White House says Biden has 'earned the right' to decide on Presidential run

The possible Presidential candidacy of Vice-President Joe Biden, (D), was given a boost by an announcement by a White House staffer that Biden certainly "has more than earned the right" to decide to run for President in Election 2016, according to ABC News on Wednesday. The spokesperson, Josh Earnest, made this statement in response to a question as to whether it would be "easier" for the White House if Biden did not run, considering the candidacy of Hillary Clinton, (D), a former Secretary of State in the Obama Administration. Earnest rebuffed the suggestion, saying that although there are some who have suggested this, that Biden has every right to decide whether or not to run for President. Although the statement was not an outright endorsement of a possible Biden Presidential candidacy, it certainly was not a repudiation of such either.

Biden told fellow Democrats in a conference call that he is in the middle of assessing whether or not he has the "emotional energy" to run for President. Biden and his family have been mired in grief following the untimely death of Beau Biden from cancer, the son of Joe Biden and his late first wife, Neilia. Consequently, Biden is in a position of having to decide between grief and a possible Presidential race. Despite this, Biden met with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, (D), to discuss a possible Presidential run in 2016.

If Biden does run in 2016, he will face off against Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, (I), who both are seeking the Democratic Party nomination for President. Clinton was philosophical about a possible Biden run, saying that she wants him to do what is right for himself and his family, but that in the meantime, she is continuing with her campaign.

“He has to do what he has to do, but I’m just going to continue with my campaign.”

In a conference call with the Democratic National Committee (DNC), Biden defended President Barack Obama's nuclear agreement with Iran. ABC News called into the conference call twice and both times was told that they could not listen to the call.

Group of African-American women kicked off California wine train for laughing

A celebratory group of 11 professional women who had looked forward to this trip since November, was removed from California's famous Napa Valley Wine Train (NVYT) and greeted by police for laughing too much and disturbing other customers, as reported in SFGate on Monday. The women, who were sampling several different varieties of wine on the train, were escorted off the train in front of the other patrons and then taken directly to officers of the Railway Police and St. Helena Police. Although the women were not charged with anything, the whole experience was totally humiliating for them and unlikely to be forgotten for a very long time. According to NVYT officials, the women, who were all wearing matching T-shirts, were "warned" to tone down the laughter before being taken off the train. However, the women believe that the removal was racially motivated. Perhaps the women, who were given a full refund, pictures and a van to pick them up, would have passed the removal off as a some sort of unintentional mix-up, were it not for the NVYT employee who posted malicious information about the women and their removal from the train on Facebook. In that post, the anonymous employee made it appear that the entire episode was the fault of the women who were removed from the train:

“Following verbal and physical abuse toward other guests and staff, it was necessary to get our police involved. Many groups come on board and celebrate. When those celebrations impact our other guests, we do intervene."

The post has been deleted; however, the emotional scar from the totally denigrating, humiliating and abhorrent experience will remain. Lisa Johnson, 47, who was among the women removed from the train, stated that she and the other women would like an apology from the NVYT:

"For the humiliations they caused to us as professional women.”

California is one of the very most progressive and tolerant states in the country, which is why this author is perplexed that something like this could happen in that state. Napa Valley, which is north of San Francisco and on the fringe of the Bay Area, has hosted visitors of all demographics to its infamous wineries for nearly a century. One would hope that with that much of a successful track record, that the Napa Valley wine community would exhibit more expertise in dealing with people. Perhaps Johnson said it best:

“They knew they were out of place."