September 2, 2022

"... I give you my word as a Biden..."

I just wanted to break out that one phrase from last night's speech:
Even in this moment with all the challenges we face, I give you my word as a Biden, I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future.

Who are the other Bidens who have contributed to this special reputation for trustworthiness? Hunter?

In my entire life, I have never considered using the expression "I give you my word as a" something — not I give you my word as an Althouse, not I give you my word as a law professor, not I give you my word as a blogger, not I give you my word as a member of the cruelly neutral moderate mainstream.

In fact, I must say, I regard all phrases in that category — I give you my word, I'm telling you the truth, as God is my witness — as reason to mistrust the speaker. 

ADDED: Reading after publishing, I rushed back in to delete my own phrase "I must say." It's reason to suspect bullshit. I left it in as a demonstration of... whatever.

85 comments:

RideSpaceMountain said...

AND I GIVE YOU MIYA WOOOOOORD, I'M GONNA GET THAT TRUMP! AND I GIVE YOU MIYA WOOOOORD, I'M GONNA DO IT ALL....IN TWO WEEKS!

BJK said...

"How Biden Lost Me," ver. 1.0.

Looking forward to future installments.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

The Biden's are as dirty and corrupt as the day is long. Biden is also a Sociopath. His language is the language of Sociopathery

Dave Begley said...

How could Herr Joe be so clueless - and stupid - to use that worthless phrase?

Washington, Franklin, Adams, Madison, Jefferson and Hamilton must be spinning in their graves.

wendybar said...

Lying Biden gives you his word as a lying Biden. There...I fixed it.

tim maguire said...

I’ve always wanted to say, “I give you my word as a gentleman,” but so far the opportunity hasn’t come up.

chuck said...

A question that answers itself: "Would I lie to you?"

Vance said...

So on my local rag's website, I asked this simple question:

Joe Biden declared that "MAGA republicans" are the enemy of the state and a clear and present danger to the United States. That usually comes right before drone strikes against "clear and present dangers."

But regardless, we've seen through discovery responses that the White House has actively been using Facebook, Twitter, et. al. as arms of the government to censor speech the White House doesn't like. That's the literal definition of fascism.

So I asked: Will this newspaper now provide names of commentators who are not rah rah Joe Biden and fascist?

They didn't print my comment and suspended me. So I must ask our exalted hostess: is there any sort of security or whatnot to prevent us commentators from being identified and sent to a "Purge Americans" list that Joe Biden is now calling for?

Critter said...

Biden uses all kinds of lines like that which are sure tells that he's lying. Another is :no joke", "I ain't lying", "that's the truth".

He is one messed up, corrupt, soulless person.

He's broken every major vow he ever made: to his first wife, to his religious faith (especially on advocating abortion), to his pledge of loyalty to the the U.S. (selling access to the highest levels of office to our political enemies (CCP) for personal gain, enforcing the law (open borders), basic human decency (showering naked with his 6-year-old daughter.

The ultimate irony is for such a soulless person to claim to heal the soul of America.

Anyone who votes for this horrible human being deserves all the bad things that he is visiting on America.

Enigma said...

The "Biden" brand means greased palm corruption, right? Be it Joe demanding pay-to-play in Delaware or be it Hunter on one of his many intoxicated benders.

"I give you my word as a septic tank."

Static Ping said...

Oh dear God.

Wince said...

Althouse said...
ADDED: Reading after publishing, I rushed back in to delete my own phrase "I must say."

Who are you, Ed Grimley?

Quayle said...

Nothing wrong with an appeal to authority. We'll judge it by the authority to whom you appealed.

"As God is my witness" is certainly an attempt at leveraging on ultimate authority. Getting the subpoena to God requiring Him to show up and give His testimony - that's really the trick to using that particular appeal.

If someone is a secular atheist, what appeal to ultimate authority is there except to raw power - you know, the thing that keeps all things progressing and evolving. The power that kills and eats the weaker permutations of the genepool. Why should we expect secularist atheists to believe in anything except power. It is their God, so to speak. Their creator.



LilyBart said...

