Joe Biden is never at a loss for words. Clearly this former stutterer is making up for lost time. So when George Stephanopoulos asked Biden why Obama had chosen Warren–a man who compares homosexuality to incest and pedophelia–to deliver the invocation, Biden got right to the point: “Well, look, Barack Obama, candidate Obama, Senator Obama, President-elect Obama [just so we’re all on the same page on which Barack Obama I’m speaking of] has a–a stellar and outspoken record in support of equality for all Americans, including gay and lesbian Americans. But he also has made a judgment–I think correctly–that in order to heal the wounds of this country and move this country forward so we get out of this–this–this mindset overstated of red and blue and the like–that he was going to reach out, he was going to reach out…this is a time to reach out [not reach around.]”

This prudish position is somewhat surprising coming from a man who once waxed romantic about spending time with men in foxholes: “I’ve been in these foxholes with these kids, literally in bunkers with them. Let me tell you something, nobody asked anybody else whether they’re gay in those foxholes. Our allies–the British, the French, all our major allies–gays openly serve. I don’t know the last time an American soldier said to a backup from a Brit, ‘Hey, by the way, let me check. Are you gay? Are you straight?’ This is ridiculous.”