A writer named Daniel Halper at the conservative Weekly Standard, a publication that brooks no impediment in its reflexive rush to insult the administration, has reported on the publication’s blog that earlier this week, Vice President Joe Biden took the occasion of an official White House reception for the Irish Prime Minister Edna Kelly to publicly tell “a dirty joke.” Well, this seemed ridiculous on its face, since Joe is a 69 year-old Irish Catholic gentleman who generally knows how to behave in public. And sure enough, here is what Joe actually said:
“You know there’s and old Irish saying–there’s all kinds of old Irish sayings. (Laughter.) At least my Grandfather Finnegan, I think he made them up, but 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 here. Ladies and gentlemen — (laughter) — now, for you who are not full Irish in this room, lubricating has a different meaning for us all.”
There’s the line Halper thinks is a dirty joke: “Lubricating has a different meaning for us all.”
Well, lubricating may have a lot of meanings, but the Oxford English Dictionary offers only three. The first is to “apply a substance such as oil or grease to (an engine or component) to minimize friction and allow smooth movement: remove the nut and lubricate the thread.” The second is to “make (a process) run smoothly: the availability of credit lubricated the channels of trade.” The third is “informal, to make (someone) convivial, especially with alcohol: men lubricated with alcohol speak their true feelings.” Drinking. Biden was talking about drinking. He was meeting some Irish people, and he saw an opportunity to bring up a cliched and by now faintly insulting stereotype about the Irish and drinking. But to leap to the idea that he is referring to something sexual?
I think there are two ways to interpret this story. One is that Biden made a glancing sexual reference at a White House function for the female prime minister of Ireland. The other is that Daniel Halper has told us entirely too much about the contents of his night table.