Senator Obama “phones it in” once again.
For months now Senator Obama has beaten the drum about the failing economy and he has made the economy one of the pillars of his campaign; however his actions this past week show that what is important to Senator Obama is not the problems we currently face with the economy, but with his campaign and his bid for the highest office in our land. In short it was more important that he continue to pander to every audience he could and to raise money for his campaign than show up in DC and work to resolve this crisis. Oh yes, he did go for one day, but only because President Bush requested him to attend, and reports of his behavior, comments and actions during these meetings belay his much carefully crafted image of the skilled, seasoned and reasoned legislator that his team, the media and he has so carefully crafted.
As a management expert I would have to argue with Senator Obama’s flawed logic that staying in telephone contact with such individuals as Representative Pelosi, Senator Franks, et al does equate being in the “thick of things” as a crisis of this magnitude calls for from its leaders. In fact I would argue that this crisis is such that every Senator and Congressperson should have been in attendance during all the various negotiations and meetings, and that abdicating this responsibility to another elected official or one’s staff (even a staff that has in essence been the defacto Senator for nearly two years) is not the actions of a seasoned or experienced leader, it is however a good example of a “paper tiger”. Or as is so often the practice of Senator Obama voting present on a hot button or controversial issue rather than taking a stand.
Democrats and others have been sounding the clarion call of the failure of our economy and using this fear to rally many to their side and to attempt to portray themselves as the only party that will be able to deliver our nation from its economic woes. Unfortunately when we needed all hands to be on deck, so to speak, to handle this crisis (you know the one that only the keen Democratic mind can save us from) the two top Democrats (Senators Obama and Biden) decide it was more important to make campaign speeches and to hold campaign events. Senator Obama defends his actions by stating that he can (and Presidents should be) able to multi-task. The problem is that what has taken place this week is not about multi-tasking, but all about making sure the constituents that elected you to represent them have a voice; but then again I’m sure his constituents and their interests are accustomed to being pawned off to others since that’s exactly what’s Senator Obama’s been doing from almost the first day he was elected to Congress. Then there’s Senator Biden who is so concerned about this financial crisis that he makes sure to insert millions of dollars of earmarks into these fragile negotiations. You should also take a look at how your Senators and Congressman or Congresswoman voted on the Financial Deregulation Act of 1999. Senators Feinstein and Boxer voted yes and no respectfully and Congressman Schiff voted yes. Oh, and just for fun, Congresswoman Pelosi, who is constantly harping about the so-called failed Bush Administration economic plan, voted YES. So it looks like some members of Congress were all for deregulation before they were in favor of regulation.
Before you dismiss my observations and criticism of Senator Obama’s action during this time of financial crisis, let me remind you that early on in the Bush Administration many of the same pundits and elected officials that think it’s perfectly okay for Senator Obama to handle this crisis via long-distance had a field day when President Bush spent a holiday at his ranch in Crawford during a negotiation period (over something not deemed as emergent as our current financial crisis). So why are they not pointing their finger at Senators Obama and Biden and demanding that they return post-haste to DC, perhaps so they can then accomplish to paint Senator Obama as a seasoned executive with enough gravitas to get the “job done” and Senator Obama can focus on what he seems to prefer to do which is once again to focus on the sizzle and not the steak.
Let us not forget that many of the principal players in this current crisis are on the Obama team. Senator Dodd and Obama were the top two recipients of funds from Fannie Mae or was it Freddie Mac (both quasi-governmental agencies that had no business using taxpayer dollars to lobby legislators), then there’s Congressman Frank who loves Freddie and Fannie so much that he all but accused Senator McCain of histrionics when Senator McCain tried in vain to warn Congress that Freddie and Fannie were at risk of causing grave financial consequences to “We the People”.
What this citizen cannot believe is the audacity so many of the now indignant Senators and Congressman (especially Senator Obama and Biden) who feathered their nest with money from some of the very organizations and companies that helped to usher in this time of crisis. They spin ever so confidentially the story that Senator McCain is out of touch with economic reality, all the while they and their chronies worked to silence his voice, but they overlooked the redundancy that is our government and they cannot outrun the tapes and transcripts of those many meetings. Should have and could have Senator McCain been more perseverant about these issues, without a doubt, but it can be somewhat difficult when you are a “minority” voice and a majority from both parties seem to be intent on growing fat off of the public largesse.
So I remind my readers a President must be able to make the tough decisions and must be willing to pull the all nighters when circumstances call for it and must put aside his/her own priorities when the situation demands it. Unfortunately once again Senator Obama demonstrates that running his campaign is more important to him than doing the job he was elected for by the good people of Illinois; and Illinois may be able to find an absentee-Senator acceptable, but I don’t think this Country can afford an absentee-President and our men and women in uniform can ill afford an absentee-Commander-in-Chief.
