Obama’s second term will be a catastrophe for the country we all love, and I cam say as a man over eighty, particularly for the elderly. He will be free to do any change he desires. As for Vice President Biden, he is, as we say it in French, “the king’s buffoon”, as he had nothing to show. As to the one who coached him for this debate, I am sure that his instructions were, to waste time as much as possible. The audience was not able to hear what Paul Ryan was saying. This was the best trick for Biden to use, just smirk and laugh out loud, as to sabotage the debate. His attitude could also let us think that honoring his Irish descent, he may have been drunk, and for sure not with water.

I found that Biden’s attitude was inappropriate for a Vice President of a nation like ours or any other nation. It was disgraceful, disrespectful, and not worthy of the Whitehouse, not only towards Paul Ryan, but also to the moderator, and particularly to the entire audience, which was annoyed as we could not listen carefully to what Paul Ryan was saying. But Paul Ryan was not stupid. In reference to Iran, Biden was laughing, as if he knew better, by telling Ryan that US intelligence knows exactly when Iran reaches the point when it has enough fissile material for the first bomb.

But Paul Ryan surprised Biden when saying that Iran now has enough fissile material for five bombs. Biden was not prepared for this. He took it lightly, as he was not informed about the five bomb capability, and dismissed it as “loose talk”. In my view, this is no material for jokes, nor for laugh and maybe the American people did not understand its gravity. What about the Iranian cyber attacks against several US banks, Saudi and Qatar Oil companies, and the Israeli army? This subject, which was brought up on Thursday by Leon Panetta, was not mentioned in the debate. I wonder if the public realizes that now, during the Obama administration, Iran is not shying away from cyber attacks and from continuing its uranium enrichment program enough for making five atom bombs.  After writing these few words, I realize that in fact, Israel has good reason to fear a nuclear Iran, and I understand why Netanyahu keeps emphasizing with Obama and the UN his concerns about Iran. The Jewish people have already lost six million – no other nation was hit as hard. Israel has a right to alert everyone to the situation and particularly the American Jews.

Copyright 2012 Emile Tubiana