You have got to see this, folks. It shows how quickly people flip in politics to support their side. Karl Rove gets owned BY HIMSELF.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=184086&title=Sarah-Palin-Gender-Card
We all do modify our positions to fit our horse, and not just in politics. (Mostly, we do it in our romantic relationships!). But politics is when it's most brazen, which is probably why so many people are sickened by politics.
Well, I can't do it on this one. I know Senator Obama has a thin resume by a "government service" experience matrix. But when has government service told us who would be good as president? FDR served for three years in the New York state house and as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Navy before three years as Governor of New York. Which of those made him a great president? Working in the executive branch? If so, neither Obama or John McCain should be president. Sarah Palin, at least, has "governed."
And ultimately, none of us know what the magic "experience" formula is for a good president. Okay, sure, we all know it's not wise to make the manager of the local Sunglass Hut our president. But it gets dicey from there.
If the experience picture weren't that complicated, you all should respond to this question in the same way. Who's better? A six-term Congressman, or a one-term Governor? Who's better? A general and secretary of defense, or a three-term congressman, two-term Governor? Instead, you're all thinking, "It depends."
Each job on the resume is simply a data point we use to assess a candidate, and the more "data points" we have, and the more diverse those points are, the more confident we are in picking someone. In other words, the search for "experience" isn't as much about our candidates as it is about us. Most of us know we suck at gauging someone's attributes, so we want to run them all through our little checklists. But, as Rush Limbaugh said the other day (red meat for the conservatorati!), someone in D.C. for 20 years who has never shown judgment consistent with what he or she should have learned during that time has meaningless experience. Ultimately, it's what our gut tells us.
Mine tells me that I'd rather have a genius who "gets" an issue quickly with no experience than an idiot who served two terms as Governor of Texas. By most accounts, Senator Obama was the smartest student at Harvard, which is hardly a slouch school. People will come back with all these analogies about Obama "doing surgery" or "flying a plane," but the president doesn't have that level of technical knowledge, nor does he need it. The president is the hospital administrator whose job is to recruit the people who do the surgeries and establish policies that make them more successful. Obama can do this job. McCain can do this job.
But I like Obama because, just like about every other human, I tend to forgive more when a candidate's positions are similar to mine, and I'm doing so with Senator Obama. Are you doing that with your candidate of choice?
7 comments:
This was a great clip, IPOPA.
I'm just really glad that I'm not videotaped so often, as I'm afraid that I might get caught double-talking more. ;)
Daily Show is awesome.
The interesting thing re: Obama; despite his very limited experience, he's done everything possible to avoid making an impact.
In the state senate, he did nothing more than vote "present" a majority of the time, an act that allowed him to avoid a record that could haunt him in the future, though this didn't stop him from supporting infanticide.
In the U.S. Senate, he's missed more than 20% of the votes, a figure no doubt not helped by the fact he began running for president nearly the moment he was sworn in. His only legislative accomplishment being a bill to “promote relief, security, and democracy in the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
Even as a "community organizer" (whatever the hell that is), he couldn't even accomplish his main objective of eliminating asbestos from a particular housing project in Chicago.
Is he the smartest guy in the room? Maybe, I don't know any more than you, keeping in mind that "W" also possesses a graduate degree from Harvard (and had a stronger academic record than John Kerry to boot). But since when is that the prime requirement for president, or is Stephen Hawking running any time soon?
The point is that Palin is far more experienced than Barry because of what she actually accomplished when she had the opportunity she had to lead.
Big difference, no matter how you try to spin it. Leaders lead, wanna-be's hide at every opportunity, and that is Barry's most enduring legacy.
Oh, Jacob, Jacob......take our blinders off....tell me the voting rate for McCaina and the last time he even was present in the senate when it was in session.
I'll be happy to do that for you...just as soon as you stop hiding behind "anonymous". Then we can have a discussion like adults.
Jacob, I owe you NOTHING.
Wow, not only are you afraid to comment using your actual identity, but you really suck at reading comprehension as well. Note that the word "owe" never once appeared in my comment, yet you somehow infered that from what I wrote.
Well done. With your creative skills, you ought to be working for the Obama campaign and help them spin how a "community activist" with no record of accomplishment who hangs out with terrorists and racists, is suddenly qualified to be president.
Seeing how things are presently going, they could sure use you.
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