., as well as a half scholarship based on financial need.

During Biden's 2007 presidential campaign, Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen said that Biden's candidacy might be endangered by his "manic-obsessive running of the mouth."

Two years ago when Gentleman's Quarterly profiled the senator, the headline read "Joe Biden Can't Shut Up."

A January 31 remark on fellow Democratic candidate and Senator Barack Obama is frequently transcribed as, "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy, I mean, that's a storybook, man."

Now Joe is part of the story. Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert and [egad] the Republicans are sharpening their pencils. Am I still excited about politics?

Not so much.

And get ready for a lot more of these ...