Liars and Saints

 Recently, I had a waiter who clearly hated his job. I know because, literally after each sentence in our conversation, he said, "AMAZING!" "I'll take the check, please...." "AMAZING!" Also, he alleged that I had lied when I said that a "club soda" was in fact a 7-UP. "Oh, really?" he asked. "Because that's not what I heard from the bartender...." I think of this guy when I think of Joe Biden. There is a surface-level performance--"I'm in it until I hear from God Almighty!" And then there is the subtext, which seems to say,  Please, please, get me out of here.... "I'm the first Black woman to serve under a Black President..." "Meet my running mate, Vice President Trump...." "I'll turn it over to the leader of Ukraine, Mr. Putin...." I certainly know what it's like to feel conflicted. You sweep things under the rug. You start barking, "FINISH THE JOB!" Yo...

 Joe Biden wasn't really well-loved, for most of the duration of the primaries. If he had been more of a juggernaut, perhaps Buttigieg, Warren, Harris, Booker, and several others wouldn't have tried to attract the liberal-but-anti-Bernie vote. Biden ran a clumsy campaign; he would sometimes yell at voters, and his choice of insult could remind people of his advanced years ("You're a lying dog-faced pony soldier!") But luck was on Biden's side. The non-Bernie liberal candidates became a "circular firing squad." Klobuchar went after Buttigieg; Warren went after Bloomberg.  As Biden searched for a vice-presidential candidate, he showed some reluctance toward Kamala Harris, a figure known for ridiculing her own aides, and someone whose team once famously attacked Biden, then drummed up merchandise sales with tee shirts that commemorated the attack. ("I don't think you're a racist, but.....") Could Biden choose Stacey Abrams? He called h...