It seems to me…
Political campaigns all too frequently dredge up candidate’s statements made many years in the past in an effort to disparage an opponent. This is unfair regardless of the side responsible.
Not one of us is the same person we were in the distant past or even to some extent, who we were yesterday. Our ideas evolve and change over time. Hopefully with experience we have learned and are somewhat wiser (though if given a “do-over”, while we might avoid some mistakes, we probably would not benefit since we certainly would be guilty of other possibly worse errors in judgment).
There certainly is behavior and statements in my past that now would be embarrassing if publicized. While I admit to them, they belong to the past – now lets get over it. I’ll acknowledge others are entitled to similar rights.
Additionally, politicians frequently quote statements out of context. Times change. Circumstances differ. Issues equally vary. Address what is relevant today and let anything less be part of history.
That’s what I think, what about you?
About lewbornmann
Lewis J. Bornmann has his doctorate in Computer Science.
He became a volunteer for the American Red Cross following his retirement from teaching Computer Science, Mathematics, and Information Systems, at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, CO. He previously was on the staff at the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, Stanford University, and several other universities.
Dr. Bornmann has provided emergency assistance in areas devastated by hurricanes, floods, and wildfires. He has responded to emergencies on local Disaster Action Teams (DAT), assisted with Services to Armed Forces (SAF), and taught Disaster Services classes and Health & Safety classes. He and his wife, Barb, are certified operators of the American Red Cross Emergency Communications Response Vehicle (ECRV), a self-contained unit capable of providing satellite-based communications and technology-related assistance at disaster sites.
He served on the governing board of a large international professional organization (ACM), was chair of a committee overseeing several hundred worldwide volunteer chapters, helped organize large international conferences, served on numerous technical committees, and presented technical papers at numerous symposiums and conferences.
He has numerous Who’s Who citations for his technical and professional contributions and many years of management experience with major corporations including General Electric, Boeing, and as an independent contractor. He was a principal contributor on numerous large technology-related development projects, including having written the Systems Concepts for NASA’s largest supercomputing system at the Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley.
With over 40 years of experience in scientific and commercial computer systems management and development, he worked on a wide variety of computer-related systems from small single embedded microprocessor based applications to some of the largest distributed heterogeneous supercomputing systems ever planned.
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