Biden is a known, habitual liar. So, giving his word is meaningless. He lies often and easily.

Lurker21 said...

You have to think a lot of yourself to use that phrase. What is it that makes being a Biden so special? Through the years a lot of questionable or disturbing things that Joe has said have been taken as quaint or folksy or funny. We've talked about not taking things Trump says literally. For the media it's like that with Biden, though not with Trump. There's no serious questioning or analysis or criticism of what Biden says because they agree with him and support him. One reason why Washington DC took Biden's stupid comments in stride though, was because they never thought he'd actually be president.

I'm also wondering if "I give you my word as a Biden" is a reference to the family's lost wealth and glory, as described in the recent New Yorker story. Biden's family were pretty shady lowlifes, even before he came on the scene, but to a child they must have seemed admirable back when they were rich and looked up to. They say that families coming down in the world produce great writers -- Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller. More often they produce great liars who idealize their heritage to make up for their deficiencies and feelings of insecurity and inferiority.

Tom said...

To be frank, every comment today should use a rhetorical device. And I won’t even begin to mention how rhetorical devices can be indicative of an intent to deceive. To be honest, we shouldn’t use them.

rcocean said...

"Bob Dole doesn't lie. Bob Dole tells the truth"

Of course, that could've been Norm.

rcocean said...

Joe Biden has been one of the biggest liars in American Politics. Starting with the speech he stole from the UK Labour leader where he claimed to be a poor working class coalminer who was the first in family to go to college.

Drago said...

We know from their public comments that for the GOPe-ers and NeverTrumpers, the mere word of Biden is sufficient to generate confidence and faith and drooling positive commentary.

FYI, in a tweet from last night that she has since deleted, Jen Rubin was calling for mass arrests to begin while Jonah Goldberg publicly agreed with the entire speech and the WaPo has labeled the speech a "War time speech".

The speech was so very inspirational to all the GOPe-ers and NeverTrumpers that Max Boot might decide to watch it over and over again in lieu of taking his step-kids back to a Drag Queen Story Hour (an event the "True Conservative" David French called a "blessing of liberty") and Mitt Romney might decide to skip the next BLM march in order to pen a congratulatory note to Biden, whom Romney has repeatedly, over and over, called a fundamentally decent man who will bring back our political norms.

Needless to say, I don't expect Mitch McConnell to have much negative reaction to the Biden speech as there is a significant possibility Mitch's own speechwriters collaborated with the White House in the crafting of the speech.

c365 said...

Anyone who watched Biden's debate with Paul Ryan should have taken the measure of the man. He's a slimy bad guy who will smile at your face and stab you in the back and sniff your daughters hair at your funeral.

Trump is only slightly more trustworthy in that he'll do all those things, brag about it to others and shrug his shoulders when called on it.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

“In fact” is also in the category, not just “I must say”. So your bullshit is on the same par as Joe Biden’s bullshit. Just give yourself the civility bullshit tag and move on. But in your defense, often those phrasings are just used for emphasis. Would the writing be stronger without them? That depends on whether you are going for.

In calling out MAGA Republicans, it was awfully nice of Joe to use a phrase that was already in circulation. You can wear the hat you already own, as opposed to when you had to run out and buy a “Deplorables” t-shirt.

rehajm said...

I can't count my spoons any faster...

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Vance we’re on the Google platform. We might as well be in Times Square so far as privacy goes and Google knows everything about you already. If you have any Google apps like search or Gmail on your phone they know your location within one meter at all times. Other than that we are safe and secure from Brandon here at Althouse Blog.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Nice, Tom.

Howard said...

To read Drago's opinions, it sounds like he's saying Trumps group of loyal minions is shrinking and surrounded.

Howard said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lash LaRue said...

I trusted Scarlet O’Hara when she said “As God is my witness…”

TomHynes said...

I don't mean to be rude, but..

Bob Boyd said...

Biden would have been better off to pinky swear than to invite people to stop and think about who he really is and about his actual trustworthiness.

"I give you my word as an addle-brained, hair-sniffing corruptocrat who's last boss warned you all not to underestimate my ability to fuck things up, I've never been more optimistic about America's future."

