Words of Wisdom from a Republican Senator

[Bob Juch]

Chuck Hagel: "Palin is not ready."

Thursday, September 18, 2008 - from NBC's Mark Murray

In an interview with the Omaha World-Herald, Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel (R) suggested that Palin does not have the foreign-policy experience to be president.

'She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials,' Hagel said in an interview. 'You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything.'"

Check out this other Hagel line:

"'I think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about, "I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something about Russia,"' he said.

'That kind of thing is insulting to the American people.'" Hagel added, "I think it's a very big stretch to say that Palin has the experience to be president of the United States."

You are The Boss... which team would you hire?

With America facing historic debt, multiple war fronts, stumbling health care, a weakened dollar, all-time high prison population, skyrocketing Federal spending, mortgage crises, bank foreclosures, etc. etc., this is an unusually critical election year. The idea of “leadership” must be broadened from mere “experience” to include knowledge, learnedness and insight.

Let's look at the educational background of your two options:

Obama:
Occidental College - Two years.
Columbia University - B.A. political science with a specialization in international relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

& Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in history and B.A. in political science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs. McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank 894 of 899

& Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester - dropped out
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in journalism with a D+ average

Now, which team are you going to hire ?

[AnnieCamaro]

Really, you ought to give credit or provide a link to whichever blog, mass e-mail, or news source you are copying from. To post it under your own name without attribution is remarkably akin to plagiarism.

If I could vote, I would just try to sniff the rear ends of all the candidates. That would tell me all I needed to know.

/:P\

[DevilKitty100]

Chuck Hagel: "Palin is not ready."

Thursday, September 18, 2008 - from NBC's Mark Murray

In an interview with the Omaha World-Herald, Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel (R) suggested that Palin does not have the foreign-policy experience to be president.

'She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials,' Hagel said in an interview. 'You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything.'"

Check out this other Hagel line:

"'I think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about, "I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something about Russia,"' he said.

'That kind of thing is insulting to the American people.'" Hagel added, "I think it's a very big stretch to say that Palin has the experience to be president of the United States."

You are The Boss... which team would you hire?

With America facing historic debt, multiple war fronts, stumbling health care, a weakened dollar, all-time high prison population, skyrocketing Federal spending, mortgage crises, bank foreclosures, etc. etc., this is an unusually critical election year. The idea of “leadership” must be broadened from mere “experience” to include knowledge, learnedness and insight.

Let's look at the educational background of your two options:

Obama:
Occidental College - Two years.
Columbia University - B.A. political science with a specialization in international relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

& Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in history and B.A. in political science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs. McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank 894 of 899

& Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester - dropped out
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in journalism with a D+ average

Now, which team are you going to hire ?

Oh, puuullllleeeeeeeeeze.......

Since when is the sum total of ANYBODY wrapped up in what degrees they've earned and from which universities/colleges they earned them?

Some of the stupidest people I've known in my life have had a string of degrees behind their name while some of the smartest people I've ever known never set foot in a university.

Their degrees and where they obtained them are not even on my radar as an issue as to which contender will get my vote.

But, OTOH, you do keep me amused, Bob.

[Bob Juch]

Really, you ought to give credit or provide a link to whichever blog, mass e-mail, or news source you are copying from. To post it under your own name without attribution is remarkably akin to plagiarism.

If I could vote, I would just try to sniff the rear ends of all the candidates. That would tell me all I needed to know.

/:P\

You must have missed this: from NBC's Mark Murray

[AnnieCamaro]

Really, you ought to give credit or provide a link to whichever blog, mass e-mail, or news source you are copying from. To post it under your own name without attribution is remarkably akin to plagiarism.

If I could vote, I would just try to sniff the rear ends of all the candidates. That would tell me all I needed to know.

/:P\

You must have missed this: from NBC's Mark Murray

Thank you. I did miss that.

[DevilKitty100]

If I could vote, I would just try to sniff the rear ends of all the candidates. That would tell me all I needed to know.

/:P\

LOL........sadly, it may come to that. As a matter of fact, I like it. You wanna be president, you gotta pass the sniff test.

[AnnieCamaro]

So, I looked up Mark Murray. One description of him says this: "Mark Murray is an off-air political reporter for NBC News."

