Sorry, this isn’t about “gotcha”, it’s about experience and preparation. Obama doesn’t have either.

Ed, I agree that McCain showed more experience and preparation. I was merely taking issue with the idea that Obama is an idiot–or whatever the not-quite-explicit implication was meant to be–simply because he wasn’t aware of a single line item on a defense budget almost 4 years ago. THAT is what I think sounds absurd.

Your larger point about experience and preparation is perfectly valid, I think, assuming a pattern of this sort of thing–which there is.

Before he commits to anything, what does Moveon/org want?

It’s that moment where my life, the lives of my family, are all in his hands. And the decisions he makes at that moment may very well decide if we live or die. And the only thing he’s really got is those decades of experience, all that practice and training, to make sure he does decide right – that he hits the right switches and button.

Professor Blather on May 21, 2008 at 7:33 AM

Fantastic post. I would like to see this idea turned into a McCain commercial or web video. This point cannot be made too loudly or too often.

The entire quote-
“Here’s something you’ll rarely hear from a politician: I’m not familiar…”
He’s proud of his ignorance.

jgapinoy on May 20, 2008 at 7:22 PM

So are his supporters “proud of his ignorance” as ‘yes they can’ strive for such a goal themselves.

Judgement To Lead Proud To Be Ignerant.

Free Rock Concert Preceded Big Obama Rally in Portland
Hugh Hewitt just told me that right before Obama addressed that huge crowd in Portland, the indie rock band the Decemberists played a free 45-minute concert. Now, I’m sure Obama would draw a big crowd either way, but wasn’t that worth mentioning in the coverage?

funky chicken on May 20, 2008 at 10:41 PM

Considering all the hoopla that was made over the crowd size, that comment scares the hell out of me. Truly, our MSM have now surpassed Pravda in their lies of commission and ommission.

Barry also gives a bad name to those who swooningly support him and his views. I guess no one studies cults of personalties anymore, even with a most recently obvious ‘current events’ example provided by Saddam Hussein.

The dumbing down America — which can only lead to bad things. Who knew it woud happen this way?

Barry is so obviously ignorant of history, current events, even his own votes. With a shout-out to Michelle, Barry makes me sad to be an American.

But sadly as I wrestle over and over again with these pathetic choices, I keep coming back to the conclusion that I can’t vote this time around. We’ve got vanilla pudding and chocolate pudding and I’m a conservative diabetic.

DaveS on May 20, 2008 at 8:28 PM

I agree with you. He can’t be expected to remember everything. However, I agree with Canadian Imperialist Running Dog, his staff should have briefed him on it and he should have made sure they did brief him on local affairs. The fact that he did not shows his inexperience and poor judgment.

Did anyone think that a nearly life-long alcoholic would have any chance to run for office if not for his name and money?
bayam on May 20, 2008 at 8:51 PM

Are you talking about Ted (hick) Kennedy?

Second of all, we know that McCain had heard of the site and was familiar at least with past discussions and funding of cleanup efforts, but wouldn’t you expect someone who was alive at the time the site was doing what its famous for doing to be more aware of it than someone who was born 20 years afterward?

Actually, DaveS, that doesn’t make much sense. When Hanford was doing what it was designed to do, it wasn’t very famous. It BECAME quite famous because of the contamination problems and the very expensive clean-up.

I am roughly Obama’s age and I knew about it. But then, I am much more qualified to be president than he his, so maybe that’s an unfair comparison.

Scary.

It’s my plea to liberals, which they ought to get for themselves when they watch clips like this. Please. You don’t hire a pilot because he looks good or thinks like you do. You hire him for his experience and training and for what he can do for you when it all goes to hell.

Obama can’t do it.

Professor Blather on May 21, 2008 at 7:33 AM

Great metaphor, Professor.

The lefties should remember that although W is easy to caricature, he was not only a two-term governor, he also was an actual fighter pilot, in a plane that was infamous for wiping out pilots (the F-102).

What exactly has Obambi done that is in any way comparable? When he was editor of the Harvard Law Review, he wrote not a single article. Did he author any legislation of note in either the Illinois legislature or in the US Senate?

. . . Personally, I don’t believe that Obama could pass a Top Secret security clearance background check – especially when his associations come under scrutiny. Friends and neighbors are interviewed during an investigation and do impact the result. With his meager resume, I doubt that he could have been confirmed to a U.S. Attorney position before his candidacy. . . .

Garnet92 on May 20, 2008 at 9:41 PM

This raises an important question, worthy of a movie: What do the FBI and the military do when a newly-elected President can’t pass security clearance?

Answer: Short of a military coup, they’ve no choice but to hand the clearance, the codes, and the ‘football’ over to the new guy—and to all of his treasonous associates.

I can imagine a very effective campaign advertisement making this very point. . .

Excellent post, Garnet92.

somebody, please tell me that there is a repository of all the b.s. about Obama—since the msm isn’t doing anything about exposing this affirmative action fraud, it is up to us in our local and state levels. I need a list. Just a list…
dish on May 20, 2008 at 8:34 PM

How about this for a start:

Obama’s Gaffes (by Michelle)

DaveS on May 21, 2008 at 2:50 AM

So why did McCain know about the issue? He and Obama work in the same place, on the same legislation.

Sorry, this isn’t about “gotcha”, it’s about experience and preparation. Obama doesn’t have either.

Most of the time they don’t have to do all that much. Just don’t screw up the landings, look good in their captain’s uniform, and be subtle about harassing the stewardesses. That’s about it. The plane just about flies itself.

