Also, this post was not intended to bring about a lengthy political debate. This has been an interesting conversation, but a discussion about the candidates and their qualifications (or lack thereof) is outside the focus of this blog, so I’m going to decline the offer. I love talking politics, but I prefer to do that in other arenas. This blog is about books and my random thoughts on life, and I’m going to keep it that way.

Biden said this:

“The issue is, how different is John McCain’s policy going to be than George Bush’s? I haven’t heard anything yet. I haven’t heard how his policy is going to be different on Iran than George Bush’s. I haven’t heard how his policy is going to be different with Israel than George Bush’s. I haven’t heard how his policy in Afghanistan is going to be different than George Bush’s. I haven’t heard how his policy in Pakistan is going to be different than George Bush’s.”

It’s not different than, it’s different from.

I’m not sure what this means as far as his contributing to making America appear less articulate and less intelligent. You’ll have to tell me.

And, just to clarify my point. Everyone is free to vote for the candidate that they like best. My argument is with the odd criteria that is used to make that very important decision – mispronunciation and strange sounding accents.

Let’s talk about Barack Obama and John McCain. What is their experience to be President? What are their policies?

At least she can pronounce the name of the state she is currently governor of. My governor can’t do that.

These “small town Americans” know nothing about Mrs. Palin other than what the campaign machine has churned out. And very little of that is true.

Alaskans are getting a big kick out of all this and it just goes to prove what we’ve known all along: politics is one big Hollywood show.

Discriminating against someone because of their race, gender, religion, etc. is being intolerant of differences. Treating someone differently because their ideas are different is being intolerant. Refusing to vote for someone who I believe will just contribute to the problem of making Americans appear unintelligent and inarticulate is not intolerance—it’s informed decision making. And if you want to make fun of Joe Biden and refuse to vote for him or Obama because they say or do things you don’t agree with or which you feel jeopardize our country, that’s your prerogative, too. When it comes to political commentary, none of the candidates is the victim of intolerance, and it’s ridiculous to suggest that, especially in reference to a privileged white candidate running with a wealthy white male who owns so many homes he can’t keep track of them.

I’m asking a serious question. I’m not trying to be annoying. Isn’t it possible that we are being intolerant of people that are different from us? We all speak of tolerance in glowing terms except when it is someone that we’re intolerant of. Just in this post I see intolerance for people with certain accents and people that commit the sin of mispronouncing words (and God forbid, may wink too much).

As Karl pointed out, President Carter mispronounced nuclear. Regardless of his lack of success as President, he was certainly a very smart man. He was a nuclear engineer for goodness sake! Is it possible that we just may be making unfair statements as a result of our cultural differences? Is it possible that we are being intolerant?

What I think is important is that we are never intolerant of people. We are all God’s creations with unique gifts and talents. I think it is fair to be intolerant of behavior. I think we can all agree that there are extreme behaviors that we are intolerant of – murder, stealing, lying, etc.

Since everyone seems very fond of scrutiny and not giving people the benefit of the doubt, let’s look at Joe Biden’s very recent gaffes. I for one, think Senator Biden is a good man and I have a great deal of respect for him. I think he is certainly qualified to be President, unlike his running mate. But, fair is fair, right?

Just in the last few weeks he has:

- Said that FDR was President and there was TV in 1929 (both false)
- Asked a man in a wheelchair to stand up in a crowd (very embarrassing)
- Said that one of Barack Obama’s campaign ads criticizing John McCain was “terrible” (this is the one that made fun of McCain for not using a computer even though that is mostly because of his physical limitations due to his war injuries)
- Made a strange statement about his Beretta (handgun) saying that Barack Obama better not try to take it from him because he knows how to use it
- Disagreed with Barack Obama in his initial response to the bailout plan
- Etc., etc. etc.

Of course there are the oldies but goodies like when he asserted that Obama was not qualified to be Commander and Chief, made a crack about the ethnicity of people who work at convenience stores, and many other embarrassing moments.

Since everyone thinks these things are so funny, there are a lot more here: http://www.gop.com/BidenGaffeClock/

Again, I don’t think that these things mean that he is a dummy. I just want to be fair. I’m sure everyone thinks these are just as funny as the Palin gaffes.

Personally, I wouldn’t vote for someone just because they are a woman either. This is not the time for sympathy votes either.

You are so right “….I don’t believe in giving anyone the benefit of the doubt when it comes to electing our country’s leaders. Scrutiny is necessary and important. And it’s very important that our president and vice-president are able to be articulate and represent our country well.”

I think that there is plenty of criticism on both sides of the aisle. I believe that everyone has a right to their views and to discuss them.

I think Senator Biden is also being criticized in the media because he does have a history of letting his mouth run without catching himself, but he’s been pretty well-behaved during the campaign so far. I love that a woman is in the historic position that Sarah Palin is, but I don’t believe we should support her simply because she is a woman, and I don’t believe in giving anyone the benefit of the doubt when it comes to electing our country’s leaders. Scrutiny is necessary and important. And it’s very important that our president and vice-president are able to be articulate and represent our country well.

No need to apologize for getting off track…this blog is all about dialogue, where that may lead.