All About McCain

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by sleepyjeff

Where in the constitution does it say that the President is in charge of the economy?

Have you ever had to work for a manager that is utterly clueless about your field of work? It's a horrible experience and rarely results in good management.

But that's beside the point. Like I said, if all he'd said was, "I don't really need to know that, it's not my job directly and I'd keep people around me who would know enough to keep things working," I'd have been fine with it. I do think it's important that a President understands the economy as, directly or not, the office does have influence on it, but I also understand that they can't know everything and that's why they have a cabinet and advisers.

It's the absolutely shameless use of the "radical Islamists" bullsh*t that makes that answer so utterly heinous.

[Tom]

It actually strikes me as a fairly normal political debate answer. They are usually predicated on what the candidate wants to say rather than the question that was actually asked.

[BarTopDancer]

Neither did Obama. McCain doesn't know how to use the internet.

Just sayin'

[sleepyjeff]

My sister works at one of the Nations premiere childrens hospitals.....she says that many of the doctors there don't know how to use the internet.

Just sayin

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by sleepyjeff

My sister works at one of the Nations premiere childrens hospitals.....she says that many of the doctors there don't know how to use the internet.

Just sayin

I'll be sure to not vote for them for President either.

[sleepyjeff]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

I'll be sure to not vote for them for President either.

Of course not, but would you refuse to let them operate on a love one based on the fact that they don't know how to use the internet?

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by sleepyjeff

Of course not, but would you refuse to let them operate on a love one based on the fact that they don't know how to use the internet?

No because I don't consider the internet to be a vital part of their job.

The President's job is to be involved in the world. The internet is a HUGE part of what's going on in the world. At this point, it would practically be like having a President who said he doesn't know how to use a telephone.

[sleepyjeff]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

No because I don't consider the internet to be a vital part of their job.

The President's job is to be involved in the world. The internet is a HUGE part of what's going on in the world. At this point, it would practically be like having a President who said he doesn't know how to use a telephone.

I am sure Alex will correct me here if I am wrong but didn't Truman not know how to use a telephone?

[Alex]

At this point in time I would have some serious doubts about a surgeon who claimed to have zero familiarity with the internet. Even in that profession it has become a near vital source of access to current information.

If they're still relying solely on print journals then I would question their currency within their field.

I actually care far less about a president's familiarity with and use of the internet. As an information resource the president, more than probably any other person on the planet has hundreds of people who sole purpose in life is to get him whatever information he needs at any particular time.

In terms of policy, I think it is far enough down the food chain of expertise that I'm not bothered by what the president knows or doesn't know himself and am more ok with worrying about who he appoints as his proxy for the issues. Similarly, I don't care if the president knows much about space science, research, and programs. I'll care who it looks like he'd appoint to NASA and various other governmental research groups.

[Ghoulish Delight]

I disagree. As BtD says, it's not about a lack of knowledge about the technology or about policies regarding the technology that bothers me about McCain being completely internet ignorant. It's not even about not himself being able to actively communicate with it. To me, it really is the equivalent of a Presidential candidate saying, "I've never picked up a newspaper in my life." It paints a picture of someone entirely out of touch with the country he's trying to lead, making decisions for all of us without even an inkling of what any of our lives are actually like.

McCain is 3rd generation military. He has essentially never had to provide for himself. Nor had his father. Nor did his grandfather. I find that a life even more out of touch with the average American than George Walker Silver Spoon Bush. His family has not, for generations, seen a medical bill, an education bill, had to worry about a mortgage. His disconnection from the single most vital communication tool on the planet right now is just another symptom of that.

I'm not saying that makes him a bad human being or citizen. I am saying it is not the kind of person I consider to be qualified as President.