Did Bill Clinton rock the house or what?
That's the kind of rhetoric the Democrats need. We need to come out fighting!
Take heed Obama. Sometimes you just have to get down and dirty and take a punch to give two.

In life's deepest and darkest hours, some search for Bible passages or quotes from classic authors.

Invariably, I either seek out a song lyric or a sports analogy - depending on which pops into my cranium first.

When I was able to process the news that Joe Biden was tabbed to be Barack Obama's running mate, I thought of the Fleetwood Mac song "Dreams" in relation to Hillary Clinton ("players only love you when they're playing") and then shifted to a good 'ol sports analogy for Biden.

The selection, while probably not as sound as choosing Clinton and reeling in her solid base of support in vital battleground states, makes senses and reminded me of what I've seen too many times to count in the sport of ice hockey.

The star player - in this case, Obama - is being rendered ineffective because his finesse style is being impeded by some rough play, bordering on being outside the rules but going ignored by the officials, by the opposition.

So the coach shuffles the lines and, on the the star's next shift, he is joined by one of his bigger and meaner teammates to ... uh ... straighten things out a bit. Sometimes it takes a fight, other times it take a big check or two into the boards, but the point is made and the star can get back to controlling the game without intimidation.

Biden, being billed as a "scrappy kid from Scranton," has fought for what he believes is right since he was first elected to the senate in the early 1970s.

He has had some challenges along the way but has emerged stronger for it. We're talking about a man who lost his wife and infant daughter in a car crash shortly after he was elected senator and was sworn in at the bedside of one of his sons who barely survived the crash.

Biden worked his way up to the point that he felt comfortable running for president in 1988, but was sidetracked by a plagiarism scandal that was followed by near-fatal brain aneurysms. He called that whole episode of his life a "train wreck," but since put the train back on track to become one of the most respected senators - particularly on foreign affairs (he once made a fool out of John McCain while arguing over Bosnia in 1993) - in Washington D.C. (a place he began commuting to as a devoted single father and still continued the tradition).

Biden is known to have loose lips. He has given us gems like his shot at Rudy Giuliani, saying the former New York mayor and failed GOP presidential candidate only utters sentences with "a noun, a verb and 9/11." But there is a risk, just like the hockey tough guy taking a bad penalty that could lead to a power play goal for the other team, that these loose lips could sink the ship that is an Obama campaign showing some Titanic-like tendencies lately.

But ... it is worth the gamble.

And while I remain a semi-loyalist to Clinton, especially considering how many key states she claimed, I can see where not choosing her helps Obama retain some dignity as the process moves forward.

Picking Clinton would almost equate to him almost conceding that she really won the primaries.

The Republicans are going to try and do their best to have a field day with the choice of Biden, but they were going to do that with anyone (just like we Dems will when McCain tries to trump Obama's selection of Biden).

And choosing Biden made more sense than Obama picking a woman other than Clinton, like Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, or a milk-toast type (Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia or Rep. Chet Edwards of Texas).

Biden brings some of Clinton's qualities, therefore some of her base, to the equation. He is an Irish-Catholic (something Clinton isn't) and is from a working class background. He is originally from Pennsylvania - Scranton, to be exact - and has often been dubbed "Pennsylvania's third senator." So he helps here in our swing state, as well as vital Ohio and surely in Michigan and Illinois.

However, Clinton would have that done that as well and also been a bigger help in Florida and with women voters in all states, but we have to let it go. The truth is that if she really wanted the No. 2 spot, she probably could've worked harder - publicly and behind the scenes - to procure it. She clearly didn't, choosing instead to go into hiding and only to reemerge saying all the right things about Obama and now Biden.

Biden, like Clinton and most other veteran politicians, has some skeletons in his closet (not that McCain doesn't ... Re: Keating affair). The most troublesome, and open to swift-boating, are connections with some shady businessmen in Mississippi.

His son, Hunter, is a Washington lobbyist, but it is hard to believe the McCain campaign will want to go there too much given McCain's ... cough, cough ... dalliances with lobbyists. Moreover, Biden has another son about to go Iraq with his national guard unit.

Records also show that Biden has received large sums of money from organized groups of lawyers of the years. I can tell you, first-hand, what that is all about. My wife is a bankruptcy attorney and Delaware is the Mecca for bankruptcy filings because of the some favorable laws. The lawyers want to keep this gravy train rolling and Biden, let's be honest, is merely taking care of his constituency. Anything different, would be like a senator from West Virginia working against the coal industry.

Biden and Obama will have to reconcile some fundamental differences on abortion and they are not quite aligned on health care, as Biden stops short of seeing universal health care as a the answer.

And some of the things Biden said to and about Obama will need to be smoothed over before they get mangled out of context by some Karl Rove-like rodent.