Lincolntf said...

I had a friend hauled into Court over a silly lie by an ex=girlfriend. When the Judge asked my friend a question, he replied with "To be honest..." and the Judge barked at him "Yes, that would be nice!". I have never used the phrase since he told me the story.

Leland said...

For a long time, I would start comments with "I think". It was because at some point in my early life, I was told to make it clear what my own thoughts were to something else. Later, it seemed wrong, because the reader should assume all that I did not quote and attribute to someone else were my thoughts, as I wrote them while thinking them. To say, "I give you my word" while I'll give you words seems redundant, unnecessary, and over-emphasis as to make me wonder if you didn't stick by everything else that was written prior to the invocation "I give you my word". In any case, if all someone can give you as collateral is their word, then they are not offering much for your trust in them.

Biden told us just over a year ago there wouldn't be roof top rescues of embassy personnel in Afghanistan, and shortly afterwards that is exactly what happened. He later told us that a missile strike on a vehicle prevented a terrorist attack, when it was later shown the missile strike killed a family trying to escape the Taliban. In all this, we were told by our allies that Biden did not give them words in advance that the US was withdrawing from Afghanistan on such an early and quick timetable. Lives were lost on mere words by Joseph Biden. Biden would do better to keep his words for himself rather than offer them up in a barter. No deal.

AZ Bob said...

A picture is worth a thousand words. Here it is.

gilbar said...

can somebody, anybody, give an example of something Jo Biden said; that was true?
Anyone? Anything?
Did he ever mention a job, that he actually had?
Did he ever mention a school event, that actually happened?
Did he ever mention ANYTHING, that actually happened?

Said that the sun was shining when it Wasn't raining? Said the sum of two numbers correctly?
Anything? Anyone?

walter said...

"my word as a Biden" is a dodge for any lies he gets caught in.

Mike said...

"I give you my word as a Biden". Where did that come from?

A week ago I suffered through an audiobook--Miranda Devine's "Laptop From Hell". She's not a bad writer--but her characters--the Biden family--were so sleazy you needed to take a shower after listening to an hour or so of the book. But I got all the way through.

Slow Joe had ambitions. He saw himself as building a dynasty akin to the Kennedy family. The crown prince would be Beau Biden. Joe's brother Jim and son Hunter would be the bag men to support the family. Jim and Hunter were just as fond of using the phrase "my word as a Biden"as Papa Joe--aka "the Big Guy".

To be frank (have to use a rhetorical phrase in the post) the only family that the Bidens remind of is the 30's crime family headed up by Ma Barker. C'mon man, the word of a Biden is about as valuable as a used Kleenex.


"

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Why can't we have a non-corrupt democrat party?

Sebastian said...

I give you my word as a Biden is a tell.

Anyway, I'm sure you've seen the Entous bio in the New Yorker. Not the whole story, but some good evidence of the worth of a Biden's word.

But the question is not whether the expression is ludicrous or whether Biden is a liar or whether anyone should ever believe anything he says. The question is how and why the obvious, most egregious and habitual liar in American politics, a man long discredited even in his own party, a man of whom Obama himself took the proper measure, not only kept his positions but even rose to the top. Cui bono? Hypothesis: Biden's very deficiencies and corruption made him a useful, pliable tool for the prog powers. That, plus nice women's aversion to Trump.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Jonah Goldberg has become what he warned about - in his own book.

Amadeus 48 said...

I have been on Biden’s case for a long time in the Althouse comments. Every time he uses that “my word as a Biden” line it cracks me up. The whole damn family are drunkards and liars.

I am sure this started out as a joke among Joe’s fathers friends.

Are we sure Joe doesn’t drink? He says he doesn’t, which means he probably does. He sure acts like he drinks.

John Paul said...

Inigo Montoya: I hate waiting. I could give you my word as a Spaniard.
Man in Black: No good. I've known too many Spaniards.

Just sub Spaniard for Biden.

Drago said...

c365: "Anyone who watched Biden's debate with Paul Ryan should have taken the measure of the man."

During that debate, Biden certainly took the measure of Ryan, and shoved it down Ryan's throat.

