During the early modern period, European military institutions began to place an increasing emphasis on skills other than just combat experience. A famous example of this can be found in Shakespeare's Othello, in which the antagonist, Iago, comes to resent Othello for promoting a Florentine siege-expert, Cassio, as his second-in-command. The battle-seasoned Iago despises the bookish Cassio, a man Iago claims, "That never set a squadron in the field, Nor the division of a battle knows". (Act I, Scene 1) In a similar vein, there was an old saw about "Prince Eugene's Mule". This mule, it was said, had served in every campaign with the great Austrian commander, Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736), but knew no more about the art of war at the end of his career than he did at the beginning.
Another sterile (figuratively speaking), ass-hybrid reminiscent of Eugene's Mule is, of course, Senator Joe Biden. In the recent issue of Forbes, Peter Robinson points out the dubious value of the Gaffe-o-Matic Biden's experience in Congress. This is particularly true when comparing him to Sarah Palin. The MSM, liberal and "conservative", tends to look down their noses at Gov. Palin, as she did not attend the right schools, nor did she spend her entire life in and around Washington DC. Palin speaks from the heart and the gut, which regular folks (a.k.a. voters) relate to. Biden, in contrast, reminds voters only of the importance of high school American history courses, and of the aesthetic perils of hair restoration. His verbal gaffes, problematic in someone aspiring to be a world leader, are of the type most of us only make when knee-deep in empty beer cans.
Ergo, on the issue of judgment, McCain: 1 Obama: 0. (That said, Palin does need to work on her interviewing skills. I've seen her do very well when interviewed on CNBC prior to her elevation as McCain's VP, but the Couric and Gibson interviews were not up to par.)
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