Palling around with terrorists?
Obama not qualified for president, McCain much more experienced
By Clay Coffman | gargoyle@flagler.edu
Becoming president of the United States is easy.
For example, all it takes are two requirements: Be a community organizer and serve in the Senate for four years. Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? But ask Barack Obama, because that’s what he’s done.
That’s as much experience as I have knitting. Why would the Democrats put this young politician on the ballot?
In my opinion, they are desperate and cannot fathom losing another election. However, the flip-side to Obama’s lack of on-the-job experience is simple: John McCain.
McCain has embodied the service of an American. He has served as a Navy captain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam and a Senator since 1986. That’s a “helluva” lot better than a community organizer and a first-term senator.
Yet, after 18 months of campaigning, people are still looking for reasons to vote. As a matter of fact, Obama has spent nearly half of his Senate tenure running for president. Shouldn’t a public figure do a little more before trying to gain access in the White House?
Americans don’t need to look any farther than the experience John McCain has gained in the last 20 years. Not only has he forwarded legislation, like the McCain-Feingold Act, but he has been a part of numerous governmental agencies including the Senate Commerce Committee. That, undoubtedly, holds more weight than Obama’s involvment.
McCain’s judgment is another solid reason he should be elected.
Meet some of Barack Obama’s friends: William Ayers, Louis Farrakhan and Jeremiah Wright. According to discoverthenetworks.org, Ayers’ was the leader of a domestic terrorist group known as “Weatherman.” Farrakhan, in February 1996, during a “Savior’s Day” speech in Chicago, spewed such statements as “white devils” and Jewish “bloodsuckers.” Sounds to me like ‘ole Louis is a little bit racist.
Finally, there’s Reverend Wright. Obama was a part of his congregation for 20 years. He’s the pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
According to democraticunderground.com, Wright believes that the government created the AIDS virus. How can one man associate with these types of people?
McCain hasn’t caused a stir with any of his friends. In fact, some of McCain’s best friends are from the other side of the aisle: Tom Daschle and Teddy Kennedy. Joe Biden even said that he would be “honored” to run alongside McCain. Those are friends you keep. There wasn’t any lack of judgment in those decisions.
The election process over the last 18 months has been hyped beyond belief.
In my opinion, Obama’s rise to fame has been remarkable, but his experience and judgment are lacking greatly. Which is quite the opposite when it comes to McCain.
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The problem with this country today is that everyone feels that they are entitled to something (heath care, a home, a free computer) How did people get by in the colonial days, there was no free or cheap affordable housing much less healthcare. You had to work for it. If you don’t believe Obama is a socialist then you are ignoring the facts and lying to yourself. He said during a speach in colorado that capitalism has failed. But it is obviously a mute point because anyone who questions obama and his motives is a gun toting, mccain loving, conservative wack job. Im a registered independant, even considered voting for obama. I looked at the issues, where he stands and who he associates with. I know a thing or two about economics and his remarks and his so called plans are right out of das kapital. (thats karl marxx ).
And for the record, while the board of Flagler might be conservative, in my four years here I have only come in contact with maybe two or three professors who are not liberal. I had a teacher tell me just a few weeks ago that the constitution was a stupid outdated document.
I’ll just leave you a quote from thomas jefferson
“A government big enough to give you everything you want has the power to take everything you have”.
Jay, our comment feature filters out indecent language and comments that can be seen as generated by spam bots (probably for containing too many links). It’s an automated function.
It’s not showing up in the spam filter, so I can’t give you specific details. If you’d like to e-mail your comment to gargoyle@flagler.edu, we’d be happy to take a look at it.
Eric, I appreciate your willingness to express your opinion, but you are weakening your own arguments by misspelling “dumb” and “Down syndrome.”
Also, Bill was simply correcting your assumption that he is a college student by indicating that he has a job, which you apparently do not since you have so much time to spend on a college newspaper web site bashing snotty-nosed college kids.
And I think if you were familiar with Flagler at all, you would know that this particular college’s administration is quite conservative. Logic has it’s place, but when you’ve got your facts jumbled, it is a mute point. Logic based in incorrect information is really not logic at all.
