For president, no experience is needed
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Joe Angsten
Published: October 10, 2008
The search is on to find the experienced people to lead the organizations to implement the bailout and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They want people who know what the problems are, how the system
works and who has worked at the top of the industry. They are not looking for a speaker and hope.
Yet, experience does not count for the presidency of the United States. The Democrats have a university lecturer who has about three years of full-time work and eight years of counsel to the firm of
Miner, Barnhill & Galland, where he made formal appearances in only five district court cases and another five in cases before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — a total of 10 cases in his legal
career.
JOE ANGSTEN
Manassas
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Posted by ( gwenandgary ) on October 11, 2008 at 8:47 pm
You may be right—experience may not count anymore as a qualification for the highest office in the land.
What, then, might be on the list of qualifications if not experience? Let’s take a look.
1. Popularity. Remember the unpopular kid in school that was chosen last for teams or ostracized by other students for being “different”? Who knew if he or she was “qualified” for anything? No one wanted to know—the popular kids took the spotlight. Same thing with elections.
2. Good intentions. The road to He|| is paved with these, so I hear. President Warren Harding’s intentions were good, but not good enough to keep him from being the victim of his so-called “advisors”, and of his own overworked appetites. How sad.
3. “The Look”. No one knows for sure what this is, but everyone seems to know it when they see it. It might hve something to do with how dark your suit is, or whether your tie is knotted just so. Jowls are bad. So is white, thinning hair. Ask the candidate from Arizona about this. See also: Richard Nixon.
4. A good mouthpiece. Lawyers not only protect you from yourself and others, they make dandy spokespersons who can tell the press what you “really” meant to say, even if you didn’t actually say it. They’re also handy to have around when subpoenas come to call.
5. Face time on the “Oprah” show. This absolutely rocks if you’re going after the female vote. Better than an Armani suit and a new haircut. Just be careful of what you do on “the couch”. See also: Tom Cruise.
6. Admit nothing. Deny everything. Make counter accusations. Nail this one down early, on the campaign trail if possible, because you’re going to need it on Day One. “Didn’t do it. Wasn’t there. I did not have relations with that woman. I am not a crook. Read my lips: no new taxes”.
Oh, and don’t forget to pick a nice location for your Presidential Library. True, it’ll be filled with back issues of “The Simpsons” comic books, but hey—you’ll look like a pop culture maven! Win/win!
Good night America, and good luck.
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Posted by ( phdee ) on October 11, 2008 at 4:40 pm
But isn’t McCain mentally ill? At least that’s what the Bush campaign a few years back said. Has McCain recovered? The Repubs don’t seem to want to address this.
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Posted by ( urf8 ) on October 11, 2008 at 2:13 pm
So, what exactly is your point Joe Angsten? Experience isn’t everything; especially when you compare someone like Mccain, who graduated 4th from the bottom of his class at the naval Academy, crashed three Navy aircraft, and was well-known for his reckless, undiscilined behavior as a pilot (McCain even admits it in his books). Furthemore, he has been in Congress for 26 years and really has not changedanything in Washington, whay all of a sudden does he want to “reform” Washington…26 years was inaction on his part.
Now, Obama is well-educated, top of his class a Harvard, worked his way up from meager means (unlike McCain who was an Admiral’s son born with a silver spoon in his mouth), gave back to the community—basically an American success story, more importantly he did it without handouts, affirmative action, or any other type of assistance—it was all him. McCain was only admitted to the Naval Academy because of his father, otherwise he probably would not even have been accepted to a Community College.
Now people make the right, educated choice for President—vote for Obama. Don’t allow the uneducated, talking heads on TV, and blabber mouth fascists on right-wing talk radio convince you otherwise. Fellow military members (I’m a former E-7/SFC, US Army and now a commissioned officer), you especially, should vote for Obama, as John McCain does not have your best interests at heart. He has voted against improving GI bill benefits and was againt improving treatment for our fellow servicemembers returning from conflict zones. He takes you for granted and uses his honorable service to this country for personal gain. He cares no more about you than anyone else he can mislead into voting for him. Make the only choice that is truly patriotic, VOTE OBAMA!
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Posted by ( rafaelva ) on October 11, 2008 at 9:57 am
I believe your totally right, in a sense choosing the lesser of two evils.
Mr. McCain’s constant “I know how to do this”, worries me. Worse yet, is his picking an ax grinder for a VP, that indicates a buck passer.