What's an off-air political reporter? He's just a blogger with a paycheck?

[mrkelley23]

Blogger with a paycheck is what they used to call "stringer." Stringers were people (for those of you who don't know, not trying to insult anyone's intelligence) who were paid by the news entity by the published word. They sniffed out news where the regular staff couldn't get to it, and were sometimes valuable.

The problem was, since they were only paid for as much as they got published, they would often stretch, manipulate, or otherwise molest the facts so that they portrayed the most sensational story, thereby increasing said stringer's chance at a paycheck.

Judging from Mr. Murray's "analysis," this syndrome hasn't gone away.

OTOH, the quotes from the Omaha World-Herald appear to be true, which signals to me that Sen. Hagel has either reached that point of comfort that he can say anything he wants without fear of retribution, or he is far enough gone and burned out that he doesn't care about retribution. On the other other hand, however, the secondary news source I was reading to try to confirm these quotes referred to sen. Obama's running mate as "Sen. John Biden (sic), so maybe I should just take all this with a grain of salt.

[Thousandaire]

OTOH, the quotes from the Omaha World-Herald appear to be true, which signals to me that Sen. Hagel has either reached that point of comfort that he can say anything he wants without fear of retribution, or he is far enough gone and burned out that he doesn't care about retribution. On the other other hand, however, the secondary news source I was reading to try to confirm these quotes referred to sen. Obama's running mate as "Sen. John Biden (sic), so maybe I should just take all this with a grain of salt.

Yes, any Republican who criticizes Palin should fear retribution. She has squashed everyone who crossed her.

[silverscreenselect]

The idea of “leadership” must be broadened from mere “experience” to include knowledge, learnedness and insight.

Obama's insight:

William Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn, Tony Rezko, Jeremiah Wright, Nadhmi Auchi, Odinga Obama, Jim Johnson, Franklin Raines, Penny Pritzker...

That's certainly the team we need leading this country through these troubled times.

[Sir_Galahad]

Chuck Hagel: "Palin is not ready."

Thursday, September 18, 2008 - from NBC's Mark Murray

In an interview with the Omaha World-Herald, Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel (R) suggested that Palin does not have the foreign-policy experience to be president.

'She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials,' Hagel said in an interview. 'You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything.'"

This is laughable. And how much foreign policy did Clinton have before he took office? We all saw the great job he did. And, what about Jimmy Carter. There's another bozo for you. And how many other presidents had little to no foreign policy experience before taking office?

But, wait a minute! Sarah Palin is not running for president, is she?

[Flybrick]

Let's look at the educational background of your two options:

Obama:
Occidental College - Two years.
Columbia University - B.A. political science with a specialization in international relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

& Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in history and B.A. in political science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs. McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank 894 of 899

& Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester - dropped out
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in journalism with a D+ average

Now, which team are you going to hire ?

So how well have the uber-educated lawyers of both parties been working out for us so far?

To answer your question, I'm voting Republican.

Also, you and those without a clue, seem to glom onto the McCain's class standing at Annapolis.

What do you call a graduate of Annapolis whether it's the top grad or the bottom (called the 'anchor,' by the way)? Either ensign or lieutenant if he/she goes into the Marines. Each comes out with a bachelor's degree that is highly prized by civilian employers. Not to mention a much greater, usually, appreciation of teamwork, selflessness, and putting the job/mission first.

You also don't mention about the roughly 40% attritition rate from each of the service academies (it varies from year to year, but has always been above 25 % and is usually much more). Some leave voluntarily and go about their way. Some are kicked out but have a military obligation to fulfill for their however many years of free education they received. Some consequences there, it would seem.

Let's see you do better. Oh wait, carping from the sidelines is your strong suit. Manning up either to serve your country, run for office - any office - or doing something outside your comfort zone. Any of that on your resume? If so, I'd love to hear of it. If not, then how do you look at your self in the mirror with so much hypocrisy dripping?

Bring on policy debates. Describe what/how Obama is better at solving the numerous problems faced by our country. Enough with the holier-than-thou. Neither your candidates nor you can stand the comparisons.

Otherwise, you're just a tool, in so many ways.

[BackInTex]

Chuck Hagel: "Palin is not ready."

