Last night I finished Bob
Woodard's latest book, "The War
Within." It's a good read, even though key
parts of it seem overwritten,
especially where Woodward switches from
reporting to outright editorializing.
But the facts speak for themselves: time and
again the president and this
administration put their heads in the sand and
refused to acknowledge and adapt
to on-the-ground realities. What's more, they
failed repeatedly to square up
with the American people.
Just as troubling were
Bush's military-advisors who seemed
AWOL, while Democrats on Capitol Hill were
nowhere to be found. Both groups
appeared timid, afraid to risk their political
capital or, more likely, their
political position. Recall the lead-up to the
war in Iraq, where most everyone
was cowed into falling into line, fearful of
assaults on their patriotism,
worried that they would seem less than manly if
they asked for evidence of
danger.
Will this same dynamic
takeover in the current financial
crisis? While it's clear that some form of
action is required to stabilize our
nation's financial situation, I'm not an
economist so I cannot adequately
"blog" on various technical solutions. But I do
know that when a herd mentality
takes over in public life, it is not a good
sign. Nor is it promising when
people are told not to raise tough questions
because "We need to get the job
done." And I don't take comfort when all of a
sudden a few people huddle
together with the President and declare a
solution.
By all means, leadership
is required now. 535 members of
Congress should not get the opportunity to
place their personal imprint on this
legislation. But rushing to judgment on
a $700 billion remedy; bypassing any kind of
real oversight into the future;
allowing Wall Street executives to run off with
millions in golden parachutes
while hard-hit Americans must forfeit their
homes -- well, are these the values
we want in place? Before we act is the right
time to reveal, debate, and choose
the values we want to guide our choices.
There is always a delicate
balancing act between moving
ahead quickly and making room for genuine
debate. But this is not a simple
"either/or" choice, and we ought not to let it
become one. In fact, real
leadership is the ability to understand this
tension and to move ahead deftly.
If Woodward's reporting is
to be believed, at critical
moments in the Iraq War, the president failed
to seek out the advice of his
military leaders, only to be counseled by those
individuals who already
supported his views; meanwhile, those left
outside his inner circle did not
adequately raise their voices and push a
different point of view. There was a
rush to judgment, and a failure to
engage.
Now, we face a domestic crisis, which could spill over into a major global crisis, and similar questions haunt us. Will we rush judgment, again? And will there be a failure to engage? My hope is that this time our response will be different.
If we expect our elected officials to put their political capital and positions on the line are we willing to stand next to them and stand by them? Learn more about what it takes to support a new breed of leaders in Rich's latest essay: Make Hope Real.
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