Audacious Or Desperate?

Surely I'm not the only one laughing at this un-credible attack from the Obama campaign? Inexperience is a problem a heartbeat away but no issue in the Oval Office itself?

"Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies -- that's not the change we need, it's just more of the same," said Bill Burton, Obama Campaign Spokesman.

They'll likely catch up given time to research Governor Palin - now the only experienced executive in the race. And no doubt they've been busy chasing around all the leaking air around last night's speech. Someone did give a speech last night, right?

Whoosh! You wouldn't know it by looking at Memeorandum.

Michelle Malkin has links and a great video of Palin.

Supposedly Obama gave a good speech last night. It was too long for me. However, as with all speech makers - when you finish, you have to sit down.

Tactically speaking - video releases, timing of events and announcements - so far this year Team McCain has been eating Team Obama's lunch. I hope they like Arugula.

I'm a meat and potatoes man myself. And that's precisely what McCain has just served up to the Right. What may have been doomed to be an uninspiring GOP convention has now become representative of something else.

Can we say Change!

Yes, we can!

Now where have I heard that before? Hmm.

Comments

[Spartan112]

Obama and the Dems just put on a great convention and what does McCain come up with? Sarah Palin? Is that Inuit for Dan Quayle? This is the best post party present I've ever gotten.

[ET]

A great convention? All pomp and circumstance, not a single tangible proposal for "change." Palin is down to earth, apple pie. Mainstream America will love her. You just lost your Hillary supporters, and any claim to youth or out of the box thinking. Biden? What a chump.

Here comes the McCain administration!

[Spartan112]

"You just lost your Hillary supporters"

Really? Once they hear her stance on Roe I don't think that will be the case. I believe there were something along the lines 29 policy proposals in Obamas landmark speech last night, thatsounds pretty tangible to me.

[Worst President Ever]

Yes, a GREAT convention:

Obama has clearly seen a rise in the polls since the convention began with a 4-point increase in his support (from 45% to 49%) with the margin moving eight points in his favor.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/109933/Gallup-Daily-Obama-Stretches-Lead-Points.aspx

[Mark_0454]

If I remember correctly Dan Quayle was a Senator with very little experience in the Senate or in private life. Sounds like Obama to me.

There are plenty of ex-Gov's who also served in the Senate and will attest that the Senate is a much different job. No -executive experience required. I can't think of any who have done both Governor and Senator who would say that Senator is a tougher job. The experience edge still goes to the Republican party.

[SacTownMan]

Wow Jimmy imagine Barry getting a bounce coming out of the convention! I'll bet that's never happened before.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/109702/Conventions-Typically-Result-FivePoint-Bounce.aspx

Nothing close to the 16 points Bill got in 1992 but hey his 4 points should really make the difference this time. Of course there still is the VP news and the upcoming convention for the Republicans that should get... guess what... a 5 point bounce!

[el gordo]

Mark, Quayle was a two term congressman and had been Senator for 8 years when he became vice president. I believe he held some state level government jobs before that. He got a bad rep for a couple of really bad gaffes but he wasn´t inexperienced. Of course it´s possible that the Senate is overrated :-)

[Mark_0454]

Thank you El Gordo. Your correction is gratefully acknowledged.

So apparently Sen. Obama does not even have as much Federal experience as the much-maligned Dan Quayle?

[el gordo]

Less than a third, Mark. But I´m the first to admit that experience is not a function of time. I think Obama was a bit of a time-server compared to Jindal or Palin.

[Spartan112]

"He got a bad rep for a couple of really bad gaffes but he wasn´t inexperienced. "

Not inexperienced...just stupid. And no Jack Kennedy.

Listen, Obama is qualified to be POTUS as is Palin and McCain no experience is required in fact it could be argued that some experience could be negative such as a governor who may have abused her power.

As for McCain, what executive experience does he have???

[templar knight]

"Listen, Obama is qualified to be POTUS..."

I couldn't get any farther, as I was laughing so hard tears began to obscure my vision. That was a good one. A terrorist-supporting clown is qualified to be President. That's the biggest crock of bs I've ever heard.

[Mark_0454]

McCain had command of a flight squadron. Not huge, but by comparison Obama seems to have completely screwed up a $50 million education grant. Even the final report from the Annanberg Challenge acknowledged that no improvement was made.

[SacTownMan]

Sparky asks,

"As for McCain, what executive experience does he have???"

In 1976 McCain was a squadron commander that under his leadership won it's first Meritorious Unit Commendation.

Barry was busy doing bong hits and snorting coke right about then wasn't he?

I'm sure he had executive experience in negotiating with his drug dealer over the amount of coke in his dime bag!

[el gordo]

After you have been through all the weighing of experience a couple of times, there is really nothing more to say. Experience is one factor but in the end, nobody votes for Obama on account of experience. No, liberals love Obama like children love an acrobat. And frankly, I´m not supporting McCain (despite some disgareements) just because he has been in the Senate for decades, a feat also accomplished by the likes of Robert Byrd or Ted Stevens, but because of the whole man. Or woman in the case of Palin. Surely we can admit that politics, character and attitude are at least as important as experience for us.

