Where's the Beef?

I just received an e-mail of a press release issued on behalf of Raj Peter Bhakta condeming Senator Joe Biden for his "callous and racist comments", referring to the Senator's recent remarks about all the 7-11s in Delaware being run by Indians (Asian, not native American).

Raj (yes, Raj from the Apprentice 2nd season) is running for Congress in Pennsylvania and actively soliciting support from centrists and others tired of politics as usual. You've seen this before, the "I'm not a politician" political campaign which casts aspersions on all elected officials of every stripe. From his website:

We all know that our political system is broken. The ‘pay to play’ culture of corruption and the status quo of scandal harms us all. Now I need your help to fix it.

Help defeat the machine!

If you’re tired of the endless lies of machine politicians please join my campaign.

He's a Republican, "but not your typical Republican". He's going to "take on big business, super lobbyists and special interests" and stop "ridiculous pork barrel spending".

If he's so concerned about serious matters and the "status quo of scandal", then why is he making a fuss about a two-bit cheap, stupid joke by a perennial sufferer of diarrhea of the mouth? Yeah, it got him a mention on Hugh Hewitt, but it makes him look like just another cheap-shot artist masquerading as a fearless public servant.

Now, I'm no fan of Senator Biden, and I condemn all racist jokes everywhere. Senator Biden has a decent grasp of foreign policy issues, but he constantly shoots himself in the foot with the stupid things he says, little offhand jokes like this one which nobody told him haven't been funny for a long time (except on The Simpsons and South Park, which only get away with it because they make fun of everybody equally). He hardly intended to say, and I am sure he does not believe, that Indians only work at 7-11s and Dunkin Donuts (as Raj accuses him of saying). Our country is awash with hard-working, very intelligent Indian immigrants and their children and grandchildren. Condemning Senator Biden for racism on the basis of that joke is just a cheap shot. Even Michelle Malkin doesn't think it's a big deal: "No reason to get the p.c. vapors over his clumsy little crack making that basic observation."

I've seen way too many self-proclaimed "reformers" who are more than happy to rapidly descend into the abyss of childish name-calling and typical political theatrics in order to get elected. To me, Raj looks like just another publicity-hungry mouthpiece more interested in scoring rhetorical points than actually changing anything. Raj has apparently succeeded in getting more publicity for himself by having MSNBC shoot a "documentary" of his campaign. He's introduced a reality twist to the campaign, promising to hire his 3 best interns if elected.

To steal a phrase from an old election, "Where's the Beef"?