FEAR, UNCERTAINTY AND DOUBT

FUD is an acronym for Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. Those three letters describe the last eight years of the Bush administration. It has been total FUD. Sarah Palin's pronunciation of 'nucuhlar' further connects her, in my mind, to Bush. That kind of mispronunciation is called metathesis. It makes me wonder if it is further proof that both their brains misfire similarly.

Since 911 we have all been fed FUD, Cheney orchestrating. Rove came in with similar images before each campaign and the Daddy puppet, Bush, read his speeches well. Bush was never prepared to be President and nothing in his background would indicate that he had the training and ability to carry through the serious task. He then went about proving his inadequacy a reality. Unfortunately, too many people in the US have bought into the notion that anybody can be President. What they forget is that just as anyone might win at the Olympics, given certain inherent physical conditions, they will not do so without years of training. When Sarah Palin pushed her lack of facts or knowledge on 'I only have been at this for five weeks', she stepped into a real trap she set for herself. It was not the time or place to pull the 'poor little me' bit. She should have been ready to be President when McCain chose her to be the VP candidate. She (nor his campaign handlers) should not have thought she could have a six weeks 'crash and cram' course to achieve what it takes years of schooling and training for all others.

Today I heard a Democrat woman say she thought about whether if, Sarah Palin were a Democrat, she could vote for her. She realized that she could not in anyway even entertain the thought. Focus groups of women by majority did not fall for her 'cutesiness' and were embarrassed by it. She may have thought she was appealing to 'Joe six-pack', but even most of those are more interested in their jobs and ability to survive than her charm or being 'hot'. Many of them are smart enough to know their future lies with someone who has more ability to handle Washington politics than she.

It is constantly amazing to me that the criteria many use to choose a Presidential or other political candidate can often be so shallow. I hear "I wouldn't vote for a black man", sadly, from people who claim no racial bias (they cannot account for their choice of failing to vote for a better candidate who is also half-white); "She's HOT' is another I've heard that makes me wretch. That never came up when Hillary Clinton was running. What I heard then was, "I just don't like her" with a total inability to admit that they fear a powerful woman and are just too chauvinistic, after a century of many finding women their equals and many other countries choosing women as their leaders. I wonder if or when the voters will understand that, if they can't figure out what to look for, we should, perhaps as a country, figure an examination of the qualifications to handle the job as is done in most other professions. It should never be a popularity contest on charisma, sex appeal, charm, but only on ability to command respect and knowledge and ability to handle the stresses and demands of the job. We are doing that for kids in school who are now being tested before they can graduate to leave to get employed in an adult world, do we not? Should less be demanded of our President and major leaders?