Combative Biden overcomes State of the Union hurdle
Washington (AFP) - Many expected -- or feared -- Joe Biden would stumble as he addressed Congress in his final State of the Union address before the November election. Instead, the oldest-ever US president came out swinging. With jokes, retorts to hecklers, soaring rhetoric and a minimum of his customary mangled phrases, Biden defied critics. Each stammer, slip of the tongue or confused look by Biden tends to be intensely scrutinized in the United States as he runs for reelection -- with Republicans painting each error as evidence that he cannot govern. On Thursday, Biden got cheers from his D...