Two Reasons to Break Into A Sweat For Obama
If Obama ascends to the office of the Presidency, there are two reasons why one may feel concern. First is his lack of administrative experience, and the other being his personal safety.
These two questions have been the focus of many questions during the primaries and general election. The question of personal safety is more sensitive. It is also a little taboo and one should be careful talking about it. On the other hand, Obama has been attacked and criticized continuously as being weak on experience.
From Hillary Clinton to John McCain, ObamaÂ’s lack of experience has been a cause for talk. Even Sarah Palin has flaunted her administrative experience as being richer than ObamaÂ’s. ObamaÂ’s public career can roughly be summarized as: served one year as chief editor of the Harvard Law Review, worked three years as a community organizer in a black neighborhood in Chicago, served seven years in the Illinois Legislature, and four years as a member of the United States Senate.
Is a newbie ready to handle such great national responsibility? Jimmy Carter, who had only been Governor of Georgia, did not do well as president. It was only after he stepped out of office and began worked to redeem his name and became the best former-President since the founding of America. George W. Bush, who only served a term and a half as Governor of Texas, has smashed the office of the Presidency and is doomed to become the most rotten President in American history.
Recently a panel of 109 historians came out with a poll that said sixty-one percent thought that George W. Bush was the worst President in American history. Only a minority thought he was the second worst -- the worst being James Buchanan, the 15th President and LincolnÂ’s predecessor, who failed to prevent the Civil War. Ninety-eight percent of those historians thought that BushÂ’s eight years in office would be seen as a failure.
John F. Kennedy could also be considered to have been too inexperienced to be president. Before entering the White House, he was a not such a hard working member of the House and Senate whose eyes were set on the presidency. Not long after entering office, he was hesitant about the Bay of Pigs operation which resulted in the capture of thousands of anti-Castro Cubans. Kennedy stated to the press that victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan, and that he regretted his mishandling of the situation. A few months later, Kennedy was handed a lesson at the Vienna summit by Nikita Khrushchev. New York Times special columnist James Reston said he saw Kennedy tremble and become angry. Reston said that the humiliation Kennedy received from the Bay of Pigs and the Vienna Summit was the price of his inexperience.
At a recent rally in Seattle, Democratic Party Vice-Presidential Candidate Joe Biden predicted that within a half a year of taking office, Obama will face a world crisis test similar to that faced by Kennedy. Biden, who is famous for his gaffes, was unsure that the crowd believed him, and he again reminded everyone to remember what he had just said. As the news broke, Obama's campaign headquarters were exasperated, while McCain campaign headquarters were overjoyed. McCain immediately came out with a nationally broadcast ad using a sound bite from BidenÂ’s speech. After that day, Obama headquarters asked Biden not to issue any impromptu statements, and since then all statements must be given according to script, and casual talks with reporters have also been stopped. All gaffes have since been muted.
In fact, BidenÂ’s diplomatic experience and knowledge of international affairs is quite rich. But what is now most important to consider is the international financial crisis that is already waiting to test Obama. This financial crisis is the most serious since the panic of 1929 and will definitely occupy most of ObamaÂ’s time and energy. He will have to also consider trade relations between the U.S. and China, the appreciation of the Renminbi, the unending quagmires in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as relations with Russia.
Although a lack of experience may be a cause of legitimate concern, experience does not guarantee the proper handling of government affairs. The incompetent Buchanan had lots of experience as a member of the House, ambassador to Russia, a member of the Senate, secretary of state and ambassador to Great Britain. But after his time as president, he is not kindly regarded.
Frankly speaking, the most important qualities that the president and commander in chief needs to possess is good judgment, a level head, a calm and collected personality and the ability to ascertain ones advisers.
Kennedy was able to beautifully resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis due to his ability to read the minds of his advisers, in addition to his brother Robert's secret negotiations. However, his most important quality was his ability to rely on his own judgment. Bush himself is not completely without merit, but he is lead along by the nose by a gang of sinister, evil and cunning advisers headed by Vice-President Dick Cheney. It is little wonder that America is in the condition that it finds itself in now.
Previously, Colin Powell, an African-American who is a four-star general and former Secretary of State, had considered running against Bill Clinton in the 1996 Presidential election. Experts originally predicted he had a good chance of winning, and this made Clinton very nervous. But PowellÂ’s wife was against him running. She was afraid that he would be the victim of extreme racism, and Powell was forced to withhold his candidacy and be a drum beater for his party.
During ObamaÂ’s twenty-two month long campaign, his wife Michelle also expressed her concern about her husband throwing his hat into the ring after finally changing her mind. In the past few months, under McCain and PalinÂ’s influence, every time that ObamaÂ’s name has been mentioned someone in the crowd has yelled, "kill him!" Neither the candidates themselves nor their security personal have investigated these outbursts. At Republican presidential ballot stations, white racists cursing ObamaÂ’s name were often seen and heard.
Many in the Democratic Party see Obama as the second coming of JFK, and many political scientists and observers believe that KennedyÂ’s political torch has been passed on to him. Like Kennedy, Obama may experience a string of foreign and domestic tests, but we should all pray that nothing will happen to him, for hundreds of millions of us do not want the same Kennedy tragedy to follow him!
