Senator Clinton has thumbed her nose at the expert ("elite") economists who seem to be unanimously against her proposed gas tax holiday, which John McCain first proposed. It seems to me she also ignored the NIA intelligence report leading up to the authorization to go to war with Iraq, despite Bob Graham (head of the Intelligence Committe) having admonished all senators to look carefully at it because it raised a lot of red flags. Senators Clinton and McCain voted for it anyway and the rest is a sad history.
I see a pattern here, or at least the makings of one. It's a pattern George Bush has been using for 8 years now. Ignore the expert's advice and do what you want. There are times when ignoring the expert advice is justified and courageous, but all too often it's just plain foolhardy. A sensible approach would begin with really understanding the facts - it's called "due dilligence." Senators Clinton and McCain do not seem to be very adept at due dilligence, which is also known to us common folk as "look before you leap."
How does telling the truth make you "out of touch"? Apparently the Clinton and McCain campaigns think it does. No wonder. Both seem to have lost touch with reality. I think HRC is dillusional, still ducking imaginary bullets in Bosnia and thinking she's the chosen one, even if scorned by the media. John McCain also seems like a dillusional old warrior trying to relive his glorious past. He reminds me of the character in "Arsenic and Old Lace" who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt and keeps disappearing into the basement, which is his "Panama Canal."
While most of the media seems to have bought into the Clinton-McCain spin (distortion is a better word, but I'm being kind), a few have stood up and acted responsibly, which is to say they've seen through the nonsense (examples are the Gloria Borger, Jeffrey Toobin, Jack Cafferty responses on CNN's "Situation Room" last Friday. Too many in the media appear to me to be like play-by-play and color analysts reporting on sporting contests rather than examining the news in depth. Why did no one speak up when HRC told her fibs about Bosnia? Many were there with her and knew the truth. What say you, Andrea Mitchell?
My great hope, though, is that the Obama campaign will see an opportunity in this latest flap and drive a Mack Truck through the gaping hole in the line left by the charging Clinton-McCain linebackers. They've left themselves open to the classic draw play in football and could well be burned by it. Obama just needs to show how he and the "old-schoolers" differ in their approach to politics and honesty.
JazzmanEast
If there were a course in learning to be Commander in Chief it would be the School of Hard Knocks. One of the fundamental courses would be Crisis Management. The events of the last week or two have given us a good idea of who has crossed this Threshold of Readiness and who hasn't.
When John McCain was confronted with the Vickie Eiseman question, he responded quickly, forcefully and decisively. Unfortunately, he should have been a little less quick and taken some time to do his homework. His sweeping generalities were easily shown to be inaccurate by the media and had to be refined.
When Hillary Clinton was confronted with the embarrasing comments made by fundraising aide Geraldine Ferarro, she responded mildly and guardedly, even though her campaign had only two days before called for and gotten the dismassal of Obama's foreign advisor for having said "off the record" that Hillary was a monster (oh dear!!!!!). Barack was clear and consistent in his desire to keep personal attacks like this out of the campaign. Only after a blistering rant by Keith Olbermann did HRC come around and renounce and reject her old friend's comments.
When Obama was confronted with the inflammatory remarks of his pastor and spiritual advisor, he came forth openly and quickly. He minced no words in his denunciation of the remarks and offered an attempt at helping others understand the source of Reverand Wright's remarks. This was entirely consistent with his campaign of reaching out and understanding. It's entirely consistent with what I like so much about Obama and why I have supported him from the start (back at the 2004 Convention when he gave the keynote address and I saw him for the first time). I think Obama has handled this crisis magnificently.
So who's crossed the readiness threshold? Barack Obama, of course. He was direct, decisive, clear, forceful and unequivocal. He knows who he is, he knows what the facts are, he reads the situation correctly and he acts with certainty and candor. He doesn't rush to judgment and he doesn't cower at the thought of having to do something uncomfortable or inconvenient. Obama: A+
It's 3 AM in the White House.
"Phone's ringing."
-----"Damn! Where's the kitchen sink when you need it?"
"You threw it yesterday."
-----"I TOLD you to get extras."
"That's 42 this week alone."
-----"This is fun!"
Hot off the press: The Hillary Campaign's respnse to Geraldine Ferraro's outrageous comments yesterday: "We disagree."
Way to go HRC. Stand up for what you believe; tell it like it is. Personally, I think "repudiate and denounce" would have been stronger.
