Political India: Engaging America

From The Hindui

The 24/7 news cycle and the intense glare of a thousand cameras has made all politicians wary of every word escaping their lips.

The media, in turn, has turned into a ravenous, sound-byte-hungry beast that hangs on every such word.

Yet for all the frenzy it is sometimes that unintended whisper caught on tape that reveals more than a thousand prepared lines.

On Tuesday, in the aftermath of the historic passage of the healthcare reform bill, President Obama held a ceremony for signing the bill into law in the East Room of the White House.

The signing was witnessed by an august gathering, including Vicki Kennedy, widow Senator Edward Kennedy, who fought fiercely for healthcare until his death last year; and 11-year-old Marcelas Owens, who lost his mother to illness because she lacked medical care, and yet he had become one of Mr. Obama's favourite ambassador's for reform.

When the President and the Vice-President entered the room they did so to thunderous applause and chants of “Yes We Can!”

But before the President addressed the crowd, who should step up to introduce him but Vice President Joseph Biden, a man with a less-than-perfect record on social faux pas.

He began with aplomb, saying “Mr. President, your passion to make the lives of ordinary Americans better has been on display.

And the principles that guided your public service, beginning when you were a community organiser, have led this nation to this moment... Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama…”

And then it happened.

The Vice-President leaned over his boss' shoulder to whisper something in his ear. Sadly he didn't lean far enough to be out of earshot of the microphones.

So the many millions watching their national leaders on stage heard him say to Mr. Obama: “This is a big [expletive] deal.”

News of Mr. Biden's gaffe has since travelled, viral-style and like wildfire, across the global media — as a testimony not only to the breadth of his vocabulary, but more importantly to how much healthcare reform has meant to this White House.

Labels: Biden, controversy, healthcare Bill, Obama