Thank Goodness for Joe Biden

Be sure to read Jason Horowitz's account in the New York Observer of his interview with Sen. Joseph Biden. He's running for president, and he knows he doesn't have much chance to win. Which leaves him willing to say just what he thinks of the front-runners, and it's not all complimentary. Here's Horowitz's summary:

To hear him tell it, Hillary Clinton's position is calibrated, confusing, and "a very bad idea." John Edwards doesn't know what he's talking about and is pushing a recipe for Armageddon in the Middle East. Barack Obama is offering charming but insubstantial fluff. And all of them are playing politics.

"Let me put it this way," Mr. Biden said. "You didn't hear any one of them get in this debate at all until they announced for president."

Yes, Biden is too long-winded. He overcame a stutter as a teenager and at age 29 got what seemed likely to be a lifetime job in which he could talk as long as he liked. So he's been overcompensating ever since. But he does say what he thinks, even if it doesn't focus-group well or hew to standard political etiquette. This campaign may turn out to be more fun than I thought.

More Tributes to Deborah Orin

Here is a beautiful website set up in remembrance of Deborah Orin, the late Washington bureau chief of the New York Post.