Originally Posted by KarlG
For the FIRST TIME since he was elected in 2000, I have just thought of a convincing reason as to why the Presidential I.Q. and intelligence matters in the performance of his duties.
I always believed that good advisors will handle the details and that the President, himself, could function as the CHIEF Executive and everyone else as defacto Chief Executives of their area of responsibility. Defense. State. Interior. Agriculture. Homeland Security and etc.
After all, that was Reagan's style.
Two things I discounted about Reagan when making that mistaken assessment. One, Nancy was strong and tough where Dutch was kind hearted and easy going. The right people were going to be chosen to serve RONNIE.
And secondly, Ronnie was a lot smarter than some of us, even those of us who loved him and admired his administration, give him credit for.
Between the two of them, Ron and Nancy, they were tough enough and strong enough and smart enough to know who was good and who wasn't, who was playing games and who wasn't and with the two of them, each doing what they did, bringing the skills from each of their respective experiences and personal/professional orientations the day to day matters were handled more often than not, adequately and the BIG ideas, the IMPORTANT issues were advanced.
When the day to day requires all your thought, resources, energies and talent, it's difficult to get out in front of an issue with the right amount of energy and the right frame of mind.
Reagan was already a wise old man when he came to office and we benefitted from the wisdom of his years and his innate goodness and intelligence. He was a man of character who had worked and struggled through the depression and WWII and the Cold War and the turbulent Viet Nam era demonstrations in California, to emerge seasoned and having thought at great length about many fundamental issues which were not new to us but of long standing and yet still troubling.
Reagan tackled those issues confidently knowing they could be licked and rallying the American people behind him, even when the sacrifices to be made in curing this country of it's ills was borne by the poor and the disadvantaged and the cries went out that he was racist and didn't care about minorities, he maintained the course and the country remained supportive of his remedies.
Well, I believe George W. Bush is a good man who sincerely wants to do a good job and in one important respect, he has. He has kept America supplied with oil and has successfully defended that supply from disruption. And for that we should be eternally grateful.
It wasn't a 'given' that we would currently HAVE the oil supplies we do had he NOT invaded Iraq when he did. In medical terms, he "kept the patient alive."
However, I believe the problems that he faces the remainder of his term have much to do with his own personal limitations.
You can't well supervise a man if you can't know what he's talking about.
You can't well supervise a man if you won't hold his feet to the fire.
You can't well supervise a man if he intimidates you, intellectually.
And if you are looking for the best person for a job, do you look for the best PERSON FOR THE JOB?
Or do you look for THE BEST PERSON FOR THE JOB WHO WON'T MAKE THE PRESIDENT FEEL LIKE A DUMMY?
There are too many people who may have HAD an agenda for the President to fulfill, like scientists who send their experiment to space aboard the Shuttle and a mission specialist carries out the experiment.
Once the mission is over, the scientist moves back to the lab and has little interest in the mission specialist. Not that they aren't friends. Not that they dislike each other. No, it's just that now that the experiment is complete it is time to analyze the results and do the next thing.
Many of the people who had social/economic/political/policy agendas or experiments are no longer around the President as they have moved on to the next thing. Analyzing the results of the experiments or writing books due to come out in 2008. Or refining their strategies for think tanks.
Those who remain? Not really sure of their credentials these days. There are some who are getting their turns at bat and are doing the best they can. In fact, I want to believe they are ALL swimming as quickly as they can. But the dynamism is gone. The exciting aspects have disappeared.
The friends and people loyal to the President seem to be good, decent people. The President is a good and decent man. Whether out of loyalty or a noble commitment to public service or the chance to do one's job on the highest possible level, a lot of people are serving us as best as they can.
But for the first time ever, I believe they are not enough.
We need as tough and as strong and as charming and as good looking and with as much integrity and as talented and as intelligent as we can get.
Kerry?
Hmmm...
I know it's too late now, but yeah, maybe NOW...NOT A YEAR AGO...but now...I'd make the switch.
Now.
The opposing team has seen his best stuff and his pitches are starting to rise in the strike zone and I worry about him hanging a slider.
A big strong southpaw against the heart of their lineup would be a good matchup.
I hope I'm wrong. Cuz we have three more innings to go.
Top
