is he allowed to say that?

Just the other day, in reference to John Kerry paying his respects to Iran’s Khatami at Davos, I was saying that

what is “acceptable” in political discourse changes faster than you can say “homophobe” (or “Islamophobe” or “anti-Semite“). And that what is “acceptable” behavior from the domestic political opposition changes faster than you can say “visiting Assad in Syria” or “paying respect to Iran’s Supreme Shithead ….”

That got no further play in the media—I guess no one cares, because Kerry is out of the presidential race. (Well, someone cares about cares about Kerry, but my post on that will have to wait for another day.)

However—you knew there was a however, right?—Joe Biden is in hot water (considered all but dead one day after announcing that he’s running for president) for making this remark about Barack Obama:

“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”

This is a major event in the leftosphere, and cool-as-a-cucumber Garance Franke-Ruta at TAPPED helpfully explains how we’re going to have to start policing our language now that we’ve got a black man and a woman running for president:

[N]ow that we have the first credible African-American and female presidential candidates in American history running, I think we’re going to learn that many of the common formulations we use to talk about ourselves and our politics can sound tin-eared at best — and downright offensive, at worst — when discussing African-American or female subjects.

And why should we watch our mouths? Because too many cooks spoil the broth. Or something. (I know it has something to do with hot liquid refreshment):

The issue isn’t just Biden being an insensitive boob, but rather that commonly used words and phrases activate different frames — remember that whole discussion? — in different contexts, and that women and African-Americans live in a verbally constraining soup of negative frames.

Forget what Biden said. He’s an idiot.

What is Franke-Ruta’s excuse for sounding like, you know, Ari Fleischer trying to intimidate Bill Maher on September 26, 2001?

Well, she doesn’t see it that way. She thinks a healthy national debate over “negative frames” will emerge.

This is going to seriously damage some public figures, such as Biden. But, overall, I think that it will be a healthy process for American society to undergo, and that we are going to learn an unusual amount about ourselves, as well as about the candidates seeking to lead us.

Hahahahahaha! Excuse me while I go count the days until I can start collecting Social Security. In the words of the immortal Maurice Chevalier (update: not to mention Lerner and Loewe!):

“I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore”