Since Obama has been on vacation lately, and Biden has the temerity to continue to make public appearances, the Washington Times' Joseph Curl has declared a coup. Now that we're 12 days into Biden presidency, how's he doing?

The Times discovered that our Constitution provides for the election of a vice president, and that sometimes he gives speeches and stuff, which means he has taken over and is now our president.

With President Obama off on vacation, his second in two weeks, unofficial Acting President Joe Biden has stepped into the vacuum, claiming credit Thursday for the successes of the administration's $787 billion stimulus package and fielding questions on health care reform something his boss hasn't done in nearly two weeks.

OK, then. Obama has been out of pocket since August 23, leaving President Biden to contend with the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy, out-of-control wildfires in L.A., and in impending swine flu pandemic. His track record so far? Well, unemployment jumped to a 26-year high, Afghanistan's election descended into murky charges of corruption and vote-rigging, and the GOP gained ground in opinion polls. On the other hand, President Biden did agree to release the White House visitor logs of the previous Bush and Obama administrations, an important nod to openness in government. It's still unclear whether he will allow former President Obama to launch his controversial mind-control program targeted at schoolchildren.

Also, Joseph Curl will be hired by Politico before Halloween.