Joey B Hits the Gridiron

"Axelrod really wants me to do this on teleprompter, but I told him I'm much better when I wing it." That's what Joe Biden said at the Gridiron Dinner last night in Washington. Little-known fact: my grandfather was the first teleprompter ever used at the Gridiron, which was pretty cool , since it's an off the record, secretive dinner; my family got to see all the jokes before anyone else even heard them. What should frighten all of America, though, is that Biden really believes what he said. And he thinks Cheney was out of touch with reality?

Earlier this week, all of us who hang out in the Oval were laughing about sending Joey B to speak. Axe's thinking was that if the Veep did what he usually does when he speaks in public, most of America would forget about AIG and how we've screwed up the economy, and the nation's pitchforks would be out for him instead. So Joe went and made jokes about stem-cell research and his baldness. What a gut-buster. Humor about Tim Terrific's handling of the economy? Oh, they were rolling in the aisles. This is why the Gridiron Club doesn't let regular folk into this white-tie affair. Everyone would see how easy it is for Washington insiders to laugh at what the rest of America thinks is fairly serious stuff. And we can't have that.

Another reason we sent the Veep? We all know Big Boy isn't that funny, at least intentionally, and that most of Washington really enjoys laughing at his vice president. So why dissapoint?

Some of the electronics guys were asking me over coffee earlier today if I was disappointed that I wasn't there last night. Heck, no. I get enough heat for stuff The Boss intends to say; I don't want to get blamed for all the stuff that just falls out of Joe's mouth whenever he opens it.