Vice President Joe Biden is an outlier in American politics: He speaks his mind, all of it. Sometimes that’s a good thing. But other times — like this past week — it can be a very bad thing.

“Under a democratical government, the citizens exercise the powers of sovereignty; and those powers will be first abased, and afterwards lost, if they are committed to an unwieldy multitude.”

The debate about President Barack Obama’s plan to end Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy is riddled with references to “the richest 2 percent.” Who exactly are these well-off Americans?

The unemployment rate remains stuck at more than 8 percent. More investment in roads, water systems, airports and other public infrastructure would bring both short- and long-term benefits. And state and local governments face ongoing deficits.

Vice presidential picks are always judged by their effect on the coming election. They rarely have any.

The day after the gay-rights group’s alert went out, 28-year-old Floyd Lee Corkins II walked into the Family Research Council’s Washington headquarters and, according to an FBI affidavit, proclaimed words to the effect of “I don’t like your politics” — and shot the security guard.

Things were different when I was kid. Solicitous adults did not gently inquire of children “Are you happy?” after giving them something nice (an ice-cream cone, a college education, a car).