The "143 days" e-mail and my response

[9thkvius]

Hey everyone - 9thkvius here. I got this e-mail today from a friend who is actually not a big fan of McCain/Palin, but who had received this from his brother. I wish I had a longer and more intelligent response, but I am a bit pressed for time today. Ay constructive criticism is much appreciated.

First, the original e-mail.



You couldn't get a job at McDonalds and become district
manager after - 143 days of experience.

You couldn't become chief of surgery after - 143 days of
experience of being a surgeon.

You couldn't become a journeyman plumber after -143 days
of experience

You couldn't get a job as a teacher and be the
superintendent after - 143 days of experience.

You couldn't join the military and become a general
after a - 143 days of experience.

You couldn't get a job as a reporter and become the
nightly news anchor after - 143 days of experience.
BUT....

'From the time Barack Obama was sworn in as a United States Senator, to the time he announced he was forming a Presidential exploratory committee, he logged 143 days of experience in the Senate.

That's how many days the Senate was actually in session and working. After 143 days of work experience, Obama believed he was ready to be Commander In Chief, Leader of the Free World.

143 days.

We all have to start somewhere. The senate is a good start, but after 143 days, that's all it is -- a start.

AND, strangely, a large sector of the American public is okay with this and campaigning for him. We wouldn't accept this in our own line of work, yet some are okay with this for the President of the United States of America ? Come on folks, we are not voting for the next American Idol!

Please, please forward this before it's too late!



And here is my response - 9thkvius

Ah, where to begin.

Obama certainly does not have a lot of experience on the national stage, but he does possess a pretty keen mind, a strong sense of intellectual curiosity, and the sense to listen to people who know more about various subjects than he does. He strikes me as someone who likes to read and likes to learn. I dare say that most of the people he has picked to give him advice are pretty goddamn smart, especially on the two most critical fronts: economics (Robert Reich, Paul Voelcker, etc.) and foreign policy (Samantha Power, General Clark, and of course Joe Biden, his running mate).

Considering who McCain picked to be his running mate, this argument is a joke. If 143 days as a Senator are not a whole lot, then what about a few years running a town that might as well be the set of Northern Exposure? Or being the governor of one of the least populated states in the entire goddamn country? After watching her give a couple of speeches, plus the interview with Charlie Gibson on ABC, I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that she is one of those people who refuse to fucking learn anything. She acts as if there is nothing that anyone can teach her. She just follows her gut, and all those silly facts and figures shouldn’t get in the way. It is very reminiscent of George W. Bush, and I dare say that is not a path we should try to go down again. I don’t want anyone else’s gut trying to run the country, especially when that gut clearly has shit for brains. And look who the fuck is giving her advice: on foreign policy, it’s people like Robert Kagan, Randy Schueneman, William Kristol, and Joe Fucking Lieberman. What do think these neoconservative assholes are telling her? Probably stuff like “sure, we can start another war. Those Iranians are pussies.” And the only thing that scares me more than the McCain/Palin foreign policy advisers are their economic advisers. Sorry, but getting financial advice from some supply-side Kool-aid drinking hardcore lobbyists like the Pfotenhauers does not strike me as a good idea. And it only gets worse from there. Do you really think that Carly Fiorina and Phil Gramm are the people that should be giving the McCain/Palin ticket economic advice? A CEO who drove her company into the ground, and the guy who is almost singlehandedly responsible for the banking meltdown going on right now? Hell, look at what is happening with UBS since Gramm jumped on board, and then look at the other Swiss banks who didn’t jump on the mortgage securities bandwagon in comparison. “One of these things is not like the others, one of these things does not belong.” UBS just wrote down a few more billion dollars (I think their total losses are somewhere around $40 billion now), and they probably aren’t done yet. Much of that is due to Gramm and his policies that the UBS board enacted. Is THAT a guy you want to take financial or economic advice from?

So ultimately, if the choice is between a smart person who has little experience but good advisers, and a person with their head up their ass with little experience with shitty advisers, who are YOU going to pick?

[YOY]

1. They are voting for the next American Idol

Palin is so incredibly LESS experienced than Obama it's frightening.