[Spartan112]

"In 1976 McCain was a squadron commander that under his leadership won it's first Meritorious Unit Commendation."

Was that before or after he crashed his 5th plane? Ever think they won it in spite of him?

[Spartan112]

"A terrorist-supporting clown is qualified to be President. That's the biggest crock of bs I've ever heard."

Hey that's not fair...just because he doesn't really want to get Osama I wouldn't call McCain "Terrorist-supporting". Now Cindy looks a bit like a clown...like the scary one from "It".

[Spartan112]

"Barry was busy doing bong hits and snorting coke right about then wasn't he?"

Is this mud that Bush supporters want to sling?

[syn]

By the time the Democrat media finishes their sexist attacks toward Gov Palin I have no doubt that the Democratic Party will lose the female voter entirely; after what happened to Sen Hillary Clinton women are not going to appreciate experiencing the mysigony all over again.

I'm female and was not a Hillary voter however I will say that women really do not appreciate being told to sit down, shut up, get-in-line especially when they're being asked to do it for a charismatic man who, out of the blue, swept everyone off their feet with his suave charm.

Too many women have been personally burned by charismatic, suave men who swept them off their feet then turned around and humiliated them; Obama is one of those men.

I'll say it again I did not support Clinton however the manner in which Obama's campaign treated her and her supporters reminded me of my own experience with smooth operators, left me with a sick feeling in my stomach.

[syn]

Spartan112

President Bush isn't running for a third term, get over it. Besides, President Bush treats women a hell of alot better than the entire Democratic Party ever has.

[WAHOO WILLIE]

"Was that before or after he crashed his 5th plane?"

Hmmm number 1 was a WWII left over, number 4 was hit by an errant missile from another a-4 on the deck of Forrestal and number 5 was hit by a SAM-7 over Hanoi. Of course Sparty being an Ace pilot would not have been sitting on the ready line aboard Forrestal and could easily have out manuvered a SAM.......Maybe we should look into the details of numbers 2 & 3.

[Spartan112]

So what about numbers 2&3? Isn't possible that he was just a bad pilot?

[seekeronos]

"--- I believe there were something along the lines 29 policy proposals in Obamas landmark speech last night, that sounds pretty tangible to me. ---"

You mean the 29 scintillating, blindingly polished cow patties he used to basically lie to us about how great an Obama presidency would be, and likely to be forgotten as soon as he moves in, or maybe as soon as Michelle is done measuring the curtains and taking colour swatches around the White House?

Except of course, for that bit about raising taxes, of course.

"---

"Barry was busy doing bong hits and snorting coke right about then wasn't he?"

Is this mud that Bush supporters want to sling?

---"

News flash: Bush may have snorted his fair share of coke, but he's not in this election.

"--- So what about numbers 2&3? Isn't possible that he was just a bad pilot? ---"

Carrier landings are things that even a GREAT pilot might not get right, even under optimal circumstances.

I'm not saying that #2 and #3 were related to landing on a carrier, but just saying that most career naval aviators would normally qualify as above average compared to the land-based peers for the simple reason that a surface that bobs and pitches with the ocean is a much more difficult affair than a paved runway on terra firma.

[Spartan112]

"I'm not saying that #2 and #3 were related to landing on a carrier, but just saying that most career naval aviators would normally qualify as above average compared to the land-based peers for the simple reason that a surface that bobs and pitches with the ocean is a much more difficult affair than a paved runway on terra firma."

Well I'm glad you're not saying that (though you're implying it) because you would be wrong. Crash 2 he hit a set of power lines while flying too low and 3 happened flying back from an Army/Navy game (an example of this GOOD JUDGEMENT?) and he had a flame out.

So how many planes does the average pilot lose in their career?

[seekeronos]

Do we know the circumstances of #2: Power lines and #3: Flame Out?

Flame outs can be caused by a number of things, clogged fuel lines, engine controls gone out of rig (throttle cables loosening in flight due to vibrations, climate conditions, or shoddy rigging work or failure of groundcrews to inspect thoroughly), compressor stall, foreign object damage (sucking birds or hail down the jet intake) among other things.

About 16 years ago, I was newly arrived at RAF Upper Heyford when they had lost an F-111E coming in for a landing, where the aircrew had combination of an avionics equipment failure and an engine flame out at the worst possible time: in the last 3,000 feet before landing. Not enough altitude nor airspeed to restart the engine, and with the way the approach to the airfield was set up (on a hill/plateau top), they could not adequately correct with the angle of approach - they lost airspeed much too fast and buried the plane into the hill about 500ft. short of the runway.

Both the pilot and the navigator were lost. And they were a captain and a major, implying that they had at least 5-10 years of flight time:

CPT Jerry C. Lindh
MAJ D. Michael McGuire
F-111E 68-0052
17 September 1992

Unfortunately, though the aircrew attempted to eject, they didn't survive.

