{"id":13849,"date":"2012-06-01T07:47:47","date_gmt":"2012-06-01T13:47:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=13849"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:08:19","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:08:19","slug":"what-to-make-of-vice-president-biden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/06\/what-to-make-of-vice-president-biden\/","title":{"rendered":"“What to make of Vice President Biden?”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how Michael Gerson begins this surprisingly sympathetic piece<\/a><\/strong> in this morning\u2019s Washington Post, and he adds:<\/p>\n

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Sometimes he is gaffe-prone comic relief. Sometimes he is the possessor of the worst geopolitical judgment in Washington \u2014 as when he opposed the Osama bin Laden raid or advocated the partition of Iraq. And sometimes he seems to be the last genuine human being in American politics.<\/p>\n

This peculiar humanness was on display just before Memorial Day, when Biden spoke to a group of mourning military family members. He recalled the deaths of his wife and daughter in an auto accident in 1972 \u2014 the horrible phone call, his anger at God, the sudden ambushes of grief. \u201cJust when you think, \u2018Maybe I\u2019m going to make it,\u2019\u2009\u201d he said, \u201cyou\u2019re riding down the road and you pass a field, and you see a flower and it reminds you. Or you hear a tune on the radio. Or you just look up in the night.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cFor the first time in my life,\u201d Biden continued, \u201cI understood how someone could consciously decide to commit suicide.\u201d But he also recounted marking his worst days on a calendar, and finding over time that they grew further and further apart. \u201cThere will come a day \u2014 I promise you, and your parents as well \u2014 when the thought of your son or daughter, of your husband or wife, brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye. It will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

This advice, brought back from the far side of loss, is evidence of empathy, the ability to identify with the emotions of others. It is a virtue with a biological basis. While displaying empathy for others, people employ the same neural circuits they use when considering themselves. It is the bridge between the first person and third person, a bridge washed out in people with antisocial personality disorders.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Like I said, surprising and sympathetic. \u00a0Read it all. <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That\u2019s how Michael Gerson begins this surprisingly sympathetic piece in this morning\u2019s Washington Post, and he adds: Sometimes he is gaffe-prone comic relief. Sometimes he is the possessor of the worst geopolitical judgment in Washington \u2014 as when he opposed the Osama bin Laden raid or advocated the partition of Iraq. And sometimes he seems […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,38],"tags":[472],"class_list":["post-13849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-great-links","category-politics","tag-joe-biden"],"yoast_head":"\n"What to make of Vice President Biden?"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"That's how Michael Gerson begins this surprisingly sympathetic piece in this morning's Washington Post, and he adds: Sometimes he is gaffe-prone comic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/06\/what-to-make-of-vice-president-biden\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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