Say it ain't so, Joe (Biden)

"Et tu, Joseph?" Hillary Clinton whispers

Rumor is that Vice President Joe Biden is eyeing a possible 2016 Democratic presidential contest with ever-wider eyes. And, reportedly, with an ever-more-cynical angle to testing the testing of the waters.

That's one reason to "just say no, Joe," or for Democratic primary voters to "just say no to Joe."

Others?

Biden's possible a shade more liberal than Clinton, but no more than that. Among his various political positions, he like her supported the Iraq War. He's not made any separation between himself and his current boss on the Patriot Act. (Would be nice to hear Bernie Sanders talk more about that, too.)

That said, Biden would certainly make the race more lively.

Hillary Clinton comes off as way too buttoned-down.

Bernie Sanders seems like a scolding schoolteacher at times. (And, yes, some may like that, but in general, Americans don't care for that. See "Jimmy Carter, 1980" and "malaise." [And, yes, I know he never used that actual word.])

And Lincoln Chafee feels like a bland former liberal Republican.

Biden's unscriptedness — gaffes and all — would make the race much more fun, and spare the lamestream media from having to play up a Sanders-Clinton "horse race" this early in the contest.

And, if he entered the race, and actually got some traction, I expect we'd see an explosion of both his gaffes, and his unscrupulousness. (Neil Kinnock, anybody?)

Something else Biden would do?

Make Democrats look even more geriatric.

He's 72. Sanders turns 74 in a month. Jim Webb is 69.

Hillary Clinton looks a bit young now at 67, doesn't she?

And, at 62, Chafee's a young pup, relatively.

Let's tackle that age issue as it relates to Bernie Sanders.

At the risk of being accused of age discrimination, do we really want as president a person who will be older at the start of his presidency than Ronald Reagan was at the start of his second term?

As for timing? I think Biden has to either shit or get off the pot by Labor Day. Stay tuned.