Please, sir, can I have some more?

Nothing sends wingnuts into an ear-splitting snit faster than a perceived slight to Ronald Reagan, whom they place at the right hand of Baby Jeebus for being somewhat less embarrassing in retrospect than either Bush. Jay Nordlinger over at NRO is reduced to insensate babbling by a remark from Vice President Biden:

It’s not often you hear Ronald Reagan bad-mouthed these days, even by people who hated him when he was alive and working. According to the pool reporter, Biden “pledged that if politicians will do what’s in the country’s best interest, America’s best days are ahead.” Biden then said, “That’s not Ronald Reagan sunshine in America. That’s literally, literally true.”

Sunshine in America, morning in America — whatever. (Maybe Biden was thinking of the “shining city on a hill,” too?) Nice to see that the Gipper can still get under their skin a little bit.

It’s pretty clear to me Biden meant “sunshine” in the “don’t pump sunshine up my skirt” sense, or, to employ another idiom, “don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining.” But unlike Nordlinger, I don’t labor under an L. Ron Hubbard-sized portrait of Reagan and pine for a fresh round of Gipper golden showers. I guess that makes it easier to grasp the point of the remark.

Nordlinger goes on:

A final thing: Speaking to this insider group, Biden referred to the president as “Barack”: “Barack and I sat in on” this meeting. A tad bit condescending, I think. I wonder what he calls Obama one on one. Cheney, I believe, called George W. Bush “sir.”

I’m going to take a wild guess here and surmise that Biden calls the president “Barack.” And if Cheney did indeed call The Shrub “sir,” the patronization that dripped from the honorific would have been thick and sticky enough to seal a thousand gushing oil wellheads.

Nordlinger’s prissy parsing is another welcome sign that they got nuthin’. Nice to see that Joe can still get under their skin a little bit.

Posted by Betty Cracker on 06/19/10 at 07:45 AM • Permalink

Categories: Politics • Barack Obama • Joe Biden • BushCo • Bedwetters • Nutters • Teabaggery • Our Stupid Media •

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I have it on good authority that—outside of each other’s earshot—Cheney referred to Bush as “Pinocchio” and Dubya called Uncle Dick “Beldar.”

Comment by StrangeAppar8us on 06/19/10 at 08:05 AM

But unlike Nordlinger, I don’t labor under an L. Ron Hubbard-sized portrait of Reagan and pine for a fresh round of Gipper golden showers.

Reminds me of our dear departed Bill Hicks…

Comment by Mike on 06/19/10 at 09:17 AM

So it’s condescending for the veep to use the president’s first name? Kinda implies that Joe sees “Barack” on a regular basis, doesn’t it—-what a poseur!

Comment by Mrs. Polly on 06/19/10 at 09:34 AM

I would be willing to bet that it was the President who called Darth Cheney “sir,” at least when Cheney was pulling the strings so Georgie-boy would say the right things on TV.

Comment by Ellid on 06/19/10 at 10:21 AM

Memo

From: K-Lo
To: NRO staff
Re: library

It has been broughten to my attention that we need to purchase new copies of all the Reagan books in the office library because the pages are all stuck together.

Going forward, no staff members may take any Ronald Reagan-related materials into the bathrooms.

Thanks you for your attention to this matter.

Comment by Allan on 06/19/10 at 10:49 AM

Like this fucker wouldn’t have ten fits if Biden called Obama “sir.” Sorry, if he BELIEVED Biden called Obama “sir.”

“Why does the arrogant uppity Islamofascist president insist that Biden call him “sir” as though he is some servant or lackey?! Halp, halp, the vice president’s being o-pressed!”

Comment by Hunger Tallest Palin on 06/19/10 at 11:07 AM

Like this fucker wouldn’t have ten fits if Biden called Obama “sir.” Sorry, if he BELIEVED Biden called Obama “sir.”

“Why does the arrogant uppity Islamofascist president insist that Biden call him “sir” as though he is some servant or lackey?! Halp, halp, the vice president’s being o-pressed!”

Nordlinger might prefer it if he called the President “Boy”.

Comment by Mike on 06/19/10 at 11:11 AM

The Right has done a good job keeping the cult of Holy Saint Ronnie alive, but the inevitable corrective historical revision is starting, and the sad fact is, it’s not going to be kind. And so the cult is nervous.

Comment by John Ball on 06/19/10 at 11:14 AM

The thing I remember most about Reagan was his trickle down theory. The average American knows that what’s trickling down from the rich may be gold but it’s not money.