BE A CLOWN, BE A CLOWN – AT 7:13 P.M. ET:  If Joe Biden had been a Republican, he would have been ridiculed out of public life long ago. 

The man has a tin ear – so much so that Obamacare will cover political hearing aids for him, the digital kind.

Here is our one-heartbeat-away guy today, on the Iraq War:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Vice President Joe Biden says the Iraq war hasn't been worth its "horrible price."

He says the war was mishandled from the outset and that the U.S. took its eye off the ball. As a result, he says the U.S. was left in a more dangerous position in Afghanistan, where al-Qaida hatched the Sept 11 attacks.

Biden tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that the war also has cost the United States support from other nations.

Still, Biden predicts Iraq will have successful parliamentary elections next month and he says the U.S. is likely to bring home some 90,000 combat troops by the end of the summer.

Does Biden even begin to understand the impact his statements have on the families of those who were killed or wounded?  Does he understand what it must be like to be a soldier in a veteran's hospital hearing the vice president of the United States say that it wasn't worth it?

We can agree or disagree with the policy, just as those in wartime can agree or disagree with individual aspects of strategy or even with battle plans.  But to call it a waste...what a disgrace.

And, of course, Biden, whose point of view is as permanent as a starlet's virginity, didn't always feel that way.  In 2002, Biden said, "We have no choice but to eliminate the threat. This is a guy who is an extreme danger to the world."  See the video here.

Last week Biden said Iraq could be one of the great triumphs of the Obama administration.  So he's taking credit for something he opposed, but didn't always oppose.  He was for it before he was against it, and now says it wasn't worth it, but will be a great triumph.

One heartbeat away.

February 14, 2010