Wow that hurts. Some snotty nosed college kid thinks I’m the dumbest poster ever. I bet you get all giggly making fun of a downs syndrome baby. You are pathetic. Personal attacks only highlight the weakness of your position. Don’t they teach Logic in school anymore? Oh I forgot the schools are run by liberals, they don’t know anything about logic.
eric you’re the dumbest poster ever
PRESIDENT OBAMA! YES WE DID!
How do they determine if what you have written is “too spamy” to be posted? What exactly does that mean?
P.S. I made no reference to Obama being muslim. Get your “facts” straight.
I got your pipe dangling! I never said you were dum. Your profession has nothing to do with the validity of your argument YouTube is for people who didn’t get enough of “Jackass The Movie”
I would urge you to drop the YouTube and actually learn something about the candidates’ policies and background. Based on your post I speak for me and you speak for everyone else. What an awesome responsibility. You’ll be rollin’ in clover with all the new government regulations.
I actually already have a career helping short line railroads comply with federal occupational medicine regulations, so I guess I’ll have to pass on the community organizing…
But hey, if I’m brainwashed and dumb, them bring on Barackarl Obamarx and American Communism!
…
I think it’s time for you to put down the pipe, drop the rhetoric, and actually learn something about the candidates’ policies and backgrounds, Eric. Obama’s racist? McCain’s the one who repeatedly used a derogatory, 4-letter word beginning in “G” to refer to Asians, and specifically the Vietnamese. He also made a remark during the first debate about the North Koreans being worse than South Koreans because they’re 3 inches shorter than South Koreans. You can look that up on YouTube if you don’t believe me – “mccain short koreans” worked for me.
Regardless, in a few more days, Obama will win, there’s really no doubt about that anymore – even prominent Republicans are saying it.
If you’re right and the rest of us are wrong, then I guess we’ll have 4 years with the racist, Muslim, Communist Anti-Christ terrorist as President. I kind of doubt it though…
Bill W the brainwashing is complete. You are prepared for a career in community organizing. I thought college kids were smart.
If anyone knows The World renew their perscription. The delusions are returning.
“Becoming president of the United States is easy.
For example, all it takes are two requirements: Be a community organizer and serve in the Senate for four years. Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? But ask Barack Obama, because that’s what he’s done.”
Actually there are three requirements:
1. Be a natural-born citizen of the United States;
2. Be at least thirty-five years old;
3. Have been a permanent resident in the United States for at least fourteen years.
The rest just seems to be who can cater to the largest crowd. Take a quick look at our current president’s personal history, his connections and world damaging legacy and one can comfortably say that yes… Becoming president IS easy if this half-wit can get elected.
I am constantly amazed at our country’s infatuation with mediocrity.
Right now I am embarrassed to say that I am a registered Republican. The way the party has presented itself this election reminds me of a word made famous by an animated duck with a speech impediment.
Desssssssssssssspicable!
I learned absolutely nothing from this article except how pervasive the McCain talking points have become.
McCain will not get my vote this election. That does not mean I am voting for Obama (Yes, there are other options), but in my opinion a vote for McCain does nothing but continue a mindset that has undoubtedly failed.
To anyone who knows Eric:
Do not let him breed.
Thank you.
A vote for Obama is a vote for communism, pure and simple. I do not want a empty suit with no experience and a history of devisive left wing racist politics to re-distibute my wealth or anyone elses. If Obama were not black he would have zero chance at becoming president. Never in the history of the United States have we seen a candidate for president that is as dangerous to our freedoms as this waffling “NEOCOM”!
First off, I’m putting my name on this so as not to be accused of hiding behind an ‘anonymous’ tag.
There’s so much I’d like to write here, but I’ll try and keep it short.
First, the attacks on Obama for ties to Wright and Ayers are petty and pointless. You can’t judge one man by what someone else says, and his “ties” to Ayers are so minimal as to be a joke. And if you’re going to attack Obama for Wright, let’s see some fairness and attack McCain for his prolonged seeking of Rev. Hagee’s endorsement. McCain had sought Hagee’s endorsement for months, up until the point where it came out that Hagee had said the Holocaust was part of God’s plan to get the Jews out of Europe. Oops. But I don’t blame McCain for Hagee’s comments, same as I don’t blame Obama for Wright’s. You simply can’t judge a person by anything other than their own words and actions.