According to the Web site Politico.com, the choice of Biden tells us five things about Obama:

1) He is fixing for a fight.

G2's View: That much is clear, and it is the smart move against the cheap-shot artists on the other side. We'll have to see if that means Biden will do Obama's fighting for him (like the protector in ice hockey) or alongside him.

2) He's more conventional than advertised.

G2's View: No duh!

3) He's insecure about security.

G2's View: I think it's safer to say that Obama is insecure about how he is going to be perceived on security by voters with low to medium IQs.

4) He is courting working-class whites, feeling secure with blacks in the south.

G2's View: The choice of John Edwards as a running mater netted John Kerry a zero gain, in the south or anywhere else, in 2004. This makes more sense. Let's just hope the votes aren't counted Jim Crow style down yonder.

5) He doesn't hold a grudge.

G2's View: You can't. You have to win by any means necessary, even if it means playing a little dirty with a tough guy in tow on the ice.

Memo to Barack,

I'm not on your e-mail/text message list because I don't want to be harassed by your money hounds as a result of a temporary feeling of being with the "in crowd. Note: I already have been harangued, via door-to-door and on the phone, and I already gave, literally, at the office when I threw my support your way in a recent column.
So this leaves me sitting here in limbo, wishing and hoping you do the right thing (Hillary Clinton) or the next best thing (Joe Biden) but fearing the worst (that phony Bill Richardson). All I know is that, with your candidacy losing momentum faster than the Phillies season, you better make this big build-up to your VP choice worth the drama you've created. It's actually a little silly now - going around grinning like you know something no one else does - and shows a little bit of immaturity. Get with it, my man. I'm trying real hard to get into the spirit of this thing, don't blow it.

Talk to ya later,
G2

Let's get it up for Shahar Zubari of Israel for getting my peeps off the schneid at the Olympics with a bronze medal in ... sailing.
Sailing?
Whatever. We'll take it!

C'mon, Israel! Can we get one medal? This is embarrassing ...
Then again, I don't see Ireland with any medals yet either. I suppose the drinking games have not been contested yet.

Dear Mother Nature,

I know you have been going through some tough times with menopause and everything, but can you please do me a favor?
When one of these television jack-asses are doing their report outside during a hurricane, could whip up a big wind and blow him or her away to parts unknown?

Thanks,
G2

So sayeth the New York Times: By the end of this week, Barack Obama will blink first in the VP Staredown and name his running mate.
The hot name du jour is Delaware Senator Joe Biden. Being a homer at heart, I have no problems with a guy from the tri-state area being chosen from the surrogate chorus. He has experience -- including foreign, as exhibited by his emergency trip to Georgia while it was under siege from Russia -- and isn't afraid to speak his mind.
Russia's invasion of Georgia certainly changed the game a little, giving cause for pause to undecideds unsure about Obama's world experience as the rhetoric with Russia is amped up to pre-1991 days.
Russia has oil and wants a clear path for itself into the World Trade Organization and G-8. Vladimir Putin is also talking tough about the Ukraine -- a breakaway republic that, like Georgia, has pro-West leanings and joined NATO -- and isn't happy that the U.S. just set up a missile defense system inside Poland.
Obama has plenty of ammo at his disposal. He can say that this is what happens when too much attention is paid to the needless war in Iraq over a five-year span. He can say that any baby steps forward in Russian relations have now taken a bigfoot-sized step backward under the guidance of Republican insolence.
He can concur with former chess whiz turned Russian dissident Gary Kasparov, who says that the U.S. is to blame for Putin's latest burst of arrogance.
But the truth is that the next president is going to need to command enough respect to get the rest of the free world, i.e. the West, on board in the brewing showdown with Russia.
McCain has talked tough about Russia before and will again, but are he and his paper tigers? Can someone like Obama convince us of that with talk of engaging enemies with games of hopscotch and keep a straight face.
He needs help.
He needs Joe Biden.
And Joe Biden, who seems have been running for president just for the heck of it for years, needs him.
But will the fact that Biden shoots from the hip help or hurt him with Obama?
Will he get the nod?
I think not.
I think Obama still has a wild card up his rolled-up sleeve.
And it's not Hillary Clinton (even though that move, though a tough concession that would take the steam out of winning their marathon, could win him the White House).
It's Bill Richardson.
Write it down.
Is America ready for a ticket with racially diverse ticket (Richardson has some Hispanic blood)?
I think not.
This is where the race can be won, and it is where it may be lost.

If those Chinese gymnasts are of age, I'll ... hang the Saudi Arabian flag over my desk!
What I'm doing watching gymnastics? I guess I'm going soft in my old age.

