An opportunist's eulogy

Needless to say, I take no pleasure in Benazir Bhutto's assassination, as corrupt a politician as she might have been and as much as she was enthusiastically playing the role of Washington's stooge-in-waiting in Pakistan. But even if I were to make some comments suggesting that Bhutto's death might have been beneficial for Pakistani or world politics (which I don't actually think, given that she will now inherit a martyr's mantle which she doesn't deserve and that, whatever Musharraf's fate, US support for the Pakistani military establishment is unlikely to wane) the tastelessness would pale in comparison to this statement from Joe Biden:

We need to have a person in that Oval Office come January 20th next year that when the unexpected like this happens, it will be a person who's dealt with issues. I've spent 26 years on the Foreign Relations Committee. I served in the Peace Corps in Latin America. I know the middle east well. A year ago at this time I was in the region here, in Pakistan, for obvious reasons but over the years, you know Musharraf. I met with him. Benazir Bhutto's a friend. I've known her for a long time, so I'm not encountering these issues for the first time and I think as people get closer to Caucus date, these events and events like this are going to highlight the importance and understanding that good, soaring speeches are not the experience we need at this moment and frankly, even being the First Lady of the United States, it doesn't necessarily qualify for you for dealing with these issues as I have over the last quarter of a century on a daily basis.

With friends like these...