Obama as Premature President??

There has been criticism about Obama's recent trip overseas that he was being presumptuous by acting as if he was already the American president. My response: the strong, positive reception that Obama has received from many of the officials and citizens in the countries that he has recently visited is due in part to their complete disgust with the current President Bush and their longing for that day in late January when Bush will be gone. I completely agree…it can't come too soon.

Foreign Policy Experience

There has been a lot of commentary recently about Obama's perceived lack of experience in the area of foreign policy, as compared to McCain. My reactions:

• Obama has lived for a significant time in a foreign country. This gives him unique foreign policy experience that perhaps no former US president or presidential candidate has ever had before.
• Experience is just one factor, out of many, that need to be considered; some others are: courage, judgement, knowledge, humility.
• In the US Senate, approx 80% of the senators, all of whom had more conventional "foreign policy experience" than Obama, voted for the resolution that gave Bush the cover to start our war against Iraq. So much for experience. Many people have experienced a lot in their lives, and yet learned little from it.