If you read my recent column "It's our thing, try to understand" (Aug. 10) about us Jews and summer camps, you probably caught the ending about the fleeting notion of me sitting down and actually converting those romanticized experiences into a screenplay (I'm told there is already a movie out there called "Wet Hot American Summer" -- or something like that -- touching all the bases, anyway).
Writing a screenplay is tough work. I've tried before and it takes a lot to put together one scene. What's easier is assembling songs for a soundtrack. So even if I never make it to Hollyweird, you can build your very own playlist on your iPod with the following songs that bring back memories more than they rock:

Summer of 1974 (flashback scene to Mr. Basketball Camp before the opening credits:

Tell Me Something Good - Rufus
Rock The Boat - Hues Corporation

The narrator then explains that I had passed the test and was ready for the full overnight camp experience.

Summer of 1975 (My first at Camp Arthur. Although we only saw the girls once or twice -- I never had a latency period -- it was a fun enough summer that I couldn't wait to go back again.)

Old Days - Chicago (This would be the theme song, period)
Listen To What The Man Said - Paul McCartney and Wings

Summer of 1976 (My worst hockey summer ... team in last place, only made all-star team as a replacement when another kid got Poison Ivy. I also set a camp record by wearing the same shirt, a Mick Jagger iron-on thing, for 21 straight days. Had a girlfriend named Gwen.)

Don't Go Breaking My Heart - Elton John (With Kiki Dee)
Blinded By The Light - Manfred Mann's Earth Band

Summer of 1977 (One of my most fun summers, as I became more a comedian with my bunkmates. I cried in the car on the final day. The summer went by too fast. I also established myself as a goal-scorer again. Less luck with the girls, though.)

Do You Wanna Make Love? - Peter McCann
I'm In You - Peter Frampton

Summer of 1978 (Disco fever. I was in a bunk with some of the main heartthrobs -- some of them are more fat and/or bald than me now, though -- so it was more female frustration. However, I was an all-star in all three sports and won a few fistfights, honing my tough-guy rep.)

Macho Man - Village People
Last Dance - Donna Summer

Summer of 1979 (Everything came together. I won hockey MVP and a big year at the plate in the softball action. A couple of minor romances.)

My Sharona - The Knack
Logical Song - Supertramp

Summer of 1980 (My first in the teen camp, Beker. The village of bunks were, unbelievably, co-ed. Honestly, I still missed not playing sports as much. My age group, the 15-year-olds, toiled as waiters. No fun. I was unstoppable when we did play hockey, though. I also won the Strat-O-Matic Baseball championship.)

Turn It On Again - Genesis
Sailing - Christopher Cross

Summer of 1981 (The one that stands out the most. I was a PC -- practice couselor -- but I spent most of the days sleeping to conserve my energy for more important endeavors. We actually beat another camp, Greenlane, in hockey. I was the team captain but got tossed for fighting. I was also much more comfortable with the opposite sex and formed many friendships with the girls that were a year younger. I'm still in touch with many of them to this day. I would say this was my "coming of age" summer.)

In The Air tonight - Phil Collins
Urgent - Foreigner

Summer of 1982 (All good things come to an end. I was a counselor and the kids in my bunk all looked up to me. It didn't really hit me until then what a mini-celebrity I had become because I could score goals against non-goalies. And getting thrown out of the game the summer before certainly helped, too. I also had a serious girlfriend who actually liked me more than I liked her. She went home early, allowing for hook-up time with some others. However, the summer took a bad turn. All of my tapes were stolen. On top of that, there was a food poisoning incident that ended up on the Channel 6 news. A lot of the parents came and took their kids home. The following summer, there was no more Camp Arthur. With half the campers returning, all the operations were on the girls' side of the lake. The golden era -- and the "Gordie Era" -- was over.)

Hard For Me to Say I'm Sorry - Chicago
Take The L - The Motels

The screen will fade to black but return to show us older -- and fatter and balder and with kids who look and act just like us -- at the camp for a reunion before the wrecking ball comes in. Think the ending of "A League Of Their Own." (I'll use an original song here, maybe from A Study In Her, the official band of The Times Herald Web site.) We all embrace, laugh and reminisce. The narrator says something touching to put it all into perspective and "Old Days" plays again as the credits roll ...

I guess Ronnie Ray-Gun is spinning in his grave now? Before he surrendered his last remaining marbles to Alzheimer's Disease, the great destroyer of the middle class was operating under the delusion that he had won The Cold War by simply asking that the Berlin Wall come down - even though it was coming down anyway.
Seems like The Cold War was only on ice for a few decades. Operating under its slave name of "Russia," the Soviet Union is alive and back to its old tricks.
With the Olympics serving as an international distraction, Russian troops are determined to beat thoughts of freedom out of the people of Georgia (the Republic, not the state with the peaches).
Interesting to note that our government has permitted Georgian soldiers to depart Iraq, where the were allegedly fighting for freedom, to ... fight for freedom.
Could this be the start of World War III?