He's coming to meet his pals, and even his fellow 'second in command' Nick Clegg should get the chance to shoot the breeze
*Age: *70.
*Appearance: *Uncle Sam's cheeky brother.
*The vice president of the United States? *That Joe Biden, yes.
*What is he up to now? *He's in town – town, in this case, being Europe – for a chat or two about the violence in Syria with his pals in Germany, France and the UK.
*Which pals are these? *Angela Merkel, François Hollande, the Russian foreign minister, the international envoy to Syria and, of course, David Cameron and Nick Clegg.
*Clegg too? *Yup. Presumably that one is less of a serious chat and more of a "shoot the breeze 'bout bein' a deputy" affair.
*So what should we expect from this trip? *Geopolitically speaking, who knows? But if Biden is on form, we should be guaranteed at least a couple of decent gaffes.
*Such as? *Such as last year's shocking admission: "I've known eight presidents, three of them intimately." Or old classics: "Do you know the website number?" and (to a senator in a wheelchair) "Stand up, Chuck, let 'em see ya!"
*Does he deliberately try to make himself a laughing stock? *No, but he has been quite successful at it. He is now a regular figure of fun for satirical newspaper the Onion, which must be a pain, since he has also been touted as a potential future president.
*Of America? *Well, it wouldn't be Liberia, would it? Yes, of America.
*Seriously? *So says NBC News journalist Steve Kornacki. He reckons that former secretary of state Hillary Clinton is gearing up for a fresh attempt to get her hands on the nuclear football and ol' Joey B just might have a problem with that. Kornacki's question: "We already have a vice-president ... shouldn't he be the heir apparent?"
*Might he not be a little too far past retirement age to be an heir – apparent or otherwise – to, well, anything? *That's a bit ageist, isn't it?
*Yup, but also, arguably, a bit true? *Historically, very true: if Biden ran and won in 2017 he would be the oldest person sworn in as US president by around five years.
*Do say: *"Biden, Biden, he's our man!"
*Don't say: *"If he can't do it, that's understandable, he will be 74." Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 days ago.
*Age: *70.
*Appearance: *Uncle Sam's cheeky brother.
*The vice president of the United States? *That Joe Biden, yes.
*What is he up to now? *He's in town – town, in this case, being Europe – for a chat or two about the violence in Syria with his pals in Germany, France and the UK.
*Which pals are these? *Angela Merkel, François Hollande, the Russian foreign minister, the international envoy to Syria and, of course, David Cameron and Nick Clegg.
*Clegg too? *Yup. Presumably that one is less of a serious chat and more of a "shoot the breeze 'bout bein' a deputy" affair.
*So what should we expect from this trip? *Geopolitically speaking, who knows? But if Biden is on form, we should be guaranteed at least a couple of decent gaffes.
*Such as? *Such as last year's shocking admission: "I've known eight presidents, three of them intimately." Or old classics: "Do you know the website number?" and (to a senator in a wheelchair) "Stand up, Chuck, let 'em see ya!"
*Does he deliberately try to make himself a laughing stock? *No, but he has been quite successful at it. He is now a regular figure of fun for satirical newspaper the Onion, which must be a pain, since he has also been touted as a potential future president.
*Of America? *Well, it wouldn't be Liberia, would it? Yes, of America.
*Seriously? *So says NBC News journalist Steve Kornacki. He reckons that former secretary of state Hillary Clinton is gearing up for a fresh attempt to get her hands on the nuclear football and ol' Joey B just might have a problem with that. Kornacki's question: "We already have a vice-president ... shouldn't he be the heir apparent?"
*Might he not be a little too far past retirement age to be an heir – apparent or otherwise – to, well, anything? *That's a bit ageist, isn't it?
*Yup, but also, arguably, a bit true? *Historically, very true: if Biden ran and won in 2017 he would be the oldest person sworn in as US president by around five years.
*Do say: *"Biden, Biden, he's our man!"
*Don't say: *"If he can't do it, that's understandable, he will be 74." Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 days ago.