Guest Comment: The thinnest resum/

In the interest of full disclosure, I supported Hillary Clinton in the Democrat primary and John McCain in the Republican primary.

Being an independent, I was unable to vote, however, my support took many other forms. I gave up party alliances a number of years ago as their agendas became blurred, and since have concentrated on the person rather than the party.

Frankly, I am very disappointed that Hillary Clinton is not the nominee for the Democrat party. She deserved the nomination, and I believe if it had not been for a corrupt media who over championed Obama and literally savaged her, she would be the nominee.

She received 18 million votes, and Obama picked Joe Biden instead of her as his vice presidential nominee. He thumbed his nose at her and the 18 million who enthusiastically supported her. No wonder many of those who voted for Mrs. Clinton are either staying home or voting for John McCain. I am.

If I were a betting man, I would wager that Hillary and Bill, alone in the voting booth, will cast a vote for McCain. What do you think?

So, just days away from the election, we are left with the media choice, Sen. Barack Obama. Let’s put aside the promises of hope and change; uniting the country; higher taxes on the so called rich and welfare payments to all the others including me; quick fixes for the economy, education, foreign affairs, creating jobs for everyone, health care for all at no cost, and bringing our troops home in a specified amount of time.

This is all “politician” speak. All politicians running for office have a litany of promises pandering to each constituency group. Many of the promises cannot be kept or will not be kept. They know it when they say it.

My interest is not what a politician promises, but what the candidate has done? What has the candidate accomplished? Does the candidate deserve the position? Has the candidate gone against his or her party for the good of we the people? Has the candidate showed conviction?

I look at the resum/. I check references. For the highest office in the land, I want to know about previous positions on issues. I want to know if the person has gone against the grain to accomplish something significant. I want to know if the person has been a fighter. I want to know if the person can be trusted, and I want others the person has worked with to provide their thoughts about and examples of what the person has done.

Normally, this is the media’s responsibility, or a least most of us have felt comfortable accepting the information provided to us by them. Unfortunately, they have not in this case as their agenda is to get Barack Obama elected at any cost. It is interesting to watch the media descend en masse on Alaska, but have no interest in south Chicago.

It reminds me of their microscopic interest on Hillary and Bill, while puffing up their candidate, Barack Obama.

There are journalists and commentators, along with some in the Obama campaign, who suggest if we don’t vote for him we are racist. The blacks deserve our vote, and if they don’t get it, there will be serious consequences. Talk about a turn-off!

Obama’s attempt to present three years spent wandering around the housing projects of south Chicago as a community organizer as qualification for the most powerful job on the planet is a real stretch. Obama’s big accomplishments in Chicago, apparently, were to set up an employment office for unemployed steel workers, and to get some asbestos removed from the projects.

It was all very noble of him, but when a guy running for president keeps saying he used to be a “community organizer,” he sounds like a teenager padding his resum/ for his college application. Has one person he helped come forward? Has one person he worked with as a community organizer come forward? Why not?

How about the time spent in the Illinois State Legislature? What did he accomplish? Did he stand for anything? Did he bring lawmakers together to pass important legislation? Did he put his career or reputation on the line for any cause?

Has anybody from that time stepped forward to extol his virtues?

The only record we have is that he voted “present” over 130 times. In other words, he did not take a position on at least 130 issues.

Does it make you wonder how he is going to make decisions if he becomes president? Does it make you wonder whether his plan to seek the presidency was already in motion then and he purposely did not want to take positions on issues? The president of the United States, or for that matter, anybody in an executive position, does not have the luxury of only voting “present.”

How about the U.S. Senate? We know he was only there 143 days. The rest of the time he has been out campaigning. Did he stand for anything significant during those 143 days? Was he a reformer? Did he work to bring people together? Did he go against his party on any issue?

Facts show he voted with his party 97 percent of the time. Did he do anything about the impending financial problems of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the institutions responsible for the current financial mess? Others recognized the problems and spoke out. Did he? There are reports he was the second leading recipient of money from these two quasi-governmental entities. Does this give you pause?

What about his associations? Did he really not know the anti-American, anti-Israel, and racist views of his pastor of 20 years, Reverend Wright? The man he described as a close friend and mentor. This is the man who performed his marriage ceremony and baptized his children. Hard to believe for a person who is described by some of his supporters as highly intelligent, don’t you think?

Is there a pattern of questionable associations? Bill Ayers, leader of the home-grown radical terrorist group the Weatherman Underground Organization, and his wife Bernadine Dohrn, both unrepentant terrorists, were close friends of Obama and his wife Michelle.

Ayers told the New York Times in September 2001, “I don’t regret setting bombs ... I feel we didn’t do enough.” At the time, Obama was sitting on an eight-man board with Mr. Ayers, the Woods Fund of Chicago. Mr. Ayers also contributed to Mr Obama’s re-election fund to the Illinois State Senate. Is there anything here that raises questions about Obama’s judgment, or is this just an example of guilt by association?

Others such as Tony Rezco who assisted Obama purchase a mansion in Chicago saving over $300,000 as part of a shady land deal, and Father Phlegger, who made racist and vile attacks directed toward Hillary Clinton. Again, are we fixated on guilt by association, or is there a pattern here which we should seriously consider? Should a person be judged by the company he keeps?

There is no question Barack Obama is one of the most charismatic politicians to come along in generations. The fact that he’d be our nation’s first African-American president adds to the palpable excitement over his candidacy. His campaign staff of over 5,000 with 25 speech writers and 30 technicians keeps him on message (most of the time) and the teleprompters running.

I believe Americans aren’t sheep, and many can sense he is very much a conventional liberal.

He thinks diplomacy will solve our problems with China, Iran, and Russia. He concedes government can’t solve all our problems, but then proposes national health insurance and a host of other programs and giveaways funded by massive new taxes on investors, business owners, and those making over $45,000. Remember, as part of his tax plan he would eliminate the Bush tax cuts.

He has repeatedly advertised himself as a new type of candidate and as a stranger to the usual idiocy of the partisan cheap shot. It is especially disappointing that Obama is nothing special ... just the run-of-the-mill politician.

Frankly, I am worried about his thin resume, said to be the thinnest of any candidate running for the highest office in the last 100 years. I do not think there are many corporations, or for that matter, many reputable colleges or universities who would hire him as their president without knowing a lot more about him.

I would not have hired him for a responsible position in my company based on his resume. I think there are many questions which have not been asked and answered. I hope the debates will shed some light on just who he is, not who he wants us to think he is. I am not optimistic this will be done. Are you?

John Fanning and his wife Trudy moved to Green Valley eight years ago from the Twin Cities. The views expressed are the writer’s own and do not reflect those of this newspaper.