Out in cosmos, there is a cry for experience on the part of the next
president. It just strikes me that if you want experience in relationship to
the presidency, you would have to draft an amendment to the constitution
which would give the right to run to someone previously elected president
if they had already served two terms or choose from the presidents who
only served one term, who most people don't want, otherwise they would
have given them a second term. But lets go back to the experience factor,
what makes anyone think that electing someone with experience would steady
the ship.
As time goes on there are different circumstances, things change, just look at
the sub-prime mortgage mess, Countrywide it is rumored, may face bankruptcy,
my sister just brought a new house with a substantial loan from Countrywide,
which until a few months ago was the largest mortgage lender in the nation.
Things change and those who think today's problems can be fixed with last
years solutions may find themselves out of luck.
Back to experience for a moment, there are only so many people with the
experience of being president, namely, Mr. Bush I, Mr. Carter and Mr.
Clinton. Different segments of the population are not interested in any of
the three, nice people that they are, being president again. There goes the
valid, quote, unquote experience. People think that once around is enough,
otherwise the electorate would have given the ones who served one term,
a second term. Mr. Clinton did serve two terms as we all know.
Again, back to experience, we have one hundred Senators with experience
coming out of their ears, as far as that goes, the one sitting Senator with the
most experience had his home raided by the FBI. You want experience?
A majority of the Senators took their collective experience and got themselves
railroaded, so to speak, into voting for an ill-begotten war which is ruining
our army , one-hundred and one soldiers committed suicide in 2006.
In
addition, the war, instead of building Iraq is basically destroying it. Whether
you agree with the war or the surge or not, two million Iraqi people have been
displaced, one-million are without clean water, food or electricity. The
professionals who could help inside the country, the doctors, lawyers, teachers,
scientists, or other people with means, for the most part have left the country.
The people who are left, the poor, under educated people, who just want to
survive and serve the god of their choice, are being slaughtered on a daily
basis, as many as four hundred at a time, as we have seen.
The Iraqi government took a month long vacation, during which time, so far,
forty-five American soldiers have been killed so far. The surge was supposed to
give them time to pass laws which would help to stabilize the country. They took
a vacation, maybe they needed a vacation, but our kids, brothers, sisters, fathers
and mothers are being killed, and no laws have been passed so far. It is not
totally the blame of those who voted to give the President the authority to
proceed as he saw fit, but this is what happens when experienced people
make the wrong choice, execute the wrong judgment, and take the country
someplace where we should not go. Here we have the result of collective
experience, not really helping in the long run.
My thought, for what it's worth, because we're there now and we have to find
a sensible way out in the best interest of both countries, is that we should have
given the inspectors time do their job, but no, a novice, was, more than likely,
pushed by Uncle “with all the experience” Cheney, to go to Iraq and stay there.
Maybe the thought of all those residuals flowing into his “blind trust” from
Halliburton, affected his decision, because years ago, according to a tape played on television,
Mr. Cheney did not think it was a good idea to invade Iraq, for the very reason
that is being played out in Iraq today. He really turned hawkish as he got older.
Again, all that experience.
It has been reported that our government is backing the Sunnis, by supplying
them with artillery. The Prime Minister of Iraq was the favorite choice of the
United States government, he, Nouri al-Maliki is a Shiite, so if this is true,
we are in essence playing both sides of the coin if you will, fomenting an
escalation of the civil war. Did I hear someone mention something about
experience?
Leaders must think outside the box, they must be chosen, in my opinion,
on the basis of their past flexibility, their knowledge, intellect, and most
of all their ability to listen to a multitude of arguments and advice, weigh
it all and come to a reasoned decision, and not be so rigid in their thinking.
Leaders should also be judged on their ability to grow and not to think they
know it all, as well as their ability to share the stage with those who are
smarter than themselves and have the humility to know that. Most of all be
willing to admit a mistake, no one is perfect walking on this earth. Lastly,
they should have the ability to adapt to changing circumstances for the good
of the country.
Experience is good, don't get me wrong, but it's not the be all and end all,
for choosing a leader, or a collectively good Congress and Senate, wisdom
is a major factor as well. May we choose wisely in the next election.
