Joe's Been Smoking With Bill Again

On the face of it, Joe Biden's latest splendiforous assessment of world events surpasses his cluelessness from last year about apartment building in Jerusalem. The Christian Science Monitor reports that Big Joe just can't seem to get what the fuss is about in Cairo.

Ahead of a day that could prove decisive, NewsHour host Jim Lehrer asked Biden if the time has "come for President Mubarak of Egypt to go?" Biden answered: "No. I think the time has come for President Mubarak to begin to move in the direction that – to be more responsive to some... of the needs of the people out there."

Asked if he would characterize Mubarak as a dictator Biden responded: “Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things. And he’s been very responsible on, relative to geopolitical interest in the region, the Middle East peace efforts; the actions Egypt has taken relative to normalizing relationship with – with Israel. … I would not refer to him as a dictator.”

He also appeared to make one of the famous Biden gaffes, in comments that could be interpreted as questioning the legitimacy of protesters' demands. Monitor Cairo correspondent Kristen Chick, other reporters in the country, and activists have generally characterized the main calls of demonstrators as focused on freedom, democracy, an end to police torture, and a more committed government effort to address the poverty that aflicts millions of Egyptians.

Biden urged non-violence from both protesters and the government and said: "We’re encouraging the protesters to – as they assemble, do it peacefully. And we’re encouraging the government to act responsibly and – and to try to engage in a discussion as to what the legitimate claims being made are, if they are, and try to work them out." He also said: "I think that what we should continue to do is to encourage reasonable... accommodation and discussion to try to resolve peacefully and amicably the concerns and claims made by those who have taken to the street. And those that are legitimate should be responded to because the economic well-being and the stability of Egypt rests upon that middle class buying into the future of Egypt."

Egypt's protesters, if they're paying attention to Biden at all, will certainly be wondering which of their demands thus far have been illegitimate.

Now, here we have a confirmatory case for one of the most important (see the Sense of Events story on Frances Fox Piven for another) and consistently replicated hypotheses in social science: The Peter Principle.

Our generation's World Book, Wikipedia sums up the Peter Principle for even the meanest of understandings:

It holds that in a hierarchy, members are promoted so long as they work competently. Sooner or later they are promoted to a position at which they are no longer competent (their "level of incompetence"), and there they remain, being unable to earn further promotions. This principle can be modelled and has theoretical validity for simulations. Peter's Corollary states that "in time, every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out their duties" and adds that "work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence". Managing upward is the concept of a subordinate finding ways to subtly "manage" superiors in order to limit the damage that they end up doing.

Alas, the cadre of underlings who might manage from below in any other organization are simply not available to Joe, since they have risen to their policy positions by means of the Peter Principle as well.

It is alarming that the very best that USA can muster after two weeks of popular "unrest" throughout the Middle East (as in Tunis, Hizbullahstan, Egypt, and Yemen with tremors felt in Jordan), that the Number 2 guy could only suggest that the protesters focus on legitimate demands.

Of course, the problem, once again, lies over at Foggy Bottom where the Professionals have consistently missed every call since 1975. This the same think tank that gave us the Islamic Republic of Iran over the Shah and has consistently backed one Banana Despot after another.

Over at State, where Professional Analysts do something, the Peter Principle is Enshrined in gold and they cannot be fired since they are not political appointees. That's why they're called Professional Analysts. Tenure? Forget about it. Incompetent? You bet and proud of it.

But I don't think they're smoking the low grade stuff Bill and Joe toke. They get their stuff direct from the Middle East. That's why they live in a fog. But, it's probably just global warming.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian government has shut down the internet, phone service, and has begun arresting opposition leaders ahead of the riots expected tonight at the evening Call To Prayer. Joe can be assured that as "tempers" flare on both sides of the barracades, each side will be advocating "legitimate" beefs according to THEIR belief systems and not according to Joe's.

After all, we all live in a politically correct global village now, don't we?