This post is not intended to start a debate about presdiential candidates. I am simply remarking on a specific instance pertaining to a specific candidate.
Yesterday there was a headline on cnn.com about how Obama's admission of past drug use would be his Achille's heel. I clicked on the article, and it stated that the admission was in his book "Dreams of My Father", which was published in 1995. In the book Obama admits to trying marijuana and cocaine while he was in high school.
Ok, so it's not as if he was trying to hide these facts - he admitted them in a book that he published 12 years ago.
Second, it's not as if he was caught in the act of an illegal activity while trying to keep it a secret (ahem, Senator Craig). Obama was open about his experimentation with drugs years before he thought of running for President.
Honestly I think it's a smart move. Admit it up front, and people have nowhere to go with it.
The thing that actually made me respect Obama was reading about his appearance on the Tonight Show. Jay Leno asked Obama "Remember, senator, you are under oath. Did you inhale?"
Obama replied "That was the point."
THANK YOU! Thank you Obama for being honest about something that most candidates would do anything to hide. Thank you for not trying to follow Bill Clinton's ridiculous lie of "...but I didn't inhale" which anyone with half a brain knows is a load of crap. Thank you for admitting that you are human (and not only after you lied, and then the truth came out anyway). Thank you for being real.
It's a much appreciated breath of fresh air after George W. Bush's hypocrisy. To those who say that Obama would be the first President who has admitted to using cocaine - the key word is "admit". George W. Bush never admitted to using cocaine, but there is plenty to suggest that he was arrested for cocaine use and avoided formal charges thanks to his family's name and influence. There are also sources that quote his former sister in law Sharon as saying that W. and his brother Marvin used cocaine at Camp David as adults more than once. Which isn't smart when you want to have a future in politics, especially for a position as high profile as the Presidency. But Bush is also the man who as governor of Texas, was against the previous governor's philosphy of leniency for first time drug users, and backed a no tolerance policy.
If Obama had lied and gone to such lengths to cover up his past, that would be one thing. But his candor about it takes courage, and I have to admire that.
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2 comments:
I agree, I was glad to hear that he was basically a "normal" teenager.
And I also think that for him to reveal it does take away it's power. If the republican's harp on it, he can basically say "Old news, I told you that myself! Move on."
or "Enough about me, everyone knows what I did, let's talk about you..."
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