Thursday, September 18, 2008 - from NBC's Mark Murray

In an interview with the Omaha World-Herald, Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel (R) suggested that Palin does not have the foreign-policy experience to be president.

'She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials,' Hagel said in an interview. 'You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything.'"

Check out this other Hagel line:

"'I think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about, "I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something about Russia,"' he said.

'That kind of thing is insulting to the American people.'" Hagel added, "I think it's a very big stretch to say that Palin has the experience to be president of the United States."

You are The Boss... which team would you hire?

With America facing historic debt, multiple war fronts, stumbling health care, a weakened dollar, all-time high prison population, skyrocketing Federal spending, mortgage crises, bank foreclosures, etc. etc., this is an unusually critical election year. The idea of “leadership” must be broadened from mere “experience” to include knowledge, learnedness and insight.

Let's look at the educational background of your two options:

Obama:
Occidental College - Two years.
Columbia University - B.A. political science with a specialization in international relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

& Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in history and B.A. in political science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs. McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank 894 of 899

& Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester - dropped out
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in journalism with a D+ average

Now, which team are you going to hire ?

You don't get it, do you. This is Obama vs. McCain. You and the DNC can try to make it Obama vs. McCain, stick your head in the sand, and all that. It won't matter. Your team has pick a real loser. You can't see that. I don't blame you. You have been decieved by his 'style'. But it seems substinance is not that important to the DNC anyway. Gender, race, promises, hope. That seems to be the DNC platform.

Abraham Lincoln Education:
Formal Education: About 1 year total
Degrees: Honorary degrees from Knox College (1860), Columbia (1861), Princeton (1864)

Richard Nixon:
Attended public school
Entered Whittier College at age 17
Graduated second in his class in 1934 and received a scholarship to Duke University Law School
Graduated third in his class from Duke in 1937

Which team would you hire?

[ToLiveIsToFly]

So how well have the uber-educated lawyers of both parties been working out for us so far?

To answer your question, I'm voting Republican.

Also, you and those without a clue, seem to glom onto the McCain's class standing at Annapolis.

What do you call a graduate of Annapolis whether it's the top grad or the bottom (called the 'anchor,' by the way)? Either ensign or lieutenant if he/she goes into the Marines. Each comes out with a bachelor's degree that is highly prized by civilian employers. Not to mention a much greater, usually, appreciation of teamwork, selflessness, and putting the job/mission first.

You also don't mention about the roughly 40% attritition rate from each of the service academies (it varies from year to year, but has always been above 25 % and is usually much more). Some leave voluntarily and go about their way. Some are kicked out but have a military obligation to fulfill for their however many years of free education they received. Some consequences there, it would seem.

Let's see you do better. Oh wait, carping from the sidelines is your strong suit. Manning up either to serve your country, run for office - any office - or doing something outside your comfort zone. Any of that on your resume? If so, I'd love to hear of it. If not, then how do you look at your self in the mirror with so much hypocrisy dripping?

Bring on policy debates. Describe what/how Obama is better at solving the numerous problems faced by our country. Enough with the holier-than-thou. Neither your candidates nor you can stand the comparisons.

Otherwise, you're just a tool, in so many ways.

You don't get it, do you. This is Obama vs. McCain. You and the DNC can try to make it Obama vs. McCain, stick your head in the sand, and all that. It won't matter. Your team has pick a real loser. You can't see that. I don't blame you. You have been decieved by his 'style'. But it seems substinance is not that important to the DNC anyway. Gender, race, promises, hope. That seems to be the DNC platform.

Abraham Lincoln Education:
Formal Education: About 1 year total
Degrees: Honorary degrees from Knox College (1860), Columbia (1861), Princeton (1864)

Richard Nixon:
Attended public school
Entered Whittier College at age 17
Graduated second in his class in 1934 and received a scholarship to Duke University Law School
Graduated third in his class from Duke in 1937

Which team would you hire?

You guys are right (assuming BiT means "You and the DNC can try to make it Obama vs. Palin...")

I can't think of an endorsement that's going to change a single mind on this board. With one notable exception, all of this boils down to the issues, and we're all looking for whatever other ammo we can find to support our idea that the people with whom we don't agree on the issues aren't qualified to be President and VP. (Given that my previous notable exception claims that the candidate he's disparaging doesn't stand ANYWHERE on the issues, maybe he's not even an exception to that. Though I suspect he's angry about something else and just glomming onto anything to yell about, just like the rest of us.)