These two questions have been the focus of many questions during the primaries and general election. The question of personal safety is more sensitive. It is also a little taboo and one should be careful talking about it. On the other hand, Obama has been attacked and criticized continuously as being weak on experience.
From Hillary Clinton to John McCain, ObamaÂ’s lack of experience has been a cause for talk. Even Sarah Palin has flaunted her administrative experience as being richer than ObamaÂ’s. ObamaÂ’s public career can roughly be summarized as: served one year as chief editor of the Harvard Law Review, worked three years as a community organizer in a black neighborhood in Chicago, served seven years in the Illinois Legislature, and four years as a member of the United States Senate.
Is a newbie ready to handle such great national responsibility? Jimmy Carter, who had only been Governor of Georgia, did not do well as president. It was only after he stepped out of office and began worked to redeem his name and became the best former-President since the founding of America. George W. Bush, who only served a term and a half as Governor of Texas, has smashed the office of the Presidency and is doomed to become the most rotten President in American history.
Recently a panel of 109 historians came out with a poll that said sixty-one percent thought that George W. Bush was the worst President in American history. Only a minority thought he was the second worst -- the worst being James Buchanan, the 15th President and LincolnÂ’s predecessor, who failed to prevent the Civil War. Ninety-eight percent of those historians thought that BushÂ’s eight years in office would be seen as a failure.
John F. Kennedy could also be considered to have been too inexperienced to be president. Before entering the White House, he was a not such a hard working member of the House and Senate whose eyes were set on the presidency. Not long after entering office, he was hesitant about the Bay of Pigs operation which resulted in the capture of thousands of anti-Castro Cubans. Kennedy stated to the press that victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan, and that he regretted his mishandling of the situation. A few months later, Kennedy was handed a lesson at the Vienna summit by Nikita Khrushchev. New York Times special columnist James Reston said he saw Kennedy tremble and become angry. Reston said that the humiliation Kennedy received from the Bay of Pigs and the Vienna Summit was the price of his inexperience.
At a recent rally in Seattle, Democratic Party Vice-Presidential Candidate Joe Biden predicted that within a half a year of taking office, Obama will face a world crisis test similar to that faced by Kennedy. Biden, who is famous for his gaffes, was unsure that the crowd believed him, and he again reminded everyone to remember what he had just said. As the news broke, Obama's campaign headquarters were exasperated, while McCain campaign headquarters were overjoyed. McCain immediately came out with a nationally broadcast ad using a sound bite from BidenÂ’s speech. After that day, Obama headquarters asked Biden not to issue any impromptu statements, and since then all statements must be given according to script, and casual talks with reporters have also been stopped. All gaffes have since been muted.
In fact, BidenÂ’s diplomatic experience and knowledge of international affairs is quite rich. But what is now most important to consider is the international financial crisis that is already waiting to test Obama. This financial crisis is the most serious since the panic of 1929 and will definitely occupy most of ObamaÂ’s time and energy. He will have to also consider trade relations between the U.S. and China, the appreciation of the Renminbi, the unending quagmires in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as relations with Russia.
Although a lack of experience may be a cause of legitimate concern, experience does not guarantee the proper handling of government affairs. The incompetent Buchanan had lots of experience as a member of the House, ambassador to Russia, a member of the Senate, secretary of state and ambassador to Great Britain. But after his time as president, he is not kindly regarded.
Frankly speaking, the most important qualities that the president and commander in chief needs to possess is good judgment, a level head, a calm and collected personality and the ability to ascertain ones advisers.
Kennedy was able to beautifully resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis due to his ability to read the minds of his advisers, in addition to his brother Robert's secret negotiations. However, his most important quality was his ability to rely on his own judgment. Bush himself is not completely without merit, but he is lead along by the nose by a gang of sinister, evil and cunning advisers headed by Vice-President Dick Cheney. It is little wonder that America is in the condition that it finds itself in now.
Previously, Colin Powell, an African-American who is a four-star general and former Secretary of State, had considered running against Bill Clinton in the 1996 Presidential election. Experts originally predicted he had a good chance of winning, and this made Clinton very nervous. But PowellÂ’s wife was against him running. She was afraid that he would be the victim of extreme racism, and Powell was forced to withhold his candidacy and be a drum beater for his party.
During ObamaÂ’s twenty-two month long campaign, his wife Michelle also expressed her concern about her husband throwing his hat into the ring after finally changing her mind. In the past few months, under McCain and PalinÂ’s influence, every time that ObamaÂ’s name has been mentioned someone in the crowd has yelled, "kill him!" Neither the candidates themselves nor their security personal have investigated these outbursts. At Republican presidential ballot stations, white racists cursing ObamaÂ’s name were often seen and heard.
Many in the Democratic Party see Obama as the second coming of JFK, and many political scientists and observers believe that KennedyÂ’s political torch has been passed on to him. Like Kennedy, Obama may experience a string of foreign and domestic tests, but we should all pray that nothing will happen to him, for hundreds of millions of us do not want the same Kennedy tragedy to follow him!