Oh God, Deliver us from McCain and Spare us from Palin
Eremias Woldemikael
October 06, 2008
I started this article right after Palin´s interview with Charlie Gibson. I was going to title it "Hope John McCain lives long." That was at a time when John McCain still looked acceptable. Since then, we have come to see a lot of John McCain and Palin during the financial crisis, in debates, and interviews. I have also now seen Palin´s debate with Biden. Although I must say that she did better than her previous days, I am still afraid of both or either one of them being in the oval office. When one compares the two tickets, Obama and Biden appear to be calm, confident, and steady men who know what they are doing. McCain and Palin on the other hand emerge as dangerous leaders for separate and different reasons. The question one is left asking is who is more dangerous, McCain or Palin? Where as, McCain is dangerous for his lack of deliberation in his decision-making process, Palin is dangerous for her lack of knowledge in national affairs. Either way, we must pray and do everything we can to save ourselves from danger.
For those of us who had somewhat admired McCain in comparison with his Republican colleagues with the exception of Chuck Hagel, there is no more admiration to spare. Contrary to his somewhat believable slogan of "Country first", in his first decision as a probable president, McCain has recklessly chosen a person who has not been adequately equipped for the Presidency. Has John McCain, the "man of integrity" and the lover of his country abandoned his slogan of "would rather lose an election than let my country lose?" I do not get it. How could he have chosen such a person as his vice-presidential candidate? Does he now love us less or he is just a dangerously reckless decision-maker?
There are many things his campaign staff can be blamed on, but this one was his decision. Only he can be responsible for this decision. There were many decent and prepared Republicans he could have chosen, but he chose Palin. This tells us something about his decision-making process. This was a reckless decision of a gambler who acts on impulse, and lacks a good judgment. In his attempt to win the election , he has put his needs above the needs of his country's security and interest. As he would say, he is saying to us "me first."
He may return to his old self once he gets to the oval office. However there is a high risk of probability that he may end up unable to discharge the rigorous and demanding duties of the office due to an old age, illness, or death. America can not afford to take that risk on either him or Palin.
McCain must believe that he is going to live a long and vigorous life because the thought of being left with Palin is visibily terrifying to many people including perhaps McCain. The woman seems to be worse than W. in her attempt to shield herself from lack of knowledge on the issues by projecting false confidence on her interviews with Charlie Gibson and Katie Curic. I asked myself again, "Is John McCain going to really leave us with Palin if anything happens to him? Has he forgotten that he had four cancers?" Coming from Independents, Liberals, and Obamaphiles, this may sound as an expected reaction, but even conservative thinkers, columnists, and Republican strategists are seeing what many of us see. That is, Palin is dangerously unprepared for national affairs. In her interviews, she appears as not having been curious in national issues prior to her being picked as a vice presidential candidate.
Laura Bush recently conceded that Palin is unprepared for foreign affairs, but it is not just foreign affairs that she lacks preparation on. She is also not prepared for demestic affairs that involve the entire nation. As a state and city official, she seems to have been sheltered in only Alaskan affairs. That is understandable, but it is unbelievable that any political official and especially a Vice-presidential candidate is this incurious about national (foreign and domestic) political affairs. Even an interested average citizen like me feels much more curious than her about national affairs. Conservative columnists such as David Brooks, George Will, Charles Krauthammer, David Frum and Ross Douthat demur, and now Kathleen Parker have come to see this.
Obama, Biden, and the DNC need to get across this message to the American people. Especially, Biden needs to point out that it is not Sarah Palin´s fault that she is in this position. It was John McCain´s cynical and self-serving attempt to win an election by galvanizing religious and social conservatives that put her in this position. It was also a clear and shameless attempt to get Hillary´s women supporters. Luckily, Hillary´s voters are smart and they can see through a gimmick when they see it. They can see McCain´s erratic decision making process for what it is. Reckless.
McCain is fond of saying that he is a "Maverick." When I hear that word, I am immediately reminded of the callsign of Tom Cruise's character from the movie "Top gun." In that flight movie, Maverick was a dangerous, unreliable, and erratic pilot. His competitor "Ice" played by Val Kilmer was a cool, steady, reliable, team-oriented flyer. Maverick did not follow orders of rules of engagement and did not care for his aircraft well. In his drive to win, he ignored the laws of man and nature, and costed his Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) "Goose" a dear life. Goose flew in the same cockpit as Maverick, but he paid with his life despite his plea to Maverick to fly safer for the sake of atleast Goose's young family. In the happy-ending tradition of Hollywood,in the end, Tom cruise's character saves the day and his wingmen despite all the setbacks, risky stunts, failures, and death of his Radar Interceptor officer "Goose."
The story was a fiction cooked up in a writer´s head where all kinds of outcomes are possible. The gambles of Maverick costed one person's life and he was given a second chance to learn a life lesson. In real life, however, there seldom are big second chances. If one screws up, so many others pay for it, and it takes a long time to recover from it. Imagine a screw-up by a President of the USA. and how many people might get hurt. Just think of Iraq. The existance of the world literally hangs in the hands of the President of the United states.
Like the fictional Maverick, John McCain was a navy pilot (callsign "Playboy") with a dangerous flight history that ended with him first crashing on a deck of a Carrier and finally being shotdown in Vietnam. Based on his current decision-making process, I wonder if any of these incidents happened because McCain was behaving like the fictional Maverick. I leave it to inquisitive investigative journalists to find out what kind of a pilot he was. If he was a reckless flyer then, he does not seem to have learned a lesson at the age of 72 either, and it may be too late to teach the "old dog new tricks."
