Experience
Hillary did it. Now McCain's going to as well. So will a whole bunch of anti-Obama nay-sayers. They've said and are going to say he has no experience, a statement which, and and of itself, is a lie. The man has been in public office and service for over two decades.
But let me ask, is experience all it's really cracked up to be? I'm not talking about common sense and using one's brain. I'm talking about the so-called "experience" the older politicians are saying they have and Obama doesn't have.
Except for one problem. With all their "experience," look at the state of this country. We're in a recession, thanks to the economic "experience" of our government officials allowing jobs by the thousands to be shipped overseas or just phased out in the name of corporate greed.
Our country is less secure now than it's ever been due to the "experience" of our politicians pursuing illegal wars (also a contributor to the economic issue).
Healthcare is more prohibitive now than it's ever been. As Obama says, only the wealthy and healthy get insured and everyone else can go to hell. This is also due to the "experience" of our politicians bowing to special interests.
The list can go on and on. Gas, food costs, cost of living, etc. all in trouble due to the "experienced" work of old school Washington politicians.
So, in what way, exactly, has "experience" benefitted the American people? This kind of experience we just don't need any longer.
3 comments:
George Will (of all people) pretty much exploded the "experience" argument earlier this year:
"The president who came to office with the most glittering array of experiences had served 10 years in the House of Representatives, then became minister to Russia, then served 10 years in the Senate, then four years as secretary of state (during a war that enlarged the nation by 33 percent), then was minister to Britain. Then, in 1856, James Buchanan was elected president and in just one term secured a strong claim to being ranked as America's worst president. Abraham Lincoln, the inexperienced former one-term congressman, had an easy act to follow."
Heh. In that case, Obama should have NO problems.. :)
Well, when it was Obama vs. Hillary, the argument was especially ridiculous, since he has been an actual politician for longer than she has. But you wouldn't know that from the media account, which took for granted the notion that he has the least political experience of the candidates. (It depends on how significant you consider her years as First Lady, when she did some political work, such as her (failed) health care initiative, though I think the importance of this has been way overstated.) Of course, this discussion is moot by now.
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