The most bothersome part of Sarah Palin’s nomination is the way she was chosen and the criteria used. It would appear that she was selected at the last minute because she appealed to the most conservative elements of the party and she’s a woman. They say that picking the vice president is the first presidential decision the candidate makes. In his decision, John McCain’s character can reasonably be called into question. There is a thin line between being an independent-minded maverick and being unstable. We hear of Republicans using words about him like “reckless” and being a person with “anger” issues.
Fellow Senator Harry Reid questions McCain’s “temperament” for the job.
The word around the corner on Tompkins Avenue was that he was disrespectful to women and “disrespected her (Palin) as a woman.” The feeling was that McCain had just “put her out on the street” and said, “Get those votes.”
And all of the talk about who has the “experience” for the job as president is an excuse to not talk about issues of the nation. Were we to judge by experience, George W. Bush and his administration wins that argument hands down. It wasn’t easy bringing down the world standing and economy of the United States in two terms of office. It took a great depth of experience to bring the country to the state it’s in now. Bush had been the first Texas governor to be elected to consecutive four-year terms, he had been a businessman and had at his side for Vice President Richard B. Cheney, a former congressman from Wyoming and former Secretary of Defense. And, of course, there was Donald Rumsfeld who had been White House Chief of Staff during part of President Gerald Ford’s Administration, and then the 13th Secretary of Defense under Ford. He had served President Richard Nixon as well. Rumsfeld had been a four-term member of Congress from Illinois and served as the United States Ambassador to NATO.
On the other hand, Abraham Lincoln, while an excellent lawyer, debater and a sometime-politician with no executive experience before becoming the presidential nominee. Vice President Harry S. Truman, who had to take over after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death, had been a politician and legislator but had no executive or foreign policy experience at the commencement of the Cold War. And yet, despite their lack of what the Republicans are calling experience, these men are considered two of the greatest presidents we’ve ever had.
If experience has only taught you to reach in the tool bag and get a bigger hammer to solve every problem, then you’re not the person for the detailed work involved in getting the nation’s house in order.
Supreme Court Justices will have to be nominated and cabinet members named. The economy and the health and welfare of citizens have to be attended to. There will be negotiations with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran. Responses may have to be made to another attack on American soil or the passing of an ailing Fidel Castro. John McCain, by his own admission, isn’t up to speed on the economy, and has a temperament that doesn’t exude the calm confidence and quiet strength needed for face-to-face negotiations with tough adversaries or responding to sudden moments in history.
The upcoming presidential debates are going to be crucial for the candidates. Senator Obama has to answer every question with a specific issue item, and explain the difference between his position and McCain’s. For his part, Senator McCain needs to get all the names straight, keep his temper and come across as a nice guy.
For her part, whether or not Sarah Palin’s family commitments would help or hinder the McCain campaign depends entirely on her husband, Todd Palin. It will be his ability to enjoy his marriage as a partnership, be fully supportive of his wife’s career, be able to plan exactly how the family would handle these changes, and would personally address the convention with a story about how they had gathered around the kitchen table and arrived at a family decision. Were he able to do that, the Republicans would be tough to beat. But that would require an extraordinary spouse, and while I’m sure Todd’s very capable, were he a “Michelle Obama” we’d know it by now.
It cannot be said too often that this is the most important election of our lifetime, and perhaps in the history of the country. It is not Fiddle-Dee or Fiddle-Dum. This is the 1950’s versus 2010. The country might be just scared enough to make the right choice.
admin @ September 6, 2008
The Quiet Coup
When Evangelical pastor Rick Warren separately interviewed Senators John McCain and Barack Obama this past Saturday, the answer to one question had at its core the importance of this election. Pastor Warren asked, “Of the current Supreme Court, who would you not have nominated?”
Obama said he would not nominate Clarence Thomas or Antonin Scalia. Not Thomas, because he’s incompetent and not a little crazy, although Senator Obama said it more nicely; and not Scalia because while he’s certainly smart, it doesn’t mean he’s not evil, although again, Senator Obama said it more nicely.
Senator John McCain said he would not nominate Souter, Ginzberg or Stevens and that the next president could nominate two or three justices to the court. If you can imagine, a Supreme Court of two Clarence Thomas’s and three Antonin Scalia’s, then you know how close we are to being either free or in the control of an authoritarian state that says it’s alright to snatch, detain and torture its citizens.
A court of Thomas’ and Scalia’s would diminish personal rights, remove the right to abortion and give major corporations all the rights of a citizen with none of the constraints. But mostly, it would give the executive branch unfettered power, where they do as they wish and others do as they’re told.
There will be much hand-wringing, but you could still be snatched, detained and tortured, ranging from being driven around aimlessly for hours in a police van with no bathroom opportunities to a trip to Guantanamo Bay.
And once they’re in, we’re done. Computerized voting would be mandated, taking all the uncertainty out of who would win the next election.
One thing we know for certain, this campaign won’t be fairly fought on the issues. Instead, we’re going to be bombarded with a full-court press of dirty tricks marketing with books, commentators, print, radio and the Internet. It is going to be fierce and it will be capped off, as before, with Election Day voter suppression with police sweeps, ID checks and misdirecting information.
The way the rulers do it overseas is to bleed the country dry until the peasantry, in this case us, rise up and physically drive the rascals out. This will not be easy, given the aforementioned computerized voting, judicial domination and the new surveillance systems coming on line.
Latest polls say the race is tightening and whether they are true or not, it is best to work as though Obama is five points behind. And make no mistake about it, this is not a six-of-one-half-dozen-of the-other election. This election will determine the future and the safety of this nation and the world.
admin @ August 22, 2008