Fred makes a very, very good case. He begins by quoting David Brooks.
He recently wrote that governance is hard. It requires acquired skills. Most of all it requires prudence. What is prudence? Among other things, it is the ability to absorb information and discern the essential current of events – the things that go together and the things that will never go together. It is the ability to engage in complex deliberations and to understand which arguments have the most weight. How is prudence acquired? Through experience. Experience allows a leader to judge what is important and what is not. He added, “Sarah Palin has many virtues. If you wanted someone to destroy a corrupt establishment, she’d be your woman. But the constructive act of governance is another matter.”
And adds the parts that Brooks.....ahhhh.....forgot:
...there are other important qualifications, such as will, courage, and determination. Frankly, an infusion of these qualities into our body politic is desperately needed – not just to raise hell with the establishment, but to speak the hard truth about unpleasant choices facing our country. To push for choices that will, in the long term, benefit our country, our children and our grandchildren. In other words, things which “prudent” leaders are all too often reluctant to do
And, reprising his role on Law and Order, issues an indictment:
For many years we have failed to address looming problems that will prove catastrophic to our nation. It’s not because we are bereft of leaders with great experience. And it is not because they do not understand the “essential current of events.” They know these things all too well. It is because they do not have the political courage to do anything about it.
Such as the GSEs, over-spending, and the Social Security/Medicare nuclear bomb.
To Fred, and to normal Americans,
Wall Street and Washington were full of people who were “qualified and experienced” in the field of finance. Sen. Barack Obama, for one, has a great deal of experience in the housing field. So do many of his closest advisers. I would have traded some of that experience for a few more leaders with less experience and more courage to buck the establishment and tell the truth about what was happening
In other words, to Hell with the neatly-trimmed fingernails and perfect coif of George Will and the B-Yotch Ms. Parker, not to mention the assortment of fairies, social climbers, and twits on the Left side of the Press (and Government). Oh, they're knowledgeable--perhaps--about the Swamp, and the symphony and ballet, and which wine goes with brie.
As to courage, and the real task of getting it done, not so much.
HT: AmSpecBlog
Well, even Nixon told us that Thompson wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. Now he's channeling Larry The Cable Guy in an effort to show that Palin is somehow a stealth-competent who is just waiting for a chance to show her stuff.
ReplyDeleteTruly sad. My brother says that if enough people tell you that you look sick you should probably lie down. You guys should listen to Will.
In the business world we used to question the 'experience' of new hires. When told he/she came with "10 years experience in xyz..." the question asked was: "Is that ten years' experience or one year repeated ten times...?"
ReplyDeleteIn public life, as in the business world, there are many who have experience, but fewer who have expertise.
It is the difference between having information and having knowledge.