For now, one must remember that Presidential elections are about real life situations with enormous consequences for the USA and the rest of the world. America and the world need steady, calm, and stable hands of a confident ship-captain and a capable, competent, and reliable executive officer to steer it away from economic and security icebergs; instead of a dangerous, adventurous, and trigger-happy fly-boy who calls himself "Maverick." John McCain is a reckless, unpredictable, unstable, and erratic leader. America can not afford to play with fire or gamble for four or eight years again. The times are too serious to play around. America and the world need their ship to sail under a Commanding Officer Obama and Executive Officer Biden.
I say again oh God, deliver us from McCain and spare us from Palin. Can I get an Amen?
For those of us who had somewhat admired McCain in comparison with his Republican colleagues with the exception of Chuck Hagel, there is no more admiration to spare. Contrary to his somewhat believable slogan of "Country first", in his first decision as a probable president, McCain has recklessly chosen a person who has not been adequately equipped for the Presidency. Has John McCain, the "man of integrity" and the lover of his country abandoned his slogan of "would rather lose an election than let my country lose?" I do not get it. How could he have chosen such a person as his vice-presidential candidate? Does he now love us less or he is just a dangerously reckless decision-maker?
There are many things his campaign staff can be blamed on, but this one was his decision. Only he can be responsible for this decision. There were many decent and prepared Republicans he could have chosen, but he chose Palin. This tells us something about his decision-making process. This was a reckless decision of a gambler who acts on impulse, and lacks a good judgment. In his attempt to win the election , he has put his needs above the needs of his country's security and interest. As he would say, he is saying to us "me first."
He may return to his old self once he gets to the oval office. However there is a high risk of probability that he may end up unable to discharge the rigorous and demanding duties of the office due to an old age, illness, or death. America can not afford to take that risk on either him or Palin.
McCain must believe that he is going to live a long and vigorous life because the thought of being left with Palin is visibily terrifying to many people including perhaps McCain. The woman seems to be worse than W. in her attempt to shield herself from lack of knowledge on the issues by projecting false confidence on her interviews with Charlie Gibson and Katie Curic. I asked myself again, "Is John McCain going to really leave us with Palin if anything happens to him? Has he forgotten that he had four cancers?" Coming from Independents, Liberals, and Obamaphiles, this may sound as an expected reaction, but even conservative thinkers, columnists, and Republican strategists are seeing what many of us see. That is, Palin is dangerously unprepared for national affairs. In her interviews, she appears as not having been curious in national issues prior to her being picked as a vice presidential candidate.
Laura Bush recently conceded that Palin is unprepared for foreign affairs, but it is not just foreign affairs that she lacks preparation on. She is also not prepared for demestic affairs that involve the entire nation. As a state and city official, she seems to have been sheltered in only Alaskan affairs. That is understandable, but it is unbelievable that any political official and especially a Vice-presidential candidate is this incurious about national (foreign and domestic) political affairs. Even an interested average citizen like me feels much more curious than her about national affairs. Conservative columnists such as David Brooks, George Will, Charles Krauthammer, David Frum and Ross Douthat demur, and now Kathleen Parker have come to see this.
Obama, Biden, and the DNC need to get across this message to the American people. Especially, Biden needs to point out that it is not Sarah Palin´s fault that she is in this position. It was John McCain´s cynical and self-serving attempt to win an election by galvanizing religious and social conservatives that put her in this position. It was also a clear and shameless attempt to get Hillary´s women supporters. Luckily, Hillary´s voters are smart and they can see through a gimmick when they see it. They can see McCain´s erratic decision making process for what it is. Reckless.
McCain is fond of saying that he is a "Maverick." When I hear that word, I am immediately reminded of the callsign of Tom Cruise's character from the movie "Top gun." In that flight movie, Maverick was a dangerous, unreliable, and erratic pilot. His competitor "Ice" played by Val Kilmer was a cool, steady, reliable, team-oriented flyer. Maverick did not follow orders of rules of engagement and did not care for his aircraft well. In his drive to win, he ignored the laws of man and nature, and costed his Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) "Goose" a dear life. Goose flew in the same cockpit as Maverick, but he paid with his life despite his plea to Maverick to fly safer for the sake of atleast Goose's young family. In the happy-ending tradition of Hollywood,in the end, Tom cruise's character saves the day and his wingmen despite all the setbacks, risky stunts, failures, and death of his Radar Interceptor officer "Goose."
The story was a fiction cooked up in a writer´s head where all kinds of outcomes are possible. The gambles of Maverick costed one person's life and he was given a second chance to learn a life lesson. In real life, however, there seldom are big second chances. If one screws up, so many others pay for it, and it takes a long time to recover from it. Imagine a screw-up by a President of the USA. and how many people might get hurt. Just think of Iraq. The existance of the world literally hangs in the hands of the President of the United states.
Like the fictional Maverick, John McCain was a navy pilot (callsign "Playboy") with a dangerous flight history that ended with him first crashing on a deck of a Carrier and finally being shotdown in Vietnam. Based on his current decision-making process, I wonder if any of these incidents happened because McCain was behaving like the fictional Maverick. I leave it to inquisitive investigative journalists to find out what kind of a pilot he was. If he was a reckless flyer then, he does not seem to have learned a lesson at the age of 72 either, and it may be too late to teach the "old dog new tricks."
For now, one must remember that Presidential elections are about real life situations with enormous consequences for the USA and the rest of the world. America and the world need steady, calm, and stable hands of a confident ship-captain and a capable, competent, and reliable executive officer to steer it away from economic and security icebergs; instead of a dangerous, adventurous, and trigger-happy fly-boy who calls himself "Maverick." John McCain is a reckless, unpredictable, unstable, and erratic leader. America can not afford to play with fire or gamble for four or eight years again. The times are too serious to play around. America and the world need their ship to sail under a Commanding Officer Obama and Executive Officer Biden.
I say again oh God, deliver us from McCain and spare us from Palin. Can I get an Amen?
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