But every time I get on a plane … I want that captain with 30 years of flight time. I want him to know what every one of those switches and dials does, I want him to know them blindfolded.

Because the real reason he’s up there isn’t for the day-to-day stuff. It’s for when the shit hits the fan and everything goes wrong.

It’s that moment where my life, the lives of my family, are all in his hands. And the decisions he makes at that moment may very well decide if we live or die. And the only thing he’s really got is those decades of experience, all that practice and training, to make sure he does decide right – that he hits the right switches and button.

The Presidency isn’t much different. The country will likely do just fine if Captain Obama sits in his office and practices being articulate all day. He and Michelle can hang out in the Oval Office and bash America from sun-up to sun-down, as long as the national engines are turning and the wings stay on the plane.

But if the worst happens … well, we’ll be flying at 37,000 feet on a massive DC-10 with a guy that watched a History Channel special on air travel, caught the first half of Airplane on HBO … and now thinks he’s a pilot.

If the worst happens … we could all be in very serious trouble.

And its for this reason that I cannot understand how anyone, no matter how liberal, can vote for him. You’re putting him in the cockpit, people. And you’ll be sitting back in coach, with your children.

If you make the wrong choice, and we actually need a pilot up there on one dark day in the next four years, you could live (for a little while) to truly regret that choice.

McCain will have plenty of bumpy landings and probably make his passengers airsick, but when the flack and missiles start flying, he can bring that plane home with one hand behind his back.

Even Hillary could probably at least land the plane in one piece. It may be at the wrong airport, she’ll probably have to land it with the gear up in a big mess of sparks and metal, but we’d probably walk away from the wreckage. If nothing else, she’s got a co-pilot with a little actual experience.

But Obama? He’s that drunk clueless passenger in every bad air disaster movie radioing the tower and asking how exactly you fly a plane. Even with all the experienced personnel on the ground, the odds against survival are a thousand to one.

And the one time only happens in the movies.

It’s my plea to liberals, which they ought to get for themselves when they watch clips like this. Please. You don’t hire a pilot because he looks good or thinks like you do. You hire him for his experience and training and for what he can do for you when it all goes to hell.

Obama can’t do it.

Let’s be serious, this is worse than the gotcha game played by Tim Russert — on a bad day.

Unfortunately, I don’t think that these people care if they sound more unreasonable than your typical “gotcha” journalist. I agree, its ridiculous and embarrassing, but apparently not everyone is embarrassed by looking like a desperate, partisan hack.

Hey, chin up. You guys might still win this one. If you do, I predict the level of vitriol won’t come anywhere near what we’ve heard from the left for the last 8 full years.

But personally, I think your party’s about to fall completely apart (and yes, I know ours isn’t really any better at this point).

You seem to be confused. I’m pretty right-wing. I just don’t like idiots, and I don’t like the fact that a lot of people here are bare no discernible difference from the moonbats.

I didn’t say that the “debates here” can be properly compared to the lefty sites, but, rather, that the tone of the comments as a whole are moving more and more toward that… ahem, quality.

jl on May 20, 2008 at 11:36 PM

Absolutely. It’s not reasonable to expect Obama to know anything about Hanford. That would be impossible. I’ll bet John McCain couldn’t either. What? He did? Never mind.

First of all, there is no indication that McCain recalled voting on an appropriations bill almost 4 years ago that had a particular line item (out of thousands) that mentioned the site in question.

Second of all, we know that McCain had heard of the site and was familiar at least with past discussions and funding of cleanup efforts, but wouldn’t you expect someone who was alive at the time the site was doing what its famous for doing to be more aware of it than someone who was born 20 years afterward?

Again, all I’m asking is that you people make a minimal effort to sound intelligent and rational. If you actually try you’ll do fine.

I find myself here tilting at windmills every few months, when some story or another gets you guys all acting like morons… it would be nice if I didn’t have to try to be your brain for you.

Is this for real? Is anyone suggesting here Barack Obama needs to be familiar with everyone of the items in HR 1815? Are we trying to elect a Jeopardy champion here? The summary of HR 1815 pasted in Word is 61 pages.

Let’s be serious, this is worse than the gotcha game played by Tim Russert — on a bad day.

mycowardice on May 21, 2008 at 12:45 AM

It mainly shows the incompetence of his staff (how could they not anticipate this question?)

He doesn’t have to know everything at all times, but he should at least be able to retain information relevant to the state he’s in, when he’s able to remember what state he’s in.

Let’s be serious, this is worse than the gotcha game played by Tim Russert — on a bad day.

Imagine if a politician went to Nevada and told the people he’d never heard of Yucca Mountain.  Imagine if a politician went to Tennessee and told the people he’d never heard of Oak Ridge and the Manhattan Project.  Imagine if……

You can go back to watching reruns of “The Hanford Files“.

Where James Hussein Garner plays a plucky, jug-eared detective who can’t find his own ass even when it’s handed to him.

And spare us the pseudo-concern.

The point is:

Barry the Brilliant doesn’t even know what he votes on.

Also, BDS didn’t “evolve” but was born fully-formed from the election follies in Florida.

It is tired, old political theater known as “demonize those that beat you“.

(And, since you brought it up, 9/11 was planned during the Clinton years- as far as a president failing to “read between the lines” goes- a fact that captured al-Qaeda henchmen have made clear, but it only went operational during the beginning of Bush’s first term, ultimately, because Billy Jeff didn’t whack Osama when he had the chance[s].)

fogw on May 20, 2008 at 9:11 PM

Obamafans would jump off a cliff if he said the word.