If you go back and watch that debate, there is a moment when Biden laughs at Ryan and then says "republicans, always betting against America".

And what does Ryan do? Ryan does exactly what Mitt did when Candy Crowley ordered him to shut up....he did.

All Ryan did was give a little weak grimace-like smirk and said......not a single thing.

What an absolutely perfect bookend pair of examples (Ryan/Biden, Mitt/Crowley) that demonstrated publicly and conclusively what the GOPe was/is all about.

Drago said...

c365: "Trump is only slightly more trustworthy in that he'll do all those things, brag about it to others and shrug his shoulders when called on it."

And there it is. As always.

Now the idiots are even blaming Trump for Biden's sniffing of daughters at funerals.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

It's another of his highly creepy rhetorical tics. He's got more tics than the "60 Minutes" theme.

Howard said...

Rhhardin in another thread is spot on: indictments are coming and Joe Biden is grabbing MAGA by the pussy... and you let him!

Cheryl said...

Having read "Laptop from Hell," Biden's word as a Biden isn't worth shit. I'm sorry, and you know I've been commenting here a long time without cursing, but it's the darn truth.

Real American said...

the first draft of the speech said "I give you my word as a Kinnock..."

baghdadbob said...

Ann, with all due respect...

John Borell said...

As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.

Michael K said...


Blogger Drago said...

c365: "Anyone who watched Biden's debate with Paul Ryan should have taken the measure of the man."

During that debate, Biden certainly took the measure of Ryan, and shoved it down Ryan's throat.


That "debate" was so weird that I wondered about Biden's sanity. Ryan, of course, took a dive.

At least the broadcast networks had the good sense to ignore the Biden handlers for free time. Only CNN and MSNBC showed the speech. The timing was also interesting. The anniversary of Hitler's invasion of Poland and the start of WWII. I wonder if the timing was deliberate? The backdrop certainly suggested Hitler.

Drago said...

Howard: "To read Drago's opinions, it sounds like he's saying Trumps group of loyal minions is shrinking and surrounded."

As always, but only always, you get it precisely backwards.

I'll let it go because that is apparently the very trademark of your comments that you have worked diligently over the last 7 years to create.

By the way, is today a "the BLM riots never happened" day for you, or is it a "The BLM riots were necessary and the perpetrators are deserving of combat hazard pay for their courage" day?

You go back and forth so often its difficult to discern what causes you to switch back and forth.

Yancey Ward said...

The word of a Biden might be generically worth something, but the word of Joe "Shit For Brains" Biden is worth dogshit.

Christopher B said...

But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. (Matthew 5:34-37, NIV)

MadTownGuy said...

Lash LaRue said...

"I trusted Scarlet O’Hara when she said “As God is my witness…”"

I trusted Mr. Carlson when he said that...

Tank said...

The guy who started his campaign with the fine people hoax is giving us his word as a Biden. This is why satire is dead.

MadTownGuy said...

"I give you my word as a Biden" is right up there with "Let me be purrrfectly clear."

cassandra lite said...

Knowing how often Biden's been caught in lies that had zero chance of being believed if anyone looked for three seconds, this is an especially ironic line. Who would pen such a thing? Either someone completely ignorant of Biden's past, or someone who believes that the mainstream press won't point out the irony.

narciso said...

Well the patriarch in china town the one in sin city

narciso said...

https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/the-american-hostage-situation

Lucien said...

I used to say: “Trust me, I’m a lawyer”. But ironically.

J L Oliver said...

Did anyone count the number of times Biden said, “dark?”

Joe Smith said...

I did not fuck that underage Chinese hooker after snorting cocaine off of her naked ass, despite what you just viewed in the video I uploaded to PornHub.

My word as a Biden...

(now in the correct thread)

Leland said...

As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.

I think that invocation was honest; at least for the character. It was also great writing for a good show and not anything we might find today.

Freeman Hunt said...

"I give you my word as an Althouse commenter..."

Rusty said...

"Even in this moment with all the challenges we face, I give you my word as a Biden, I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future."
Now I have a screen covered in diet coke.
The truly funny part is that he and his handlers were serious. Only those of us that didn't vote for Biden will find this funny. The rest of you are just idiots for voting for him.

