Palin’s Presidential Qualifications

Sarah Palin has been the ‘fodder’ for the political animals (i.e. political pundits, editorial and news writers, and talk radio ‘blowhards’) for several days now.
The reason for the recent revival of interest in Palin, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate and recently resigned Governor of Alaska, is the release of her book Going Rogue. This book is apparently selling very well and Palin is participating in book signings across the nation.
As with many books and articles penned by politically active, former or prospective candidates, this book has received fairly diverse reviews.
Without too much generalization, I think it can be safely said that Democrats rate the book as lightweight and self-serving. They view this book as an early attempt to sway voters from both parties to the former governor’s conservative ways of thinking on a range of topics.
Republicans, on the other hand, are somewhat divided over the new publication. Some, especially, those with strong feelings for Senator John McCain, feel that Palin has misrepresented the facts of the inner workings of the 2008 Republican Presidential Campaign. These individuals think Palin vilified their standard bearer and feel she denigrated him and his campaign. So, naturally, they are less than enthused with Palin’s literary effort.
Other Republicans seem to think the book is well written, factually accurate, and is a true picture of a great person they hope to be the 2012 Republican presidential nominee. These individuals are generally pleased with Going Rogue.
Much of the debate since the release of the publication of Palin’s book is pretty much a ‘rehash’ of her qualifications to serve as the vice-president, if she were to have been elected last year. So, naturally, the same arguments can be made concerning her run for the presidency in 2012.
Although Palin coyly denies that she is a candidate for the office of president, as recently reiterated on Oprah Winfrey’s show, when she said “it wasn’t on her radar,” both, Democrats and Republicans doubt that statement seriously.
The issue mentioned most often is whether or not, she is ‘qualified’ for the top job in America. It is a fair question. Is Sarah Palin qualified to be president of the United States? Well, the answer is ‘yes’, ‘no’, and ‘the jury is still out’.
Legally, the answer is ‘yes.’ According to the U.S. Constitution, Article 11, Section 1, an individual in America is basically qualified to be president if he or she is a native born citizen and over 35 years of age. There are no other stated qualifications for the highest elected office in the nation.
There is no educational requirement. One president, Abraham Lincoln, had, as best can be established, roughly one year of formal education. At the other end of the educational scale, Woodrow Wilson earned a PhD from Johns Hopkins University.
Sarah Palin attended five colleges or universities, ultimately graduating from the University of Idaho with a degree in communications and journalism.
Military service is not a requirement. Many presidents of the United States were veterans (all officers), some with citations for bravery and valor in action. Another, an alleged ‘draft-dodger,’ sought educational amnesty in England. Many others had no military experience at all. Palin would fall into the latter category.
Prior occupations of U.S. Presidents included the military, lawyers, members of Congress, state governors and a few others. Palin did serve for a time as governor of Alaska.
So, you can see, by most measurable standards, former Governor Palin is qualified to be president. But, the real qualifications for president are those intangible qualities that can never be quantified.
A president ‘ideally’ needs to be a person of integrity, a person the nation can trust, a person of honor and respect , a person of compassion and of understanding.
A president needs to have the resolve to do the right thing regardless of partisan political views. A president needs the ability to have a good grasp of issues facing America.
A president needs to be seen as the leader of the free world, respecting the position of the office and the heritage of this country. A president must have the strength to serve as Commander-in-Chief of our military and know when to use force and when to use restraint.
A president needs the vision to develop a good domestic plan; one that will address the needs of the ill, the needy, the unemployed, the children, the elderly and the veterans. A president must be able to adequately address issues of health care, unemployment, education, balance of trade, immigration, social security, gasoline prices, pollution, drug abuse, and alternative energy.
A president needs a good foreign policy to try to solve problems with Iraq, Afghanistan, and the whole Middle East, as well as nuclear proliferation in other rouge countries such as Iran and North Korea.
The list of presidential abilities and attributes goes on and on.
So, back to the original question: “Is Sarah Palin qualified to be President of the United States?” I think the jury is still out.
A better question might be: “Is anyone qualified?