In terms of biographies, they're both at least as qualified as any Presidents I really remember (all I remember about Nixon and Ford is that they were President, and I don't remember Johnson at all). It's all about what we think they'll do once they're in office, and fighting this proxy argument doesn't become any of us, on either side.

I'm a (mostly) enthusiastic Obama supporter because I'm convinced he's going to move this country back toward the center, and hopefully even past it. Sure, there are things I don't trust him about, but I don't think that's ever not going to be true of a Presidential candidate. We've had center-right Presidents in an uninterrupted stream for almost 28 years, and it's time to go the other way.

I know there are those of you who disagree with me with every fiber of your beings on where the country should be headed. (And you're wrong )

We're being disingenuous arguing about things like qualifications. If the Democrats were running a decorated Vietnam War hero for President, certain people here would be all over trying to find reasons to discredit that. If that same Democrat had a piece of fluff as his running mate, these same people would be all over that. I'd say "I know because it happened 4 years ago", except I wasn't HERE four years ago, and maybe this place was the only discussion forum on earth where that didn't happen. But I doubt it.

And if the Republicans were running a first-term Senator with a good education, who tried to be successful doing Church-based organizing, decided he wasn't going to get it done that way, went to law school and started running for elected office, many of the people who are defending him now would be all over HIM. Especially if his running mate was a powerful Senator who'd been in office since before some of us were born.

Now some would say we should argue about the issues instead, but I disagree about that, too. I think we're pretty polarized on the issues here, too, and I don't think anybody is going to change anybody else's mind, and all we'd get is more of the bad feelings we've already got.

Me, I'm going to keep doing what I've been doing since I got here (at least partly because after 3 1/2 years I still feel like a newbie), and when someone says something that to me is laughable on its face, point out why I think so. I'll try to do it without dripping venom or name calling. And sometimes I'll fail. I apologize in advance for the venom and the names, and when I do it, if I get called on it, I'll probably apolgize again.

[themanintheseersuckersuit]

Third, the elitist, by his very nature, proves overreaching. That is, he seems in anti-Platonic fashion, to think his expertise in one field is instantly transferable to another. The good tractor mechanic may, with dirty nails and the odor of diesel, instinctively sense that he has shorted rhetoric and diction, and so has to prepare and tread carefully when dealing with the probate lawyer, county assessor, or local professor at night school.

Again, in contrast, the elitist seems to think that his Harvard Law Degree or Stanford PhD, or Victorian on Pacific Heights instantly makes him a far better guide to human nature, diplomacy, warmaking, and governance—almost anything—than does the sheet-rocker or crane operator (cf. the Obama sermon on clinging Pennsylvanians). That is, the elitist does not understand that his admirable hours spent investigating French provincial furniture or understanding the pedigree of good silverware may be of no more utility in cultivating logic, good judgment, and moral character than in mastering checkers.

William F. Buckley, who knew something of the Ivy League, was not being (just) flippant when he quipped
“I’d rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University.”

[mrkelley23]

Not sure who you were quoting here, TMITSSS, (Hanson again?) but I have to admit to getting a case of the giggles at his use of a William F. Buckley quote to make a point about elitism in that way.

[nitrah55]

Chuck Hagel: "Palin is not ready."

Thursday, September 18, 2008 - from NBC's Mark Murray

In an interview with the Omaha World-Herald, Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel (R) suggested that Palin does not have the foreign-policy experience to be president.

'She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials,' Hagel said in an interview. 'You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything.'"

This is laughable. And how much foreign policy did Clinton have before he took office? We all saw the great job he did. And, what about Jimmy Carter. There's another bozo for you. And how many other presidents had little to no foreign policy experience before taking office?

But, wait a minute! Sarah Palin is not running for president, is she?

The main job the VP has is stepping in if the President can't do the job.

As far as I'm concerned, she's running for President.

[peacock2121]

Chuck Hagel: "Palin is not ready."

Thursday, September 18, 2008 - from NBC's Mark Murray

In an interview with the Omaha World-Herald, Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel (R) suggested that Palin does not have the foreign-policy experience to be president.

'She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials,' Hagel said in an interview. 'You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything.'"