Mr. Obama does show a leaning towards using managerial skills, as opposed to
depending on his own limited skills. His campaign alone shows those skills.
He seems less accusatory, less likely to point the finger.
At this time I think we need a more cautious approach, mixed with good leadership, and decision making skills.
How about a new thought? What’s good for the American People, is what’s good for business, and America as a whole. We need to get off this idea that if it’s good for business, it’s good for America.
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Posted by ( QuestionAuthority ) on October 11, 2008 at 9:31 am
Ah, the experience argument again.
Obama has as much experience as Abraham Lincoln did before he was elected.
You gotta keep up on the talking points. Experience was only an issue before the Palin pick. Now you guys are supposed to be keeping mum on the whole experience issue so as to not remind America what a ditz you guys have decided should be one heartbeat away from the presidency.
THIS week you guys are supposed to be lying about Obama being a terrorist because he has a funny middle name and once went to the house of Bill Ayres.
I’m disappointed but not surprised that Republicans don’t want the smart guy…again. Instead, Republicans want the one who insisted “the fundamentals of the economy are strong” merely hours before the worst economic crash since the great depression, the guy who doesn’t know how many houses he has, the guy who wants to “bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran” and the guy who was against funding a GI bill before he was for it.
What’s really annoying is that you guys don’t even like McCain! Remember way back to the Florida primaries when McCain clenched the nomination and Rush Limbaugh raved on and on about how he’d rather vote for Hillary?
Since when did McCain become the next great Republican superhero?
Of course your last great Republican superhero hasn’t been working out so well. The past eight years of Republican leadership in the White House have been a roller coaster ride between comedy and horror which has exhausted and bankrupted our country.
They lied to take us to war against a country that posed no threat to our national security, sent our troops in without proper body or vehicle armor, squandered billions of dollars and then installed a “Viceroy” to oversee the occupation, a guy who so completely botched things up, fostered an insurgency, and lit the fuse on civil war. We’ve spent more time and money fighting in Iraq than we spent in World War II, and there’s no end in sight.
Under 12 years of Republican leadership in the Congress and White House we’ve watched a budget surplus turn into the largest debt in US history. And we’re not talking chicken feed here. I watched a former head of the Government Accountability Office say last night that the total debt amounts to something in the neighborhood of $56,000,000,000,000 dollars (give or take a few billion) which works out to something like $480,000 per house hold in America!
We’ve watched as Republicans continued the dismantling of Wall Street regulations started with Ronald Reagan and hopefully has ended with the largest economic crisis since the great depression.
We’ve watched in horror as our country, once a proud defender of human rights, has become a nation that practices torture and where specific torture techniques are discussed in the White House.
We watched our fellow citizens in New Orleans suffer and die on national TV for day after day following Katrina while the administration was busy enjoying a vacation.
12 years of Republican leadership has driven our country into a ditch. Please wake up, open your eyes and stop repeating this mistake!
For once let’s vote for the smart guy, not the Republican guy!
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Posted by ( raywilliams ) on October 11, 2008 at 7:10 am
I wonder how many CEOs are able to understand the technical workings of their product. Can Bill Gates type all that code? The Home Depot Chair plumb a hot water heater or hang a ceiling fan? GM’s leader design and build a new generation V8 engine? Most likely not.
What good leaders do is surround themselves with knowledgeable people, people that actually know more about the business than they do. Then, most importantly, they listen to advise from both sides of the arguement and then make decisions.
We have that type of leader in Barack Obama, Democratic candidate for president.
On the Republican side, we have George W. Bush, who only employs Yes Men that tell him what he wants to hear. That has not worked out so well these past 8 years.
John McCain reflects the Bush style of management, although in McCain’s case, he actually feels he knows more that his advisors. One example is his riding into Washington on his white horse to “take charge” and “solve” the economic crisis. Well, his involvement generated a lot of headlines, but did nothing to resolve the issues he came to solve. Just one day of suspending his campaign and then back on the campaign trail with the crisis continuing to get worse.
Then on to Sarah Palin. She has her own way of management. First, she brings in her husband as her chief advisor - like a snowmobile racer has all the answers - and then retreats to a predictible pattern of abuse of power when she gets into a hissy fit.
I’m sure all these styles have their merit, but for me, I’ll take my chances with Senator Obama on November 4th.
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