J.G., you will notice that the President was not amused by Biden’s “joke.” He remained stiff and lock-jawed as the crowd gasped. It is not simply that Biden is gaffe-prone. That’s the media spin: “Oh, that silly, harmless Joe!” It is worse than that.

His lack of personal discipline results in rude and disrespectful behavior utterly at odds with the dignity of the office he now occupies. Image how mortified Chief Justice Roberts was by his error in administering the oath. Biden nevertheless couldn’t resist the need to rub it in. His personal insecurity runneth over and then manifests as obnoxious comments — Hillary wasn’t the first choice for Secretary of State, Chief Justice Roberts messed up, etc.

Well, the President can be annoyed all he likes, but Biden was his choice. (He may want to take this up with Princess Caroline and Eric Holder who headed the VP selection committee — further evidence that the latter is no prize himself.) Never before has “temperament” been declared such a priority in a presidential candidate, and let’s not forget that need to raise the standards of discourse in Washington. It makes it all the more baffling that he selected someone whose temperament is so abysmal and whose main contribution to the campaign seems to be offending friend and foe alike.

President Obama would do well to keep Biden away from the press, foreign leaders, other senior officials, and Congress. The motto for Biden must be “do no harm.” And for Biden that amounts to doing nothing. The perfect job description for the Vice President.