To Prove Themselves

There’s no doubt that you’ve heard Barack Obama is inexperienced. At one point his own fellow Democrats said the same of him, of course that was when they were running against him. But Sen. Obama has been trying very hard to ensure Americans that he is the man for the job, he’s the man that will bring change to this country.

Last Thursday, on the point that Sen. McCain would not bring change for America, Sen. Obama had this to say, “John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.”

As I stated on my political blog, how can he say he’s not ready to take a “ten percent” chance on change with John McCain, but Americans are to take a one-hundred percent chance on him?

With the announcement of Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin as Sen. McCain’s running mate, many have questioned as to whether or not she’s ready to lead the country. Now she’s not running for president, but there’s always the possibility that she could find herself in that position. So apparently we can’t risk electing McCain who will have a supposedly “inexperienced” VP who could possibly have to take the reins from McCain, but we can take a risk on Obama, a man WHO IS running for president.

On Meet the Press, Gov. Tim Pawlenty had this to say to about whether or not Palin is prepared to be VP, “Well, in fairness to Governor Palin, let's do the same analysis as to Senator Obama. He's basically graduated from law school, went on to be a community organizer and a law professor, went to the U.S. Senate and began running for president, essentially, the day he arrived. So he didn't even stick around in the Senate very long before he began running for governor (obviously meaning to say "president"). So what it is in his background, Tom, that would give him that same type of requisite wisdom and judgment and insight on national security matters or foreign affairs matter or anything else? But importantly, Senator--or Governor Palin is an executive. She has--during that time that he's been running for president, she's been running a large enterprise of the state of Alaska successfully as an executive, as commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard, and by all accounts, somebody who's formidable on policy, who's smart, and basically has guts and grit because of her background, and can relate to people.”

No matter who the country elects in November risks will be taken. In January of 2001, President Bush never expected 9/11. So a candidate, Democrat or Republican can say one thing but they aren’t fortune tellers. Barack Obama could indeed bring change for the better to America, or change for the worse. John McCain could turn out to prove anyone who says he was like Bush wrong- he could be the greatest president or the worst. A speech can spark interest, but it does not always prove that someone is ready to lead America, experience does. So look up Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin and see what your candidates have done to prove themselves.

To Russia with Love, Sort Of

It was Russia versus Georgia in the Olympic Women’s Volleyball heats. The two teams seemed to get along well before the match as the players all shook hands. In the end Georgia beat the Russians 21-10 20-22 12-15. But there was a whole different fight going on back home for both teams.

On August 8 crisis erupted when Georgia sent forces to retake South Ossetia, a pro-Russian province that threw off Georgian rule in the 1990s. Moscow responded by sending its troops into Georgia.

President Bush sent Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Tbilisi to show support for the Georgian government. The president also ordered the military to deliver humanitarian aid to Georgia. He also said that Russia "must keep its word" and end the crisis with the U.S. ally. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that Russia is showing signs of returning to its authoritarian past and its invasion of Georgia will require the U.S. to re-evaluate the strategic relationship between the superpowers.

This morning on Meet the Press, David Gregory spoke with the Secretary Rice. On the question of whether Georgia provoked the crisis, Secretary Rice responded saying, “This crisis has been going on for, as I said, more than a decade. It has been a hot zone and a volatile zone where there have been skirmishes over a significant period of time. It is absolutely the case that we have cautioned all parties against the use of force. In fact, I also talked to the Russians repeatedly in this period about the railway troops that they were bringing in, about reinforcing their peacekeepers, about overflying Georgian territory. So this had been a zone of conflict. We were trying to resolve it peacefully.”

On July 15 of this year, Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev said “Russia is indeed stronger and able to assume greater responsibility for solving problems on a regional and global scale. Thus for you and for all of us now I think it is absolutely clear that now the world is not just listening to Russia but looking to us for help with solving problems.”

Yeah.

Troops have yet to pull out of Georgia, and the U.S. can only hope that Medvedev keeps his word. A word of advice to Russia, if you’re looking to take your place in the world, this isn’t helping. Just a thought and just a message to Russia with love, sort of.

Photo by Dan Chung

Totally Read to Lead

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Paris Hilton is running for president!

In case you're looking outside your window to see if pigs are flying past, have no fear for it's only a joke. You can probably recall that the young heiress was used in a John McCain campaign ad calling Barack Obama a celebrity. Well now, with the help of comedy site Funny or Die, Paris has released her own video stating her energy plan which takes elements of McCain and Obama, as well as her interest as having R&B singer Rihanna as her running mate. Said Hilton, "I want America to know that I'm, like, totally ready to lead."