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Hernando Today

It's No Time To Elect An Amateur Commander In Chief

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By DONALD J. MYERS, A Mind of My Own

Hernando Today

Published: August 22, 2008

Last Saturday, the head of Saddleback Church, Rick Warren, the author of the hugely successful book, "The Purpose Driven Life" hosted an opportunity for both Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama to respond to the same questions before a partisan evangelical audience.
The comparison between the two and their responses was stark. Each candidate was before the audience for an hour.
The two senators each had the opportunity to respond to specific questions with Obama being the first to respond. According to the precepts, each one would be asked the same questions and each knew the first two questions in advance. Obama knew the first three. That was done so that each would be at ease in the initial questioning. That sounded fair to me.
One must remember that the audience was a group of people who take their religion seriously. This is the group that has been instrumental in Republican victories in national elections for decades. It is pro-life, and in many cases, it is their defining issue. This is what the media refers to as the "religious right."
One of the questions concerned the beginning of life: When does it begin? Obama equivocated by speaking about science and philosophy and stated that it was beyond his pay grade to determine when life started. When asked the same question, McCain stated that life begins at conception and he responded immediately. Since the audience is pro-life, it responded accordingly.
Another question concerned evil. How should one deal with evil? The examples include defeating it to tolerating it. Obama again equivocated by talking around the issue and ultimately stating that in some cases we created and supported evil by trying to fight it. McCain again stated flatly that it should be defeated. In my personal opinion, when one faces evil or wrongdoing, there is only one response – defeat it. If evil is compromised with, then evil wins.
Another question concerned a decision that each candidate had made in the past that was difficult. McCain said that years ago and in a far off place when he was a prisoner of war, he was offered the opportunity to be released early. He mentioned that at that time his father was a senior navy admiral – actually he was the most senior officer in the theater and designated as CINC Pacific. He went on to say that there was a code of conduct for the POWs that stated that the first captured would be the first released. As a result, he declined the offer to be released early. Obama spoke about his vote concerning the Iraqi War. He was not a U.S senator at that time, but rather an Illinois state senator and was not involved in the voting.
There are more examples to cite between the two candidates, but the final analysis is that one candidate responded immediately to the questions while another one bounced around them.
Since Obama did so poorly, his supporters and the mainstream media have been charging McCain with cheating. They initially claimed that he listened to the answers that Obama gave and as a result had an unfair advantage. Later, they claimed that he had a copy of the questions in advance. Rick Warren, the host, refuted those claims and then announced that he had provided McCain with the first two questions and Obama with the first three questions.
It seems rather obvious why Obama is reluctant to go to town hall meetings and debate McCain. When reading from a teleprompter, he is fantastic, but answering unexpected questions shows his lack of experience and depth. When asked what he thought about Russia invading Georgia, he stated that they needed to sit down and talk. In other words, the country being invaded was as guilty as the one invading. Later he adjusted his opinion, but I am sure it was after his advisers had the opportunity to brief him and conduct some focus groups.
We are faced with some very serious times as a nation, and it is not the time to elect an amateur as commander in chief.

Donald J. Myers, a retired colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, is a regular columnist for Hernando Today. He lives in Spring Hill and can be contacted at DMyersUSMC@aol.com.

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