So you want actual reasons and positions on why Obama will be better than McCain? Let me state my own beliefs, then. McCain has proposed across-the-board gov’t spending cuts and said he won’t increase spending in any areas. Well, education is certainly lacking – No Child failed because it was never backed with dollars. Obama wants to fund NCLB the way it should have been. He also proposes giving college students $4,000 towards tuition if they will volunteer or perform community service. As a college grad. with $50,000 in student loan debt, that $4,000 seems like a good idea that would help many.
McCain’s stance on healthcare is completely ill-informed. Giving people $5,000 in credit that’s paid directly to the ins. company is downright stupid – the average cost is $12,000, and I think that’s lowballing it. Obama has been accused of wanting to socialize healthcare, but that’s simply not true. He wants all children covered, and wants to create a program for people who a) don’t have work benefits, b) aren’t covered already, and c) don’t qualify for Medicare or Medicaid. That’s hardly the entire USA. Also, McCain’s plan would leave many people with pre-existing conditions ineligible for coverage. That would include McCain himself, FYI.
A big item for me that doesn’t get a lot of coverage is Net Neutrality. Obama supports Net Neutrality, but McCain, who admits he doesn’t know the first thing about computers, supports and backs the tele-comms and is in favor of bandwidth caps, restricted net access, a tiered structure and price set-up, and more governmental oversight on online content. Sadly, Biden supports a lot of the same things, which is a big reason I’m middle of the road on Joe.
I don’t want this to come off as a low-blow, but McCain isn’t exactly the most intelligent guy ever. 894 out of 899 in his class. The only reason he graduated and got a spot in the Navy is because his father was an Admiral. He also crashed two planes during his time in the Navy, once into a powerline. It’s also highly suspected, though not confirmed, that his showboating (by flooding the afterburners of his jet to create a cool burn) led to the USS Forrestal fire, which got him quickly transferred out of that post.
McCain’s also hotheaded and has a nasty temper, and on more than one occasion has shown prejudice towards Asians.
If you actually look at the tax plans of both McCain and Obama, you’ll find that McCain wants to cut taxes on those making more than $1 million a year by over 20%. The middle class will receive a .9% cut under McCains plan, but the overall average of all tax groups will see an average US tax increase by 2.6%. Obamas tax plans will cut taxes for everyone except those making over $250,000 a year, and will result in a total avg. of 4.9% tax cuts.
Obama’s been accused of planning socialism, or it’s said that he won’t be able to fund any of his programs. But we’re spending at least 10 billion a MONTH in Iraq, and no one factors in that he plans to save a lot of money by a phased withdrawal.
I think it’s also telling that McCain, in the past 18 months, flips his positions every other week. All you have to do is go to YouTube and find clips of him. One week he says this, the next, something else. It even caused Jon Stewart to comment, “Doesn’t he realize we tape these things?”
Yes, Obama has changed positions, too. I’m not very pleased on his flip on the FISA issue and telecomm immunity for the wiretaps. But IMO, the difference is, McCain flips based on the crowd and what will win them over. Obama changes positions based on the need to get things done realistically. On FISA, he commented that he changed his position because there were enough good provisions in that overall bill that he thought it was worth sacrificing on FISA to get the other things passed. That’s how politics works – you have to compromise, it’s not all a one-party deal.
This is running on long, and I said I’d be short. I think I’ve proven that I know what I’m talking about though, and I’m not just jumping on the “Change, yay!” bandwagon.
Finally, let’s not forget picking Palin as VP, a pick that just about everyone can agree was terrible. Just today, McCain advisers came out and said she’s “gone rogue,” is hurting the ticket, doesn’t trust anyone, and is inexperienced. I’m hoping you also saw the MSNBC slip-up a few weeks back where a former Reagan speechwriter, Peggy Noonan, and a McCain adviser, Mike Murphy, commented on the pick, thinking the camera was off, saying she was an idiot, inexperienced, and doomed the ticket? These are conservatives saying this! The woman has no place in politics, and picking her brings a huge shadow of doubt over McCain’s judgment.
