Good thing the blog name “Loose Cannon” is taken—otherwise it would be the perfect title for the White House website section on the vice president. Always known as the quickest mouth in Delaware, Joe Biden’s ascension to national office four months ago has hardly slowed him down. Here are eight of my favorite Biden gaffes, questionable ad-libs, and bizzaro quips. It’s likely there will be more to come.


Courtesy of U.S.Senate

1. “Jill and I had the great honor of standing on that stage, looking across at one of the great justices, Justice Stewart.”—To cheering supporters on Inauguration Day, while substituting the name of Potter Stewart (who died in 1985) for Justice John Paul Stevens, who swore Biden in as vice president.

2. “My memory isn’t as good as Chief Justice Roberts.”—Needling the chief justice  over Robert’s glitch in administering the oath of office to Barack Obama. Biden was asking for a copy of the oath so that he could swear in the White House staff on January 30, while Obama shook his head in disapproval.

3. “If we do everything right, if we do it with absolute certainty, there’s still a 30 percent chance we’re going to get it wrong.”—Channeling his inner Yogi Berra while discussing the stimulus package to members of Congress on February 6.

4. “Do you know the website number?”—Committing a minor techie blooper during a February 25 television interview reminiscent of George W. Bush’s description of the “Internets.”

5. “Give me a f______ break!”—Dropping the “f-bomb” to a former Senate colleague who addressed him as “Mr. Vice President” at a March 13 event in Washington’s Union Station.

6. “I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now. It’s not that it’s going to Mexico in a confined aircraft where one person sneezes, that goes all the way through the aircraft. That’s me. I would not be, at this point, if they had another way of transportation, suggesting they ride the subway.”—Taking flight from the White House talking points on the swine flu, and panicking millions of travelers, on April 30.

7. “I told you: Piece of cake. Piece of cake.” —Whispered in the ear of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on May 27, after she delivered her poignant remarks in the East Room.

8. What am I gonna tell the president? I’m gonna tell him his teleprompter is broken. What will he do then?” —Taking a dig at his teleprompter-reliant boss when one of the teleprompter screens fell down during Biden’s May 27 commencement speech at the U.S. Air Force Academy.