When you are odds with the President on many issues, as I am, it is easy to see his behaviors as misguided or ineffective. However, when a reasonable but clearly left-of-center person such as Howard Fineman of Newsweek fires a round across the President's bow I think it is noteworthy. To wit:
"If ubiquity were the measure of a presidency, Barack Obama would already be grinning at us from Mount Rushmore. But of course it is not. Despite his many words and television appearances, our elegant and eloquent president remains more an emblem of change than an agent of it. He's a man with an endless, worthy to-do list—health care, climate change, bank reform, global capital regulation, AfPak, the Middle East, you name it—but, as yet, no boxes checked "done." This is a problem that style will not fix. Unless Obama learns to rely less on charm, rhetoric, and good intentions and more on picking his spots and winning in political combat, he's not going to be reelected, let alone enshrined in South Dakota." You can read the entire article here: http://www.newsweek.com/id/216210
Personally, I am not hoping that Mr. Obama becomes more effective at advancing his domestic agenda. I don't think his ideas, generally speaking, are good for the country. I do hope, however, that Mr. Obama becomes a more effective leader internationally, because our national interests are at risk. As Mr. Fineman points out, Mr. Obama's empty rhetoric and backward looking statements about the mess he inherited have worn thin. The world has some real hot spots and the U.S. needs to decide what it is and what it is not going to do, and then do it.
The President certainly can talk about everything. But what is also certain is that neither he nor the country can actually do everything.
He needs to focus, he needs to decide, he needs to clearly communicate our plan, and then he needs to hold firm. So far he has shown little talent for any of those steps.
I hope he gets better, and soon.
Hags
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4 comments:
Hags makes a good point. I wonder what the Russians and Iranians say about our leader in their foreign policy meetings. I hope it is not "Can you believe how clueless this guy is?". I think he needs to reread "The Prince".
Do not mistake " thinking and formulating a plan" with I don't know what to do. Quick solutions we have had too much of (Iraq, Bank Bailout, Stimulus package) I for one am glad the health care bill is still being discussed, that we do not go blindly into more troops in Afghanistan, let's slow down think it thru. But there is a time to check the boxes Done.
Wenzel ~
After the last eight years they are saying, "My what an improvement. I guess America isn't full of petulant, inept, shortsighted cowboys!"
Baxter, In this case I hope you are right. My family's safety is on the line based on what "they" think. Liberals tend to credit their fellow man with too much nobility.
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