Obama -- tacky begets tacky
Thursday, 25 September 2008, at 1352 hours
Central Time -- Nashville, Tennessee, USA
When it comes to the political issues and debates of the day, I play hardball. As they say, "Politics is a full-contact sport." However, I usually try to avoid ad hominem attacks. (For those that graduated from a public school after 1980, "ad hominem" is a Latin phrase that means "against the man" or "against the person".) And -- unlike some folks, in almost every level of politics -- I consider family members to be "off limits". (Unless, like Geri Thompson or Michelle Obama, they jump into the arena with combat boots and evening gowns.)
Today, however, such an attack is deserved.
This commentary arises from news reports that a spokesman for the Barack Obama presidential campaign made a "tacky" remark about presidential rival John McCain. Now, I'm no McCain supporter. (Click here to learn more about Alan Keyes for president.) But, I also believe that respect is due when respect is earned. And, although I disagree with several of his policies, Senator John McCain deserves a lot of respect for enduring his POW experience in the Vietnam War.) And, the people at the Obama campaign could use a few lessons on respect.
Read on.
The tacky remark had to do with Senator McCain's announcement that he would not participate in tomorrow evening's presidential debate unless the "financial rescue" plan had been resolved by Congress. Although I believe that a Federal bailout of financial companies is tantamount to Socialism, I still give McCain a nod for putting (or, at least, appearing to put) his country above his campaign.
But... the Obama campaign came up with a comment that McCain was avoiding the debate because "he has trouble multi-tasking". Oooooooh... Besides being a broadside slap against our senior citizens, the tacky remark revealed an Achilles heel of the Obama campaign. Given that most of his Leftist support comes from the "I loathe the military" wing of the Democratic Party, it appears to this writer that nobody in the Obama campaign has any clue how much multi-tasking goes on inside the cockpit of a fighter jet. (For the willfully ignorant, Senator McCain was a Navy fighter pilot in the Vietnam War. He was shot down over North Vietnam, and endured several years of captivity that included torturous interrogations.)
Cockpit of an F-4 Phantom fighter jet.
(Besides flying, the pilot has to fight a war from in there!)
The closest that I've come to that was flying a few times in the F-4 simulator when I worked at Link Flight Simulation. (I didn't do that well, even though I did make a survivable night landing at "virtual" Luke AFB in Arizona. I was much better at flying the helicopter simulators -- to the point that I bought a log book.) This is difficult for a "grunt" to admit, but those fighter pilots earn their pay. And, for that reason, they deserve our respect.
Which leads to this.
Hey, I didn't come up with it. Someone sent it to me in one of those forwarded e-mails.
But, hey, it certainly fits in this case.
So, if the shoe fits, wear it ... Senator Obama.
Scroll down just a little more.
Some people will do anything to get elected --
even putting style before substance.
Obama catching the Palin popularity wave
Senator Obama, if you can't take it, then don't dish it out.
And, please, don't have your underlings hack my blog again, as they did to Gov. Palin's e-mail.
Tacky begets tacky.
