At this moment I am overtaken by my desire to be fair with my comments concerning Senator John McCain's selection of his running mate Sarah Palin. It will not be easy for me, but I will do my best.
Before "reasonableness" takes over, what I find to be strange is the selection by McCain of someone he barely knows. Her experience is not a major issue for me, yet there are many other things wrong with his selection.
Because making crummy metaphors is my specialty, it is easy for me to say that having sex with a stranger is OK, but marrying a stranger or selecting one as your Vice President, is something else altogether. Why would McCain choose a veritable stranger as his running mate for the Vice Presidency? This is very weird. He must have his reasons for doing what he is doing, and whatever they may be, they elude me.
Was she "vetted" and suggested by President Bush or members of his Administration. It would not surprise me at all. Why, why, why was she chosen?
Our nations "CEO" and his "understudy" do not need to have the same level of expertise in the "Presidential duties" category, but it would not be a bad thing if they did.
Dictionary.com yields for the definition of experience: The process or fact of personally observing, encountering, or undergoing something: business experience... knowledge or practical wisdom gained from what one has observed, encountered, or undergone: a man of experience.
There are indeed many in our country who possess the "... practical wisdom gained from what one has observed, encountered or undergone."
I will delve briefly into a bit of my own experience with experience. I have done "media stuff" since my discharge from the Air Force in 1955. I have worked for a variety of large Entertainment Companies. Some of the Chairmen, Presidents, CEO's and COO's were better then others, and it had as a rule little or nothing at all to do with their "experience."
The best two executives that I worked for were Alan Hirschfield and David Begelman, both at Columbia Pictures. They were the best because they left the day to day operations of all their divisions to those who were in charge, and when things were not going well, they had the courage to replace those that needed to be replaced. They set goals, and allowed their senior people to have all the tools they needed to get the job done.
I have always been an operating executive, and it was my business to know all or almost all there was to know about the businesses I supervised, This was a daunting challenge, and it was my EXPERIENCE that allowed me to choose the best and brightest people I could find to run each of the operating units I was responsible for. I was then a "manager" and that is what the companies I worked for needed me to be.
It appears to me that President Bush could stay in office for one hundred years and become more experienced than almost all of his predecessors combined, and still make all of the bad decisions he has made during his almost 8 years in office. He does not have the "goods" to be an effective manager, Harvard MBA and all.
What do we need in a President?
Someone who is very smart.
Someone who is caring and compassionate.
Someone who will bring our boy, girls, and Haliburton mercenaries home from Iraq.
Someone who reads a lot.
Someone who listens to others.
Someone who is well educated.
Someone who will not see anything when he looks into Vladimir Putin's eyes.
Someone who understands that we are a nation among nations.
Someone who can hire the best and the brightest in America.
Someone who can inspire people.
Someone who can encourage the best and the brightest to do what they need to do.
Someone who will not be cavalier in sending our sons and daughters into harms way.
Someone who will look after our sons and daughters put in harms way.
Someone who is honest.
Someone who pays attention at all times to all of our Constitution.
Someone who is willing to stand up to today's lobbyists as well as today's "Military Industrial Complex."
Someone who will run the Country during their Presidency and not run for re-election at all times.
Yes, and experience helps, but as the Nations CEO, it is not the most important attribute.
Governor Palin represents all of the beliefs that I abhor, which I expect would make her perfect for the Evangelical Christians, Senator McCain, and today's Republican Party.
Sadly Governor Palin appears to know little of economics, international affairs, the national government, Social Security, health care systems, the military, terrorism and such. Come to think about it, she is just like George Bush was like, 8 years ago.
Ain't that just great!
Does her candidacy require greater knowledge in these and other areas? I think so. If there were to be an event in February of 2009 that prevented President McCain from carrying on the duties of president, it is unimaginable for me to think that Vice President Palin would have the "intangibles and knowledge" to step up.
As a shallow man I need to mention something that is very important to me. Sarah Palin is very cute, glasses and all. Also, she does seem to be smarter than Dan Quayle. Under other circumstances I would admire his choice. I have not a clue what those other circumstances could possibly be, but I always love to say that.
Norman Horowitz
What follows is an afterthought.
I can understand and abide by Senator McCain selecting a Vice President who is against abortion, for gun rights and drilling for oil under Yankee Stadium, as well as all of those other things that Conservative Evangelicals do. She is his running mate, his decision, and his responsibility. However, I cannot understand how he could choose a person that he did not even know. I would not hire a secretary with this little personal contact.
The notion of McCain as President is borderline unimaginable to me, and the notion of a Palin Presidency is also too much for me to deal with. I think that I will go off and eat a double box of Mallomars and drink a quart of milk.
what is shocking to me is that the rove/gop back office doesnt realize that they cannot get away with that type of stuff nowadays. not after those cspan broadcasts.
palin just guaranteed obama the election for anybody who saw lorita doan;s performance.
Well said. We, USA are not in charge of the global resource base and it is about time we recognized that our rights do not pre-empt the rights of indigenous peoples around the world. Christian help is wonderful, Christian "dominionism" is beyond ugly and indeed outside the realm of the very notion of this country!
She was in Texas when her "water broke".
So, did she go to a local hospital? NO.
Did she see a doctor? NO.
She got on an AIRPLANE, did not tell the aircrew she was in labor...
And flew to Seattle!
In Seattle, she got on ANOTHER airplane while still in labor, AGAIN not telling the aircrew, and flew to Alaska to have "her" baby.
TOTAL travel time: 8 HOURS AFTER her water broke.
Right. Not really possible.
But, it would have been even MORE WEIRD if her water broke in Texas, and her baby arrived in Alaska while she was still in Texas !