This is laughable. And how much foreign policy did Clinton have before he took office? We all saw the great job he did. And, what about Jimmy Carter. There's another bozo for you. And how many other presidents had little to no foreign policy experience before taking office?

But, wait a minute! Sarah Palin is not running for president, is she?

The main job the VP has is stepping in if the President can't do the job.

As far as I'm concerned, she's running for President.

What nitrah said.

[Here's Fanny!]

Doesn't George W. Bush have degrees from TWO Ivy League schools? So much for that having some sort of intellectual cachet.

As for the "Juris Doctors", I say BFD. I can't count the number of JDs who couldn't manage to understand a statute or a Rule of Civil Procedure concept, even after it had been explained to them numerous times by the proud owner of a GED.

And those were always the ones who'd put "J.D" or "Esq." after their names on their screwed up pleadings.

I'm not saying that all people with law degrees are dumbasses, just saying that having one doesn't mean they're not. By a longshot.

[peacock2121]

This is laughable. And how much foreign policy did Clinton have before he took office? We all saw the great job he did. And, what about Jimmy Carter. There's another bozo for you. And how many other presidents had little to no foreign policy experience before taking office?

But, wait a minute! Sarah Palin is not running for president, is she?

The main job the VP has is stepping in if the President can't do the job.

As far as I'm concerned, she's running for President.

What nitrah said.

Especially given McCain's age and cancer history.

[silvercamaro]

The main job the VP has is stepping in if the President can't do the job.

As far as I'm concerned, she's running for President.

This strikes me as a reasonable basis on which to assess a candidate. On that basis, I could never support Joe Biden, whose statements over the years would make him the Yogi Berra of politics, if he could claim to be a great player behind the plate.

[peacock2121]

The main job the VP has is stepping in if the President can't do the job.

As far as I'm concerned, she's running for President.

This strikes me as a reasonable basis on which to assess a candidate. On that basis, I could never support Joe Biden, the Yogi Berra of politics.

LOL - were you going to support whoever got the nod for the VP on that ticket?

I would not have supported Palin's position, no matter who it was.

[silvercamaro]

My point is that I don't think either vice presidential candidate would earn my vote for the presidency, at least not this year. So, I will not be voting for the vice president. Neither of the presidential candidates is "perfect" in my eyes, either, so all I can do is try to decide which one would be better for the country. I presume that's what we're all trying to do.

[themanintheseersuckersuit]

Doesn't George W. Bush have degrees from TWO Ivy League schools? So much for that having some sort of intellectual cachet.

As for the "Juris Doctors", I say BFD. I can't count the number of JDs who couldn't manage to understand a statute or a Rule of Civil Procedure concept, even after it had been explained to them numerous times by the proud owner of a GED.

And those were always the ones who'd put "J.D" or "Esq." after their names on their screwed up pleadings.

I'm not saying that all people with law degrees are dumbasses, just saying that having one doesn't mean they're not. By a longshot.

On behalf of the ABA, I must say, the truth hurts.

[Sir_Galahad]

Chuck Hagel: "Palin is not ready."

Thursday, September 18, 2008 - from NBC's Mark Murray

In an interview with the Omaha World-Herald, Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel (R) suggested that Palin does not have the foreign-policy experience to be president.

'She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials,' Hagel said in an interview. 'You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything.'"

This is laughable. And how much foreign policy did Clinton have before he took office? We all saw the great job he did. And, what about Jimmy Carter. There's another bozo for you. And how many other presidents had little to no foreign policy experience before taking office?

But, wait a minute! Sarah Palin is not running for president, is she?

The main job the VP has is stepping in if the President can't do the job.

As far as I'm concerned, she's running for President.

I will concede that McCain has a few years on the rest of the group. But, I figure he will last at least a couple of years. And, by that time, Palin will be well-groomed to step in if needed. At least there will some voice of conservative reason presiding.

And, whoever said Bush is a conservative? He's a Republican, not a conservative.

What really scares me is this. All you lefties are wringing your hands over what may happen if McCain drops dead and she has to take over. But, what happens if both the Pres and the VP go down, whoever they may be? Look who the hell is waiting next - effing Nancy Pelosi!! And, whose behind her - Robert Byrd! God, if that isn't enough to get you quaking in your boots, nothing is.