Proof that women are still held to a different standard then men, and N.O.W. stands silent on the subject!
You’ve got to give Governor Sarah Palin credit for putting up with some of the CRAP that has been coming from the media. Many in the media are engaging in behavior so disreputable that they might as well be labeled as the reprobates that they are behaving as these days.
Is it fair for the media and the public at large to ask questions about how Governor Palin has acquitted herself while in Public Office of course? Her votes, how she ran her campaigns, how she dealt with staff conflicts etc. are all fair games. By evaluating these actions we are provided a glimpse into how she may behave as a potential Vice-President. What is beyond the pale is the innuendos and rumor mongering that has taken over common sense and fair and balance journalism. Even the New York Times (a paper not known for it’s right-lean) was quick to jump into the rumor mongering game and then had to turn around an issue an apology for providing false (yes I’m sure that this shocks you that the editor of the New York Times failed to vet their information completely before going to print) information to the public about Gov. Palin being a member of a third political party prior to joining the Republican Party. Which is interesting since I thought we had a right to assemble in this country and folks were allowed to change political party affiliation as they see fit. Of course if Gov. Palin had run and been elected to her office as this third party’s candidate and then turned around and changed her party, let’s say like that guy from Vermont did then maybe one could argue misleading the public, but even that would have been a minor “bump”; but this in and of itself would probably not be news worthy except it seemed to involve the most scurrilous class of people A Republican and a woman at that! At issue here is that the same media that seems so fascinated with Gov. Palin, who’s only the VP pick while Sen. Obama, who’s the Presidential Nominee, seems to get a free pass at the same level of scrutiny. While she’s been both a mayor (albeit of a small town) and then a Governor she has also been a commissioner of one of Alaska’s more significant commission and let’s not forget a member of the PTA a training ground for many women who eventually enter politics. Senator Obama may have racked up a few more years in elected office, but I don’t put much stock in the time he’s spent in the US Senate since most of that time has been spent campaigning for the office of President. Of course there were the years spent in the Illinois State House where most of the time he was busy taking the ever critical position of voting “present” nearly 100 times which really underwhelms this person. When the rubber hits the road I think I would prefer a Governor who had the added experience of mayor (no matter how small or big the town) who had been trained by the good old folks at the PTA – because that group knows how to prepare community activists, over a smooth talking, prefer to vote present rather then aye or nay because it may come back to haunt me politico. And the next time they decry Gov. Palin on her supposed lack of experience in case, God forbid, something happened to McCain remember President Harry S. Truman. “During his few weeks as Vice President, he scarcely saw President Roosevelt, and received no briefing on the development of the atomic bomb or the unfolding difficulties with Soviet Russia. Suddenly these and a host of other wartime problems became Truman's to solve when, on April 12, 1945, he became President.” He seemed to do alright and is remembered as one of our greats.
But what has me blogging today are not rumors such as those above, but instead the out right dismal failure of the self-appointed representatives and spokes groups of women’s rights. And the greatest offender is the National Organization for Women (N.O.W.). N.O.W. an organization according to its own public relations has approximately 500,000 supporting members (not women, but members) has decided to vilify Palin on their website, and has made no pubic statement (at least to my knowledge) about the double-standard being used to attack Palin versus let’s say their “women” candidates Obama and Biden (such shining examples of feminism that I’m sure every American woman would want their daughters to aspire to be just like them). Granted I didn’t expect N.O.W. to endorse Palin though that might have been nice since its not every day that a woman makes it on to a Vice-Presidential ticket of a major party, just ask Senator Clinton; but they could have acknowledged her achievement. But since N.O.W. couldn’t -- so it didn’t and now everything representatives of N.O.W. have advocated such as whether or not a woman has children, is married, how she looks etc., should never count has been made to count because N.O.W.’s hatred of women who do not cleave to their “feminist” platform has caused them to remain silent. So next time when N.O.W. comes knocking at your door for money to support them because “without them” women would be sent back to the 1950’s or further remember their silence on the invectives being used to tear down Gov. Palin for simply being what real women right’s advocates have always fought for which simply put is to be able to be comfortable in their own skins and to dream big. You may disagree with some or all or Gov. Palin’s politics, but that doesn’t mean we can’t applaud her for her accomplishments. But, N.O.W. should be ashamed for putting their politics before the “women” that their organization purports to empower. Maybe this moose hunting, hockey playing, mother of five is too much woman for them.