Leave a Comment

Biden garbles Depression history
Ben Smith's Blog — ... As Reason's Jesse Walker footnotes it: "And if you owned an experimental TV set in 1929, you would have seen him. And you would have said to yourself, 'Who is that guy? What happened to President Hoover?'" ...

Biden, visitor from alternate time-line?
Southern Appeal — ... : Biden garbles Depression history Joe Biden’s denunciation of his own campaign’s ad to Katie Couric got so much attention last night that another odd note in the interview slipped by. He was speaking about the role of the White House in a financial crisis.“When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the princes of greed,” Biden told Couric. “He said, ‘Look, here’s what happened.’” As Reason’s Jesse Walker  footnotes  it: “And if you owned an experimental TV set in 1929, you would have seen him. And you would have said to ...

Biden garbles Depression history
USS Neverdock — ... Joe Biden's denunciation of his own campaign's ad to Katie Couric got so much attention last night that another odd note in the interview slipped by. He was speaking about the role of the White House in a financial crisis. Biden: "When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the princes of greed," Biden told Couric. "He said, 'Look, here's what happened.'" As Reason's Jesse Walker footnotes it: "And if you owned an experimental TV set in 1929, you would have seen him. And you would have said to yourself, 'Who is that guy? ...

A Bit of Perspective:
The Volokh Conspiracy — ... using to speak to the public in 1929, and even about exactly who was president in 1929) are inevitable when people speak extemporaneously, especially when they're in the middle of a hectic campaign and probably not getting much sleep. All this shows about Senator Biden is that he makes errors just like all the rest of us. But it's worth remembering incidents such as this one when people start mocking other candidates for similar slip-ups. Thanks to Ben Smith (Politico) and Jesse Walker (Reason's Hit & Run) for pointing this out, and to ...

Bonus Quote of the Day
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire — ... -- Sen. Joe Biden, in an interview with CBS News. Of course, as Reason points out, Roosevelt wasn't president in 1929 and televisions were still experimental. ...

Biden on FDR’s management of the 1929 crash
Hot Air » Top Picks — ... that transformed it into a Great Depression. If FDR and President Herbert Hoover didn’t talk about the “princes of greed” in 1929, by the time FDR took over, that kind of populist rhetoric had certainly taken root.  FDR greatly escalated the scope of federal government to institute the kind of redistributionism that Obama and Biden now champion. If Hoover or FDR appeared on television in 1929 or even 1933, only a few hundred people would have seen it.  Television was still an experimental medium and wouldn’t be introduced to the public for at least another decade. FDR ...

Biden on Roosevelt
The Buck Stops Here — Joe Biden recently said, "When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the princes of greed. He said, 'look, here's what happened.'" ...

Prof. Biden Bungles Depression History
The Weekly Standard Blog — ... As Reason's Jesse Walker footnotes it: "And if you owned an experimental TV set in 1929, you would have seen him. And you would have said to yourself, 'Who is that guy? What happened to President Hoover?'" ...

Liveblogging John McCain’s First Press Conference of the 21st Century
Wonkette » top — ... 4:35 PM — McCain will not say whether he’ll vote for the bailout bill or not, because …. it’s a great financial crisis, “the biggest financial crisis since World War II.” The hell is he talking about? He must be watching experimental TVs and wondering what happened to President Hoover. ...

Did You Know That Franklin Roosevelt Went On TV After The 1929 Stock Market Crash To Resassure People Everything Would Be Fine??? So Says A 2008 VP Candidate
Patterico's Pontifications — ... As Reason’s Jesse Walker footnotes it: “And if you owned an experimental TV set in 1929, you would have seen him. And you would have said to yourself, ‘Who is that guy? What happened to President Hoover?’” ...

Why isn't our politicianz edukated?
Megan McArdle — ... stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the princes of greed. He said, 'look, here's what happened.'" I certainly feel better knowing that come next November, I might have a savvy politician like Joe Biden explaining complex financial matters to me.  And also, how the governor of New York managed to get his own financial show ten years before the first regularly scheduled television broadcast. Hat tip Jesse Walker -- and Stuart Buck, who wonders why Senator Biden didn't mention Abraham ...

Morning Links
The Agitator — The average Brit breaks the law about once per day. Given the U.K.’s slide toward a full-scale Nanny State, I’m actually surprised the number is that low. Joe Biden don’t know much about history (bonus Daily Show link to reason here). Everything you need to know about the mortgage crisis, presented in stick-figure. It’s pretty brilliant, actually. Comcast rep weirdly invokes the PATRIOT Act to strong-arm a customer into giving up his Social Security number. Of course, when you have a government-abetted monopoly, customer service ...