Joe Biden makes lube joke, remains awesome

In the wake of St. Patrick's Day, President Obama hosted Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny yesterday in a reception at the White House. And who better to introduce such a gathering than Vice President Joe "BFD" Biden? While introducing the visiting dignitaries, the proudly Irish Biden took the opportunity to indulge in some whimsy and to tell the crowd about his Grandfather Finnegan's pearls of wisdom. The story went something like this:

You know there's an old Irish saying, there's all KINDS of old Irish sayings. At least my Grandfather Finnegan, I think he made them up...it says: "May the hinges of our friendship never go rusty." Well with these two folks that you're about to meet, if you haven't already, there's no doubt about them staying oiled and lubricated. [gales of laughter, wolf whistles] Now for those of you who are not full Irish in this room, lubricated has a different meaning for us all.

See, the best part about this is that the teetotaling Biden was actually making a drinking joke, but at the laughter of the crowd, the old fox simply couldn't resist teasing them about the resulting double entendre.

Anyway, people who think that Biden's sometimes salty asides are a political liability or undermine the gravitas of the position can go suck on a lemon. This man is a national treasure. (And not just a gold-mine for The Onion.) While I wouldn't want him doing solo nuclear-arms negotiations, the lack of a filter is something that should be celebrated in the political class, where it's about as rare as real hair. Enjoy.