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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (433)	12/17/2006 9:21:10 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 149317

Editorial: Obama's experience compares favorably to incubment's tomahjournal.com Published - Sunday, December 17, 2006 Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) traveled to New Hampshire to test the presidential waters, and the reaction of voters and pundits couldn’t have been more different. Voters in New Hampshire liked the idea. Obama drew a crowd of 1,500 in Manchester last week, and one reporter described the event as a “rapturous reception ... drawing the kinds of crowds and news media attention usually reserved for a sitting president or a presidential nominee.” The reaction of the commentators was more muted. The Wisconsin State Journal was typical: “Obama, touted as a top candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, may be charismatic, smart and oozing with optimism. But the freshman U.S. senator also is untested and sorely lacking in executive and foreign policy experience.” Sorely lacking in experience? Compared to whom? George W. Bush had only six years as governor of Texas under his belt prior to his election as president in 2000 (Obama, if elected, will have served four years in the Senate). Before that, Bush had failed in the oil business and made $13 million from his part-ownership of a publicly subsidized major league baseball team. Obama’s experience: A law degree from Harvard and the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Lecturer of constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School. A practicing attorney in Chicago. Seven years in the Illinois state Senate. And while he lacks conventional foreign policy experience, he lived abroad for an extended period as a child, which gives him a unique insight on America’s role in the world. It’s a background that’s arguably more substantive than Bush’s. Experience counts, but so do qualities like intelligence, poise, decency and the ability to articulate a vision. The latter is especially important. When politicians of both parties swallowed the administration’s justification for the Iraq War, here’s what Obama said in 2002: “I don’t oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.” Who has been proven right -- the establishment men and women of Washington, D.C., or the upstart from Chicago? This isn’t an endorsement of Obama; it’s possible that the rigors of a presidential campaign will unmask weaknesses in his personal and political character (that’s why campaigns are held). But pundits who believe presidential candidates must be marinated in years and years of high-profile elected offices are wrong. There may be reasons why Barack Obama shouldn't be president, but his relatively brief time on the national political stage isn’t one of them.

To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (433)	12/18/2006 2:00:51 AM
From: MJ	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

This Rezko is quite a character. When I see someone making every attempt to be near a Governor, Senator or the President---------I always ask what is their motive. What is their purpose? mj

To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (433)	12/18/2006 10:09:29 PM
From: American Spirit	Respond to of 149317

Typical rightwinger just censoring me on the phony Err American thread, which is one big fat lie. The rightwing fears Air America because they want to continue dominating radio in order to brainwash people. But it's not working anymore. Air America is actually the least of their problems. Clear Channel is a very Republican company which has time after time been squelching truth and real debate. You should wake up and stop supporting these huge Republican corporations that support one-dimensional programming and lying to the American people, as well as garbage like boycotting the Dixie Chicks for saying something that 88% of the people now agree with. The newest poll shows 12% of the country now agree with Bush and McCain on Iraq. More troops? No way say the people, but the rightwingers don't care what we the people think except before eldction nday. Nor do they care what the generals think. That's all a big fat lie. Franken has paid his dues as a political expert. That's his #1 job now. He has comedy skills but those are secondarey to his national role as one of the top progressive voices. To his credit, Franken also does his homework. He is up on all the issues and knows his stuff. And he never expresses an opinion without being able to back it up with facts. Contract this to Hannity, Limabugh and O'Reilly, all of whom regularly spout rightwing myths without any realism to them whatsoever. PS: Franken is now taking two weeks in Iraq to entertain the troops without pay. When was the last time Hannity, O'Reilly and Limbaugh did something like that? Never.