Which way did Joe Biden move the needle?

Friday's Stephanopoulos encounter raised more questions than it answered

BY GEORGE ... As we settled in to watch the 22-minute Stephanopoulos Showcase Friday night, our teenage son, Mick, noted that it was hard to trust any of what would follow because the whole purpose of the interview was to make Joe Biden look good. Mick will become a first-time presidential voter come November, but right now he's not very happy with the choices he's been presented.

JET LAG, JOE ... Stephanopoulos rightly challenged the popular excuse that Biden's debate disaster was caused by "jet lag" when he pointed out that the president had been back from Europe for exactly 11 days before the debate.

And while many of us have indeed suffered jet lag or travel fatigue or whatever else you want to call it, Biden's roundtrip on Air Force One cannot in any way be compared to an average citizen's adventure in the middle seat in Torture Class, hoping the flight attendants don't run out of peanuts before they reach the back row.

How does flying on Air Force One differ from flying commercial? Let me count the ways.