Rusty said...

"Even in this moment with all the challenges we face, I give you my word as a Biden, I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future."
Now I have a screen covered in diet coke.
The truly funny part is that he and his handlers were serious. Only those of us that didn't vote for Biden will find this funny. The rest of you are just idiots for voting for him.

Rusty said...

"Even in this moment with all the challenges we face, I give you my word as a Biden, I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future."
Now I have a screen covered in diet coke.
The truly funny part is that he and his handlers were serious. Only those of us that didn't vote for Biden will find this funny. The rest of you are just idiots for voting for him.

effinayright said...

MadTownGuy said...
"I give you my word as a Biden" is right up there with "Let me be purrrfectly clear."
***********

Boston's talk show host Howie Carr likes to say, "You can trust me.....I'm not like...the others."

DanTheMan said...

Never trust anybody who says "Trust me".
Anybody who says "Would I lie to you?" already has.
If someone starts a sentence with "Honestly..", it's not.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

LOL - Joe Smith at 12:22

walter said...

Buried lede: Joementia's juicers still keeping a nominal level of his neurons firing.
Pass the ice cream.

tim in vermont said...

“There’s 747s full of cash lined up from people wanting to invest in Joe Biden.” - James Biden

Google it, interesting read about James and the sainted Beau.

rehajm said...

I trusted Mr. Carlson when he said that...

Thank you for that...

BUMBLE BEE said...

This administration so closely mimics Idiocracy as to make that film seem prophetic. The Howards and c365s of the country deserve nothing better than the Afghan withdrawal debacle from their measure of government. Me, I have two words, Abraham Accords. It can be, and has been done, but not by democrats.

BUMBLE BEE said...

When you have nothing to offer blame others. ex. You people

~ Gordon Pasha said...

His Dad, who was a used car salesman, probably coined the phrase. Like Father, Like Son, (and Like Grandson - hehe)

Aggie said...

"I give you my word as a Biden"

In other words, as a man who's been caught dead-to-rights a number of times telling lies of whole-cloth about his past achievements, complete fabrications about degrees, grades, scholarships, political wins, bestowed honors, conversations with great leaders, attendance at historic events etc., and as someone that has been caught plagiarizing the speeches of others in his past campaigns for the Presidency, and then lying about it egregiously enough to have to drop out of that Presidential race (!), then I conclude one could interpret this to mean that he's about to tell another lie. I don't see another honest way to interpret it. His father sold used cars, and Joe learned to lie early, I guess. Maybe it's Biden genetics. The absurd thing is, none of his lies are any good - they're transparently self-serving and they almost disprove themselves. I think that might be why he's gotten a pass all these years. "The sonovabitch is just to stupid to help himself" say the other Democrats. But he's rotten to the core, and always has been. Now we're getting a good look.

Mutaman said...

"I waited until morning to listen to Biden's nighttime speech, and I wrote about it in the previous post before studying the text. I went out for my sunrise run and thought about what I'd heard. I'll tell you some more about that later. This post is to force myself through the text and to calmly test the emotional reaction I had listening and then remember
ing what I'd heard"

Reminds me of the scene in Take The Money and Run where are they are interviewing an eyewitness to a bank robbery and he is talking about a bunch of gibberish like what he had to eat for breakfast- and super imposed on the screen is the word "CRETIN".
Althouse is Stanley Krim!

Michael K said...

In the past, I considered Hillary Clinton to be the most corrupt person to get this close to the presidency since Aaron Burr. Biden has far surpassed her with the help of his friends.

realestateacct said...

Word as a Biden ranks low = probably below used car salesman.

JLT said...

Another Biden giveaway phrase is “this is no joke”.

gpm said...

As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again . . .

--gpm

RigelDog said...

"I give you my word as a Biden"---best evidence yet of his advanced dementia.

Anne-I-Am said...

As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly...

walter said...

Shit!
Just got outbid on an F-15.
Someone here?

Amadeus 48 said...

Biren is a strong enret in the global moron olympics.