Thinkin’bout Stuff

Had a great time with great friends tonight, even though we dared enter into the treacherous waters of politics.

We’ve known each other for 15 years, but politics never really came up before, so it was interesting to hear that most of us are pretty much in sync with our view of the recent election.  It was also good to see that any differences with some of the folks were not divisive, we just disagreed and left it at that.

But one interesting thought came out of the discussion: Why not have an apprentice or training period for presidents?

When we started this whole USA thing, life was much simpler.  Maybe it was no big deal for someone to get elected and then, with little or no experience, just jump into the president gig.

But now?  Not so simple.  The problems facing our new president would overwhelm even someone with strong qualifications and extensive experience as an executive and leader; the man we are looking to for leadership is a good script reader who will hopefully surround himself with adults who can put the right words on the teleprompter.

In what other field do we hire someone into a position where he has no qualifications or experience?  We would, at the very least, expect a new hire to go through a training period, no?  Chef, heavy equipment operator, project manager, surgeon… thousands of other jobs, all requiring some experience, training, knowledge… all apparently except elected positions like president.

So… why not?  What’s stopping us from adjusting to the complexities of our world?  Why not hold elections two years before the new president takes office, have him or her train under the current president and then take office after a two year apprentice period.

There would likely be challenges, like dealing with huge egos and folks calling for the backup to come into the game every time they don’t like what the starter is doing… but isn’t that better than handing over the keys to the country without any training?  Think about it, for the first 6-12 months we can expect all those friendly dictators out there to test this guy (Biden’s words); wouldn’t it be better if this guy (or any guy) actually was already up to speed with the job before he had to pass the test.

We can’t afford our presidents to flunk tests, so I think we should find a way to make sure they have had sufficient time to study, don’t you?

All that from one margarita… think what we could have come up with after a few more

… will our next president learn from this latest faux pas.  Seems like, when he leaves his script, he has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth.

Not only was it poor form to make fun of a former First Lady about rumors she spoke with the dead during her husband’s presidency, he made fun of the wrong First Lady.

While it has been said that Nancy Reagan consulted with astrologers, it was Hillary Clinton who reportedly had discussions with Eleanor Roosevelt, who was deceased at the time.

So.. kudos for showing enough class to call and apologize, but concern that he too frequently goes for the laugh line instead of acting statesmanlike… we don’t need a comedian in the White House.

These charts will be refreshed frequently to provide some indication of how well things are going under an Obama, Pelosi, Reid controlled government. (Now if I can only figure out an easy way to keep this at the top)

Have a suggestion for another index we can chart and track? Let us know…

Click chart to open in new window.

Forget what I said back on September 3rd by the way:

Between now and election day, there will be a significant shift of support away from Barack Obama as concerns mount over his inexperience and inadequate handling of his guilt-by-association problems

In my defense, events of the day somewhat overshadowed EVERYTHING after that little prediction.

Instead, I’ll point to what I said on February 12, 2007 since I was closer to right that time:

But what makes Barack Obama a legitimate contender for the Democrat nomination for president? That’s right, you know it and I know it, it’s because he’s … a celebrity. (You thought I was going to say “African-American” didn’t you?)

You see, we like celebrities in this country; heck, some of us worship them. And yes, his celebrity status is due in no small part to the color of his skin (although that still amazes me that anyone cares what color skin we have…   it’s skin, get over it.) But it is much more than the color of his skin, otherwise we might be discussing Al Sharpton as a serious candidate.

Barack Obama is a communicator; and whether you agree with his positions or not, he is just the kind of candidate who could get elected in this popularity contest we call the Presidential Election. I continue to hope that we will be able to find a president who is qualified to lead and who is prepared to make the tough decisions to ensure the security of our nation; leave the popularity contests to class president and state senator.

Wonder how many other folks can point back almost two years ago to a belief that Barack Obama had a good chance to be president… I’ll bet there weren’t too many.

So… keep checking in here and join the discussion when you feel inclined… we both might learn something.

Well.. as much as I would love to continue following the drama over at the API site (you know, the guys who claim to have some secret tape of a phone call with Michele Obama), but with the voting already well underway, essentially finally exposing the hoax to all but the folks truly dedicated to conspiracy theories, and with the fact that I have mysteriously acquired two trojan horses during the time period I have been visiting that site… I think I will just have to walk away from that soap opera.

The reason I mention it here… if you have been visiting that site, please run a virus scan ASAP.

’nuff said…

Was thinking… I really like the taste of mesquite.  With chicken and beef, lunch or dinner. But seems to me there’s a gap around breakfast time.

What the world really needs is a new cereal with that mesquite taste.  What we need is:

Mesquito’s!!!

Yeah.. pretty much the same reaction from my family