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A Question of Leadership
Aug. 17th, 2006 03:47 pm♠
So does it matter in the end whether our president is articulate and intelligent?
You bet your life, it does. I’m not saying we need to elect a dork like Michael Dukakis, who famously spent vacations at the beach reading books on Swedish land use or was so overwhelmed with the details of the old SALT treaties that he would sulk off to bed depressed.
But when America is fighting a global war on terror where the battle is for hearts and minds instead of beachheads and landing strips, we need a leader who can explain to friend and foe alike why America is in Iraq, why we keep sending arms to Israel and why liberal democracy really is preferable to Islamic fascism.
Right now, George W. Bush is not that leader.
-- Joe Scarborough
One especially feels this point after having read Doris Kearns Goodwin's account of Abraham Lincoln's climb to power and his use of that power, with his ability to articulate the nation's struggle in the terms of a dramatic and meaningful narrative about what this country stands for, galvanizing different interests into a common purpose, in the interest of liberty and equality.
One would be hard pressed to think that Bush brings a Lincolnesque vision and Churchillian inspiration to the struggle. Bush's problem, of course, runs deeper than comprehension and communication. The way he and his Administration has been willing to play the most crass partisan politics with the War on Terror buys a lot of deserved bad faith.
That usually useful generalization that the world is grey rather than black and white is often cited when it comes to the War on Terror. Unfortunately, Bush makes it seem a lot more grey than I think it really is. And that is a serious problem.
xXx
So does it matter in the end whether our president is articulate and intelligent?
You bet your life, it does. I’m not saying we need to elect a dork like Michael Dukakis, who famously spent vacations at the beach reading books on Swedish land use or was so overwhelmed with the details of the old SALT treaties that he would sulk off to bed depressed.
But when America is fighting a global war on terror where the battle is for hearts and minds instead of beachheads and landing strips, we need a leader who can explain to friend and foe alike why America is in Iraq, why we keep sending arms to Israel and why liberal democracy really is preferable to Islamic fascism.
Right now, George W. Bush is not that leader.
-- Joe Scarborough
One especially feels this point after having read Doris Kearns Goodwin's account of Abraham Lincoln's climb to power and his use of that power, with his ability to articulate the nation's struggle in the terms of a dramatic and meaningful narrative about what this country stands for, galvanizing different interests into a common purpose, in the interest of liberty and equality.
One would be hard pressed to think that Bush brings a Lincolnesque vision and Churchillian inspiration to the struggle. Bush's problem, of course, runs deeper than comprehension and communication. The way he and his Administration has been willing to play the most crass partisan politics with the War on Terror buys a lot of deserved bad faith.
That usually useful generalization that the world is grey rather than black and white is often cited when it comes to the War on Terror. Unfortunately, Bush makes it seem a lot more grey than I think it really is. And that is a serious problem.
