Opinion: Joe Biden update: Visits Grand Ole Opry, but it’s closed

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Vice President Joe ‘Irish Eyes Are Smiling’ Biden visited the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville today.

‘I’m not gonna sing,’ he promised.

That’s because the country music mecca is closed, still recovering after 46 inches of water visited two months ago. And anyway on Friday America’s favorite Amtrak rider would have been drowned out by the sounds of power tools repairing the flood damage.

Of course, Biden was not in Nashville to visit the shrine of sad songs or create new jobs. He was killing some time before another Democratic fundraiser speech.

Gaylord Entertainment officials hope to re-open the 4,370 seats in the 36-year-old facility on Oct. 1 and celebrate the musical institution’s 85th anniversary the same month.

Every president since Richard Nixon has attended an opry performance except one -- Biden’s boss. After both Obama and his wife recommended that American families vacation on and help the stricken gulf coast, the Obamas flew off to a family holiday on the coast of Maine.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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