Thursday, September 04, 2008

poste el número uno

I have two posts to post .. I dont want to post them together as they are completely unrelated .. so here is number one
Qualified ?

He began his political career with an unsuccessful run for the Illinois General Assembly.

He ran a small store for a short time before he decided to run for the Illinois State Legislature. He served four terms in the Illinois House Of Representatives. He was elected to a tern in the US House of Representatives. he was neither powerful nor influential. He criticized the Presidents choice to go into a war for his own 'military glory'. He spoke out against the war stating, "God of Heaven has forgotten to defend the weak and innocent, and permitted the strong band of murderers and demons from hell to kill men, women, and children, and lay waste and pillage the land of the just." The effects of his speech was so damaging that he decided not to run for re-election.

The new administration offered him a position far away from any real political decisions that would effectively end his political career. He decided to decline said offer.

While working in his law practice, he gave a memorable speech, attracting the eye of the Republican Party. He made speeches and participated in debates. Several years later, the Republican Party chose this untested, little qualified man to be the Parties choice to run for president. He won with 39.9% of the votes. the Democratic candidate received 18.1% of the vote. The candidate for the Constitutional Union Party received 12.5% of the vote. Abraham Lincoln had been elected as our 16th President. He was untested, unproven, and unqualified.

Article Two of the Constitution sets the principal qualifications to be eligible for election as President. A Presidential candidate must:

be a natural born citizen of the United States;

be at least thirty-five years old;

have been a permanent resident in the United States for at least fourteen years.

Woodrow Wilson was a one term Governor before he was elected President. Many of our powerful and influential president came into the job ill prepared and under qualified in the eyes of their opponents and even in the eyes of history.

No one talks about the early failures of Abrahan Lincoln. No one talks about how improbable it was that he would occupy the place in our counties history that he holds. In the darkest of times for our nation, he was the man for the job. You couldn't tell it from the other side of his presidency.

We can banter back and forth how qualified or unqualified Barak Obama seems. We can toss the question out about Sarah Palin. It cannot be the deciding factor in our decision. We must also learn to separate the facts from the rumors. I cannot count the emails I have received with misleading and misguiding information. This tactic has been around for centuries in these elections.

This is the age of information. in a time when we should be better educated about those we choose for our leaders, still people spout the rumor/lie as the truth. with two clicks of a mouse and a bit of typing, I have been able to check up on all the damaging rumors about either candidate. Still, the emails persist. Still the doctrine of misinforming the American public prevails.

I am not saying that Barak Obama is the next Abraham Lincoln. He may be. He may be more significant in history.

In these times, Abraham Lincoln would never make it out of the primaries.

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