Geo Position: N51 56.066 W1 16.581 WGS84 GPS
Upper Heyford village end of runway.

Google Maps Reference:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=N51%2056.066%20W1%2016.581%20WGS84&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wl

Details of the event taken from http://www.f-111.net/memorial.htm and http://www.f-111.net/t_no_E.htm (see tail number 68-0052 for details)

[seekeronos]

As an aside, I don't know from Navy policy, but in the USAF, peacetime pilots who lose aircraft were likely to be moved to non-flight positions. If they were kept on as air-qualified pilots, it was either due their exceptional duty record or their proven capability as commanders.

Of course, inquiry boards will just as often look to the maintenance crews for a culprit as well, which is certainly a motivating factor for the maintenance crews to keep up their paperwork, hands-on inspections, and routine scheduled maintenance on time and properly done.

[Spartan112]

5 times??? Don't you think it's just as likely his poor flying was overlooked in deference to who his father and grandfather were?

[seekeronos]

Let's not be too ungenerous, and say that he was a goofy man who didn't know the nose cone of an aeroplane from the empennage:

One incident was due to a weapon (missile) discharging from another aircraft (not McCain's) resulting in McCain's aircraft getting damaged

One incident was due to the North Vietnamese SAM knocking him out of the sky.

One incident was a training aircraft left over from WW2.

One incident may have been due to a flameout, which may not necessarily be the pilot's fault.

And another incident involved the powerlines on the way back from the Army-Navy game.

Did McCain's "family connections" help soften whatever blowback/disciplinary issues he might have otherwise had coming for losing these aircraft? Possibly. But at least 3/5 of those incidents are not demonstratably provable of pilot error on McCain's part.

[Spartan112]

Why must the WWII plane automatically be faulty? At the time it would have been 20-25yrs old you make it sound as if it were a biplane.

If WWII planes were so dangerous they wouldn't use them considering how valuable an asset good pilots are...or maybe that's it. Maybe they only let the bad pilots use them in training. Maybe W and McCain used the same trainer.

[Spartan112]

Oh yea, I was watching FN Sunday and caught this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EljL927IMSA

Is it just me or is it more than a little creepy that he called Palin his "soulmate"?

And was he really following her career for years and years? Is it normal for geriatric senators to be following the political careers of PTA moms and small town mayors? I mean she's only been gov. for just over a year and a half...not years and years...maybe McSame is just a stalker?

[seekeronos]

It's a political spiel, Spartan. Although he did have a vetting team that was looking her over for quite a few months by now. Gov. Palin has been the subject of VP-selecting talk on RedState.com and other GOP forums since it became clear that Mccain was the presumptive nominee.

The vetting team likely saw such buzz about her as a positive sign that sh just might have her P's and Q's together, and it appears that they were correct.

[Spartan112]

"It's a political spiel,"

Is he lying or lusting then?

[WAHOO WILLIE]

"Is that Inuit for Dan Quayle?"

Do you have a problem with Palin's inter-racial marriage or just a racism issue?

[Spartan112]

Actually I was unaware of her interracial marriage, so it's neither thank you very much.

[seekeronos]

"---

"It's a political spiel,"

Is he lying or lusting then?

---"

Neither. He met with her after his team had completed their vetting process, and he being a quick study and a good student of character, determined that she'd be the best choice for the job.

Which is more than I can say for Obama's vetting team or his ability to choose a fitting VP.

He could have wiped the electoral college floor with McCain had he picked Hillary.

[Spartan112]

"he being a quick study"

A quick study? He said he's been following her career for years and years...so he's a liar?

"He could have wiped the electoral college floor with McCain had he picked Hillary."

So McCains claim that Obama does things for political expediency is incorrect then...more than we can say for McCain.

What does this pick say about his judgment?

[seekeronos]

"--- A quick study? He said he's been following her career for years and years...so he's a liar? ---"

Well, if he has been following her career for years... that in no way diminishes whatever attention he may have given to any of his other considerations for the job.

Either way, if he had only known her for an hour or for several years, she is a very good choice, and though I am committed to my particular candidate... McCain's selection of Ms. Palin is very encouraging.

"--- So McCains claim that Obama does things for political expediency is incorrect then...more than we can say for McCain.

What does this pick say about his judgment? ---"

I'd say that Obama selected Biden for political expediency. The party leadership decided to punish Hillary for dragging out the race and making it such a divisive affair. They had selected their magic mulatto, and Hillary was stepping over her bounds.

In that regard, the parties aren't much different: once it becomes evident that a certain man wins a majority of Super Tuesday states and maybe a smaller handful of key delegate states, the weaker man should give way to the obvious choice.

That's what the GOP troopers did, and what DNC'ers used to do from 1968 and before, prior to adopting proportional representation over the "winner take all" primary systems of the GOP primaries.