Uncommon Sense from Guest Editor George Lake...

It’s been a pretty wild couple weeks in politics! Obama gave a good speech at the Democratic convention and got his bounce but I’d have to describe it as pretty standard democratic/populous content describing what government is going to give us, or do for us. Where was the “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” that another famous Democrat once stated in an inauguration speech??

Followed right behind this speech was the announcement of Sarah Palin to the McCain ticket. At first the generic and reasonable (as I have to add myself to this group and who cannot describe me as anything but reasonable!!) reaction was “who is this unknown” and is she going to be an embarrassment?? Everyone was initially questioning this choice (and whether McCain had lost his mind!),but she carried herself beautifully in her introductory speech.

Because of the way she handled herself in the initial spotlight and her fine address, I was perfectly willing to wait and get more input on her background, accomplishments, and positions before I made a decision about her. I can’t say our mainstream media has taken the same position. She has been pilloried and even slandered by supposedly mainstream media for the whole week before her nomination speech. I truly feel that large portions of our media were bent on destroying her. (Case in point is the NY Times- after not even commenting on John Edward’s affair until it was well known, published 3 articles on their FRONT page on Sarah Palin mostly using the fact that her 17 year old daughter is pregnant to question McCain’s choice and her ability to be VP). Also, quickly discussed in the mainstream media was some crazy blogger’s assertion that Sarah was not the one that had Trig (the baby with Down’s Syndrome) but it was in fact her 17 yr old daughter’s baby!!!

By the time the Governor gave her speech at the RNC, people could have been forgiven if they were watching just to see a total simpleton come on stage and completely embarrass herself. But the results could not have been more polar opposite. What we saw was an extremely competent PERSON who has a track record of reform in Alaska that covers both ethics and budgetary matters. I will readily admit she has little in the way of foreign affairs experience BUT she is being considered for the VP slot NOT the President! Obama also has a complete scarcity of foreign policy experience and he indirectly acknowledged this by picking Biden as his running mate. People can like Obama as a man but it must be acknowledged that he has very little in the way of any accomplishments or public background that would qualify him for President, at least by historical standards.

I know there are quite a few that are tired of Bush and can’t stand some of his positions especially in the way he has prosecuted the war on terrorism. This would lead people to vote for anybody but Bush. I ask that you reflect on your upcoming decision and consider how McCain has had some very public disagreements with Bush on some of these matters. McCain came out publicly against “torture” and what Bush was doing or had done. He also is for closing “Gitmo”. Now I’m not sure I agree with either of these positions by McCain, but it does show he makes his own decisions and would not simply be another Bush. The Democrats are trying to make McCain synonymous to Bush but this defies almost a decade of reports of McCain liking the “maverick” label and “even enjoying putting a finger in the Republican’s eye”.

McCain also took a very public stand on the “surge” back in the darkest days when it looked like the Iraqi war was getting away from us. He pushed to make it happen. Both Obama and Biden were adamantly against the surge which by this time had become the popular choice. Their solution was to simply put together a timeline to get the troops out. This would have been catastrophic to America’s national interest and to world stability.

McCain pushed for the surge and the results have been “more than anyone could have hoped for” as Obama recently admitted and stated on the O’Reilly factor while at the same time adamantly refusing to admit that NOT backing the surge was a mistake by him.

I am confident McCain can bring about the “change” from Bush that people want while at the same time having the experience and record WE NEED on foreign affairs in these dangerous times. I hope everyone can consider this as they form their decisions on the next President.