It's too bad Whoopi Goldberg did have a dad like this

Today on The View, Whoopi Goldberg showed an incredible ignorance of the United States Constitution. It made me think of this scene from the movie The Jerk:



When it comes to the Constitution, Whoopi does not know the difference between ... well, you know.

The best political speech in history

So today is September 11th. I remember back on that fateful day, September 11th 2001, what I did once I returned home. As I watched the events of the day unfold, I recalled Ronald Reagan's most famous speech, given in 1964 in support of the candidacy of Barry Goldwater.

Specifically, I recalled the phrase "You and I have a rendezvous with destiny", and a few other choice lines, such as "We are at war with the most dangerous enemy that has ever faced mankind in his long climb from the swamp to the stars", "You and I have the courage to say to our enemies, "There is a price we will not pay." There is a point beyond which they must not advance." and of course, "You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on Earth, or we will sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness."

When I got home, I searched "rendezvous with destiny" on the Internet, and found the speech on the web site for the Reagan Presidential Library. While parts of the speech may be specific to the Goldwater-Johnson Presidential election, the speech itself is truly timeless. It is a speech about the freedom of man, the threats to that freedom, and what free men must do to preserve that freedom.

So without further adoo, here is Ronald Reagan's speech, "A Time for Choosing" (a.k.a., "Rendezvous with Destiny"):



And a link to the site of the text of that speech: A Time for Choosing

Experience

I am hearing a lot of comments in the media about the experience (or lack thereof) of the Republican VP candidate, Governor Sarah Palin.

Here are some interesting facts:

Barack Obama was a Community Organizer for 3 years, and later spent six months running a voter registration drive.
Sarah Palin was a City Council Member for 4 years.

Barack Obama was an Illinois State Senator for 7 years.
Sarah Palin was a mayor for 6 years.

If elected President, upon inauguration, Barack Obama will have been a U.S. Senator for 4 years.
If elected Vice President, upon inauguration, Sarah Palin will have been Alaska's Governor for 2 years.

In addition to being a Mayor and a Governor, Palin was Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission for a year (basically a sub- cabinet position, under Alaska's Department of Administration).

This latter position is the most interesting, and Palin's experience there reads like a Grisham novel.

So let's assume for a moment, serving on a City Council provides similar experience to being a community organizer (low-level public service experience). And let's assume being a Mayor provides similar experiences to being a State Legislator (mid-level public service experience). Finally, let's assume running a 25 member state commission, and later being a Governor provide similar experiences as that of a U.S. Senator (high-level public service experience).

I believe many will say being a Mayor is far more challenging, and therefore far more valuable experience than being a state legislator. Likewise, I believe many will say being a Governor is far more challenging, and therefore far more valuable experience than being a U.S. Senator. But for now, let's call these experiences equal.

If so, that basically gives Obama one year of advantage at both the middle and high levels of public service.

So I find the argument that Palin is too inexperienced to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency weak compared to Obama being in the Presidency.

And like I said, her experience on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission read like a Grisham novel. Check out the link below.

Link:

Palin explains her actions in Ruedrich case