Biden: Boston shows that 'fear never triumphs over hope'

Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday night that the response to last week's Boston Marathon bombing shows that "fear never triumphs over hope."

"We suffered loss and we're grieving. But we're not bending. We're resilient," Biden said.

The vice president was speaking at Time Magazine's annual gala for those named in its annual "100 most influential people in the world" issue. Past speakers include first lady Michelle Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

His remarks focused primarily on the nation's response to last week's terrorist attack, which left three dead and more than 200 injured.

"As a country, America just went through a tragic week. But we didn't have to look far to see the selflessness of people," Biden said.

The vice president said that "if the purpose of terror is to instill fear, you saw none of that in Boston."

"They're taking on 300 million Americans, every one of them who feels deeply about the values that make us strong and they understand it makes us the strongest force for good on Earth," Biden said.

The vice president punctuated his remarks with moments of levity, paying tribute to other members of the magazine's list who were recognized for their humanitarian efforts or scientific breakthroughs.

Noting that he was mangling many of the foreign recipient's names, Biden quipped, "If it's wrong, you can call me 'Bitten.'"

In the magazine, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) wrote a tribute to the vice president, praising his willingness to reach across the aisle.

"Too often in Washington, opposing sides don’t speak to one another," Cantor wrote. "The best way to find solutions and common ground is to build personal relationships based on trust. No one in Washington understands this better than Joe Biden.”

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Rand Paul Falsely Says He Never Opposed The Civil Rights Act

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) opposes the Civil Rights Act of 1964's bans on whites-only lunch counters and discrimination by private employers. We know this because there are multiple videos of him opposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964's bans on whites-only lunch counters and discrimination by private employers. Here’s video of him saying it to a Kentucky paper’s editorial board. Here’s a lengthy interview where he tries to defend his opposition to the Civil Rights Act to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. Here’s video from just last year of him defending his father’s opposition to the Civil Rights Act (according to Rand Paul, “it’s not all about race relations, it’s about controlling property, ultimately.”) Still don’t believe that Paul opposes the Civil Rights Act? You can watch this embedded video of Paul saying that “the hard part about believing in freedom” is that you have to oppose the Civil Rights Act:

Nor is this a particularly new position for Sen. Paul. In a 2002 letter to his hometown newspaper, Paul wrote that “[a] free society will abide unofficial, private discrimination – even when that means allowing hate-filled groups to exclude people based on the color of their skin.”

So it is a bit baffling that Paul told an audience at the historically black Howard University today that he actually believes something else:

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a proponent of civil liberties, told a professor on Wednesday that he never opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“I’ve never been against the Civil Rights Act. Ever,” he said during a question and answer session at the historically black Howard University in Washington.

“This was on tape,” countered the questioner.

“I have been concerned about the ramifications of the Civil Rights Act beyond race…but I’ve never come out in opposition,” Paul clarified.

Again, Paul has never said that he is “concerned about the ramifications of the Civil Rights Act beyond race.” He’s said — repeatedly, over a period of many years, and sometimes on video — that he opposes applying federal civil rights law to private businesses, such as the private business where this picture was taken:

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