When the phone rings at 3 a.m.

  When the phone rings at 3 a.m., we better hope it is some one who knows which direction a phone should be held. The startling thing to me about this campaign is how insistent Obama supporters are about their candidate’s judgement and his qualities for president.  The clear majority in this country see something else.  They see a series of George Bush and Dan Quayle moments.

I’m not just referring to the “hello, Sunshine” when you’re in Sunrise, Florida moment.  Nor the “Hello Sioux City” when you’re in Sioux Falls.  Maybe I’ll even give him the “I’ve been in what 57-58 states now”  comment.  Some of these things can be written off to just plain fatigue.  I cannot give him wiggle room on the major foreign policy gaffes that appear in speeches and debates.

ABC’s Jack Tapper referred to Senator Obama as the gift that keeps on giving back at the end of May, 2008.  Obama heads the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee with responsibility for Nato Forces.  This is a job he’s had for nearly two years and has obviously not done.  He has not met the committe nor has he been to Iraq or Afghanistan recently.  Jack Trapper mentions this gaffe about the language spoken in Afghanistan and the need for translators.  It is also a viral video that can be found on youtube.com.

From Trapper:

“As ABC News’ David Wright and Sunlen Miller wrote, Obama seemed to either think Arabic is spoken in Afghanistan or he misunderstands the nature of military translators.”

This one is also from the Trapper article and shows a severe misunderstanding in our on backyard.  This time with the relationship between Hugo Chavez and FARC.

“More recently, Obama as he traveled through Florida seemed to give some contradictory statements about Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and the Colombian terrorist group FARC.

On Thursday Obama told the Orlando Sentinel that he would meet with Chavez and “one of the obvious high priorities in my talks with President Hugo Chavez would be the fermentation of anti-American sentiment in Latin America, his support of FARC in Colombia and other issues he would want to talk about.”

OK, so a strong declaration that Chavez is supporting FARC, which Obama intends to push him on.

But then on Friday he said any government supporting FARC should be isolated.

“We will shine a light on any support for the FARC that comes from neighboring governments,” he said in a speech in Miami.  “This behavior must be exposed to international condemnation, regional isolation, and – if need be – strong sanctions. It must not stand.”

So he will meet with the leader of a country he simultaneously says should be isolated? Huh?

On Friday in an interview with the Miami Herald, Obama also used language suggesting that he’s not as positive that Venezuela is supporting FARC.

“When I asked him what he would do about the estimated 37,000 Interpol-certified Colombian FARC guerrilla computer files that indicate an active support from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa to the Colombian rebels, Obama went farther than the Bush administration,” wrote the Herald’s Andres Oppenheimer.

Said Obama: “I think the Organization of American States and the international community should launch an immediate investigation into this situation. We have to hold Venezuela accountable if, in fact, it is trying to ferment terrorist activities in other borders. If Venezuela has violated those rules, we should mobilize all the countries to sanction Venezuela and let them know that that’s not acceptable behavior.”

“If” Venezuela “is trying to ferment terrorist activities in other borders”? Just one day before Obama had asserted that Chavez was supporting FARC in Colombia.

I’ve asked the Obama campaign for a clarification and will get back to you as to what they say.”

source: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/05/what-the-farc-w.html

I also understand that Senator Obama thinks Spanish is spoken in Portuguese-speaking Brazil.

This is a man that has not done his homework and it shows to all of us who did do our homework when we went through High School and University.

These are mistakes.  There are also policy flip-flops.  They are most noticeably occurring in the areas of concern to democratic voting blocs not supporting Obama.  Most of you will remember Senator Obama’s disturbing lack of depth and detail during the early debates.  The one stand out comment which attracted criticism from Dodd, Biden, Clinton, and Edwards was the “negotiate without precondition” with our enemies doctrine.

During Memorial day weekend, Senator Obama made his famous speech in which he once again showed lack of knowledge concerning world history and geography. This was the one with the nonexistent Uncle who freed a Nazi death camp.  Of course, we know the myriad of problems with this one.  However, in all of his speeches focusing on pandering to the American Jew, he is now backpedalling on the no precondition doctrine.  This is the same tactic he took the very same week end when pandering to Cuban Americans who were obviously concerned with the Castro Regime.  Obama has sent his advisors out to backpeddle away on this one.  However, the speeches and the debate tapes remain and the RNC now has a myriad of Internet ads highlighting this big mistake.

What I do not get in all of this, is why Obama supporters will not recognize the obvious failings of their candidate.  It is easier for them to call folks that question his readiness for the job with callouts of racism, bitterness, stupidity, and you’re not a real “democrat, progressive, American”.  This is the kind of behavior I used to expect from Republicans.  Given that I live in the ninth ward of New Orleans and I am a University Professor at a college with a huge number of black students, I find it really difficult to think I fall into their ‘scared of the big black’ man insult which I’ve had hurled at me.  If I did not vote for black democrats, down here in the 9th ward, 9th precinct, I’d never get to vote.  Nearly ALL my elected officials are BLACK.  Second, I have never visited Appalachia, I have a PHD in Financial Economics and back in the 70s I fought for all of the civil rights movement.  So much in fact, when I ran for office the most frequent label I got was the women marching with lesbians in the street.  So, what is the deal when I think as an American, I don’t want to see another president in need of training wheels and unvetted advisors in the white house.

Again, Obama supporters and super delegates, take a look at the candidate.  Do not blame the messengers.