Steve Hammer’s Aug. 27 column laments Barack Obama’s choosing Joe Biden, commenting that Steve and his wife “were hoping for a more exciting pick” (Hammer, “Advice for Obama,” Aug. 27-Sept. 3).

What could be more exciting than the third most liberal Democrat in the Senate, with Barack himself No. 1? Joe Biden is almost the perfect contemporary Democrat: He has been in the Senate forever, has an ego of enormous proportions, has no successful enterprise outside of being a career politician, engages in divisive class-warfare baiting every chance he gets and promises the moon without even hinting at the onerous taxation that would be required to finance it.

Hammer further says he “fears it may actually be too late to turn the country around ...” Boy, is that the truth! Democrats have trained generations of voters to look to the federal government, rather than to their own initiative, to solve every problem by taking from “the rich” and giving it to them, thus avoiding their having to do anything more industrious in life than voting for Democrats. (In fairness to Steve, though, I know that isn’t what he had in mind, adding that he “preferred courageous leaders like Obama and Biden in The White House.”)

What is so courageous about telling people, “Vote for me and I’ll transfer wealth from rich people to you,” and not have to worry about being unable to deliver on your promise because you know they are stupid enough to keep believing you, election after election? Isn’t it more courageous to say, “You know, folks, we’ve got some legitimate problems here, and we are going to have to arrest this liberal socialist agenda and encourage individual responsibility if this country is to survive.” That’s courage!