On the other hand, it’s been amazing this election how many conservatives or conservative organizations are supporting Obama. Colin Powell, Jim Leach, William Weld, Charles Fried (who used to be a McCain adviser!), Scott McClellan, Christopher Buckley (who had an excellent article on why he supports Obama and why modern Republicans are in so much trouble)…the list goes on. If Obama is so unqualified and terrible, how come we’re seeing so much cross-party support for him? He even got the endorsements of the Chicago Tribune and LA Times, two conservative newspapers that haven’t endorsed a candidate since the 70s.
That’s enough rambling…I think I made my point. I can actually name policies for Obama I support, and McCain stances I disagree with. Unlike Sarah Palin, who went to college for journalism and can’t even name a single newspaper she reads (Dr. Sarkio would have killed me if I ever tried to claim that I read ‘all of them’ in her class.) And I know it’s a tired sound-bite now, but McCain really has voted with Bush 90% of the time the past 8 years, and even higher if you follow their votes back to before Bush was president. And look where those policies got us (in fairness, the past 2 years with a D-senate hasn’t done much of anything either, except rack up a record number of fluff bills and feel-good votes.)
I voted early, and I voted on the issues, not the man. The man makes a difference, but it’s the issues we should all care about.
The author of the article writes:
“As a matter of fact, Obama has spent nearly half of his Senate tenure running for president. Shouldn’t a public figure do a little more before trying to gain access in the White House?”
You’re correct, a person’s experiences do have an impact upon their resumes construction. Now, let’s consider what that race has included. In a broad and sweeping primary election Sen. Obama has managed to defeat the political juggernaut composed of Bill and Hillary Clinton and the tremendous clout they wield.
During the primaries, Sen. Obama battled deeply ingrained prejudices and rumors that amount to little more than ad hominen attacks, typical propaganda techniques that were developed and perfected by American leadership early in the previous century. While doing so, he’s remained incredibly dignified and presidential.
I do admire John McCain, he served honorably, and handled himself with dignity through the early portions of this campaign. However, his campaign went ugly, and utilized the fear mongering advertisements that make all of us recoil a bit over the last few weeks and I think that hurt his image more even than his rediculous choice for a running mate.
Most members of the media treated Governor Pallin, who is not qualified to run a small business let alone the most powerful country in the world.
While Sen. Obama was running the law review at Harvard University’s law school, one of the most presiged academic honors a doctoral level student can achieve in America, she was giving the sports report on a small market TV station in a remote section of the country.
Apart from being a one term mayor in a town with a population that makes St. Augustine seem like a raging metropolis, the only thing she’s accomplished is to carry out personal vendettas and corrupt the ethical standards of the office she’s currently holding.
That someone who wasn’t in touch enough with basic foriegn policy to have knowledge about the Bush Doctrine could rise to the highest office in the land is about as laughable as the republican party’s efforts to make ad hominen attacks their only strategy. To me it shows incredible lack of curiosity and no desire for knowledge. The Bush Doctrine was a striking change in American foreign policy, a move toward a policy of pre-emption and a polarized way to look at the world. Like a cowboy skanning the horizon, those folks he knows are friendly can live, but the rest must be dealt with extreme prejudice. Failure to even note this kind of seachange strikes as unexcuable ignorance.
What happens in a political debate where the issues are brushed aside? Out come the personal attacks, attacks at the person rather than an intellectual discussion of the issues at hand. Rather than identifying causal relationships and a strategy to implement wise actions, the party that feels they are loosing an election try to defame the opposition by guilt by association claims.
The Weather Underground was an anti-Vietnam American terrorist orginization, but all the ties to it are Bill Ayers, not Sen. Obama’s. Sen. McCain has much closer ties to the Keating Five scandel, and hence much greater complicity than Sen. Obama, whose social interaction with Mr. Ayers were decades after he committed his crimes, and had begun to work within the system.