Keep Your Tongue from Evil

There has been quite a bit of uproar lately, in political circles, news outlets, and in general conversations. It basically has to do with the recent announcement of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize recipient. The winner this year was Barack Obama, President of the United States.
According to the organization awarding the prize, President Obama was selected for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people.”
Do I think he deserved the award? Yes.
Was it perhaps a bit premature? Maybe.
A lot of individuals in the country are misinformed about the award when they respond that he was nominated just weeks into his presidency. Or, that he had not been in office ‘long enough’ to accomplish anything.
The Nobel Peace Prize is not necessarily awarded for accomplishments and certainly not for longevity in an elected position. A number of the Nobel Prize recipients were not elected office holders at all.
The prestigious honor is awarded for possessing intangibles such as vision, ideas, aspirations, articulation of beliefs and values, creating a new climate of cooperation and interdependence based on hope, fairness and goals for the advancement of humanity.
America has had twenty recipients of the award since President Theodore Roosevelt first received the honor in 1906. Other honorees have included other sitting and past presidents, vice-presidents, Secretaries of State, university professors, religious groups, military leaders, civil rights activists, physician organizations, authors, environmentalists and average citizens.
Some of the ideals promoted were peace treaties, formation of the League of Nations, foundation of the United Nations, Christian organization leaders, nuclear war opponents, international food cooperative founders, land-mine opponents and international economic policy proponents, to name a few.
Were they all successful? No.
But, they believed to their very core in what they were doing and they believed they were doing it for the betterment of humankind. President Obama was honored, not so much for what he accomplished, as for what he was trying to accomplish; the problems that he felt needed to be rectified.
It is true that a lot of the policies he advocated were during his presidential campaign. But, this was the vehicle from which he could make his ideas known to the public at large.
He had a vision of more involvement of the world community, especially, in areas of multi-national cooperation involving military operations. He articulated his concern for international initiatives in areas of climate control, pollution, medical aid, food distribution and other humanitarian issues.
Much to my disappointment and dismay, important issues in this country are diminished to petty partisan politics that depreciate the value and importance of the issues being addressed.
It was not a Republican, or ‘Bull Moose’ Teddy Roosevelt, who drew up the 1905 peace treaty between Russia and Japan. It was not the Democrat President Woodrow Wilson who worked tirelessly to help found the League of Nations.
It was not Democratic former Secretary of State Cordell Hull who diligently worked to establish the United Nations. It was not Republican Secretary of State Henry Kissinger that negotiated the Vietnam Peace Accord.
These were ‘Americans’ that saw a particular problem in the world and forged ahead to try to solve it. And we Americans applauded their efforts, for the good we do for one citizen of this world, we do for all.
We Americans need to stop polarizing every issue in the national and international scene based on our particular Republican or Democratic ideology.
I think it is great, in fact, wonderful, to discuss and debate ideas and issues that face us as a nation. But, it is a national shame when we allow our biases to denigrate the discussion to name calling, personal attacks, and gross overgeneralizations.
From the third chapter of 1 Peter, we read:
“For whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him seek peace and pursue it.”
We call ourselves a Christian nation, or at least, a nation based on Christian principles. Whichever view we subscribe to, we need to step up to the plate, and act with civility, compassion, and restraint.
Tony White

‘A True Texan’

To quote William Shakespeare, I am probably making “much ado about nothing” but every now and then something gets stuck in my craw and I just have to say something about it.
I recently took one of those ‘mind-numbing’ quizzes that appear on “Facebook.” It was entitled “How Texan are you?” Being somewhat of a history buff as well as having lived in Texas on a couple of occasions, I felt I might do OK on the quiz.
As it turned out, I did. I received the recognition of being a “True Texan.”
The results said:
“You are not only native, but you know your history too, and what’s more, you live it, abiding in Texan virtue. At the end of the day, you’ll probably just do, whatever you damn well wanna do, because you don’t need social affirmation or big government to tell you who you ought to be. To be sure, you’re probably on some government’s watchlist, right next to Willie Nelson. But, you’re just as nice as summer rain, even to a stranger.”
The result also included a photo of country music star Willie Nelson, apparently giving the photographer, ‘the finger.’
Now, for those people who truly know me, you know that I am ‘anything’ but a prude. Certainly ‘not’ a stick in the mud.
But, being from Kentucky, and regularly being subjected to negative stereotyping, I was offended and disappointed by the low brow class representation of the “True Texan.”
Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings and other so-called ‘outlaw’ singers and musicians, who peaked in the late 70s and early 80s, do not typify the ‘True Texans’ that I know and respect.
Their ‘Hill Country’ band scene did have a tremendous influence on the musical culture of the dance halls between San Antonio and Austin and even the whole of country music, but was never typical of most ‘True Texans.’
It is true, Texas does have some of the biggest country music dance halls in the world with ‘Billy Bob’s’ in Fort Worth and ‘The Bluebonnet’ in San Antonio. But, Texas is home to a number of nationally and internationally recognized symphonies and operas.
History and art museums are scattered throughout the state. Law schools, medical school, and theological seminaries are on par with the best this nation offers. Hospitals and medical centers are among the best in the country.
The Houston Space Center is unmatched. Texas is home to a number of Army, Air Force, and Navy instillations where the service members work tirelessly to aid in the defense of this country.
The fine people of Texas are fortunate to have so many different types of geography available to them and these different locales do influence lifestyles to a certain degree. There is the desert of the western Big Bend region, the fertile fields of South Texas, the amazing Gulf coast, the swamps of the southeast, the forests of the Great Piney Woods in the northeast, the rolling hills of central Texas, and the plains of the panhandle.
The people of Texas are as diverse as the geography. Nearly every ethnicity of America is represented in the state with large populations of Spanish/Mexican, Asian, German, Cajun, Creole, African and Native Americans. The cuisine of the ethnic influences is noteworthy.
But, what makes me most proud of Texas is the fact that there is a big emphasis on maintaining the historical roots of people while assimilating them into the greater Texan culture.
All people who live in Texas, from the tiniest crossroad communities of the farm to market roads, to the huge metropolitan areas of Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio are Texans.
They are rich and poor, educated and uneducated, English speaking and non-English speaking, native born and immigrants. They are all ‘True Texans,’ and not some over-the-hill singer, from years gone by, making an obscene gesture.
If we are talking about these ‘True Texans,” count me as one of them.