[orwell]

2. Send them this...

http://reaganbushdebt.org/

[CrispyQ]

3. Include this graphic in your response:

on edit: Boosh ran on experience & the fact that he has an MBA in business. Ask your friend how that's working out for him.

[faithfulcitizen]

8. awesome! Sending this around.

[CrispyQ]

11. I'd like to give credit where credit is due, but I don't recall who

originally posted it, but it rocks!!

[tekisui]

9. Great picture. I am marking it to grab it when I get back home!

[gcomeau]

4. No, no, no, no, no.

So ultimately, if the choice is between a smart person who has little experience but good advisers

Absolute crap. Don't just buy into and reinforce that complete falsehood.

Less experience than McCain, sure. LITTLE experience? As if Obama sprang from non existence directly into the U.S. senate and that "143" days nonsense is actually valid? Oh hell no.

1. If anyone thinks Senators are only working when the Senate is in session they're morons.
2. He has 8 years in the Illinois State Senate.
3. He has 12 years of teaching constitutional law. Anyone remember what the president has to solemnly swear when they take office? Something like "will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." isn't it?
4. He has a JD from Harvard Law and was president of the most prestigious legal journal in the entire country.
5. He has a Bachelor's in political science specializing in International Relations from Columbia.
6. He has a year of research into Global Finance at Business International Corporation
7. He has years and years serving on the boards of various charities and political advocacy groups.
8. He ran the Developing Communities Project for three years.

Don't just lie down and accept that "he's inexperienced" bullshit like they have any kind of point.

[9thkvius]

6. Good point, and thank you

THAT is the kind of constructive criticism I wanted. I knew that Senator Obama had a lot of excellent experience, like in the Illinois State legislature, but I could not remember any details and I hesitated to talk about something that I could not back up with a lot of facts.

So that is a hell of a list that I can now use, in case I get any smarmy replies to the e-mail. Thanks!

[faithfulcitizen]

7. We have a winner! great post, thanks!

:applause:

[CrispyQ]

12. Please consider making this a thread of it's own.

What you are suggesting is framing the debate, instead of simply responding to the republican frame. This is something dems need to do more often.

Excellent post. Wish I could recommend it.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Overseas]

5. 6,600 days as a Senator and John Sidney McCain III still doesn't understand the economy.

2,920 days since 9/11/01 and Republicans still have not brought Osama bin Laden to justice.

[zbdent]

10. Obama ... years studying and defending the Constitution ...

McCain and Palin ... combined, I'm not sure they've spent over an hour thinking about it ...

[CrispyQ]

13. Yep. I can hear them now:

McCain: Bushco has done a pretty good job of shredding the Constitution, but there is still plenty left for us to shred.

Palin: I know, we can replace it with the Bible!

Watch your back McCain. If you get selected, a little murder is nothing to the wacko fundies who want to convert this country to their extremist version of a theocracy.

[cabbage08]

14. K&R

Excellent post

[DeeDeeNY]

15. Dick Cheney has a lot of experience

So much for "experience."

[OmahaBlueDog]

16. Alternative approach if you think the sender is a lost cause

If the sender is someone who isn't just sending this to annoy you (maybe they're that friend from HS you still have an e-mail relationship with who assumes your political views are aligned), respond thusly:

<< I understand your concerns about Obama's experience, but after seeing the actions of our Government with respect to AIG, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac, I don't recoginze John McCain's Republican party either. Ronald Reagan said. "I don't believe in a government that protects us from ourselves." Apparantly, todays Republicans don't agree as they hand out billions of dollars of our tax money to companies that are victims of their own stupidity.

Then,to top it off, how does John McCain demonstrate Barack Obama's inexperience? He selects Sarah Palin, a woman who has less experience as Governor than Obama has as Senator.

For these reasons, I'd urge you to check out www.bobbarr2008.com and learn about Bob Barr, the former Georgia Congressman who is running for President. I know he's a longshot, but he believes in an America with small government and lower taxes like Ronald Reagan did.

I appreciate your well-meaning e-mail, but there is no way I can vote for John McCain>>