We are a country founded by revolution, one established on revolutionary values, and we as the citizenry have it is a sacred duty to stand up for those values. That folks are often misguided and even blatantly wrong in their own personal interpretations of where those duties end and begin is regretable, and the use of force is almost universally a wrong way to revolt.
We are blessed with a constitution that gives most of us the right to vote and effect change in the way we are governed. We have the ability to change the very nature of that constitution by ammending it by popular vote.
Election of Sen. Obama to the office of President is not a foregone conclusion, but seems incredibly likely as there is no magic pill that can fix the pubilc’s perception of our national economic woes in time to swing the popular perception in John McCain’s favor.
As a registered voter, I am thankful for Sen. Obama’s commanding lead in key swing states. I believe that Obama will be elected by the most commanding electoral and popular margin in recent memory, and the power of that mandate will allow sweeping changes in our economy as well as our international position as a sheppard of nations.
The latest issue of Reader’s Digest presents some curious statistics about international opinion of Sen. Obama as a potential POTUS, apparently the rest of the world likes him.
Charisma is a very important characteristic for a President. The office carries with its incredible power, a certain dignity that seems to be absent from it lately. Sure, Americans have rightly been portrayed as cowboys in many ways, but the President has always been wearing a white hat in most portrayals.
For the record: I am registered with no party affiliation, but I will be voting for Sen. Obama, simply because he appeals to many of my conservative instincts. Let me say that again, as a conservative person I find his calm nature, and keen intelligence to be reassuring.
I did have strong Republican leanings in my family, and overcame them when I saw that the GOP was refusing to listen to reason when it came to climate change, and was abondoning the dignity that the party of Lincoln once held.
I love America, and would spill my blood to protect her. I feel that Sen. Obama has that kind of love as well, and that he offers a chance to reinvent her as a beacon to help guide other nations, which is something we can not do if we continue to follow the Bush Doctrine as a cornerstone of our relations with other countries.
The insular society of the group controlling Washington at this point have done as much damage as they can, and something must be done to transform this pig of an economy, but the lipstick aside, Gov. Pallin isn’t qualified to do it, and Sen. McCain has shown very poor judgement in choosing her to be his pittbull.
Concerned, you’ve offered no reason to vote for Obama except for ‘Change.’ Again, typical rhetoric. Neither you, nor Anonymous have offered any substantive reasons why Obama is qualified or what he will do when he’s in office. You just attack and shout at your opponent with catch-phrases to demean character. We’ve been trying something different for the last two years with a democratic congress and now we’ve got an economic crisis. The housing market has crashed thanks to Fannie and Freddie (Obama is at the top of their list of those who received money), unemployment is up from historic lows during the first six years of Bush’s tenure, and the congress has brought approval ratings to a historic low (below Bush’s). They promised to fix gas prices and we have historic high prices. Their plan will be the same as the last two years. The last two years were supposed to be something different-get ready for 4 more with an Obama presidency.
On a seperate, more contstructive note, I’d suggest everybody read the FairTax book by Neal Boortz. It explains why tax increases like the ones Obama is proposing hurt everybody, not just the wealthy. Corporations don’t pay tax, their consumers do.
A narrow mind and a wide mouth usually go together. If you vote for McCain might, you might as well vote for another 4 years of Bush. Let’s try something different, VOTE OBAMA
Ananymous, your comment is a shallow attempt at arguing a non-issue. The author at no time makes reference to race. Rather, he makes valid points on judgement and experience. You’ve attempted (unsuccessfully) to make this about race when it’s not. Using your logic, anybody that doesn’t vote for the McCain-Palin ticket is a sexist. How about actually reading the article and adressing the points Clay makes before spewing typical liberal rhetoric?
Further, to your point about McCain’s associations to Daschle and Kennedy, it just goes to show McCain’s willingness and record of working with all parts of congress, not just his own party. Come to think of it, Obama doesn’t have much history of doing anything in congress, except running for president.
A rather prosaic summary of the Republican party’s pathetic justification for once again nominating an old, white male.
Both of McCain’s “friends” that you mention (Daschle and Kennedy) endorsed Obama. Some friends, huh?