TPMCafe || It all comes back to leadership
Wesley Clark:
Again, just this past week, there was at least 36 hours notice that a major hurricane was going to hit the Gulf Coast, including likely a devastating blow to New Orleans, which certainly came to pass. The President continued with his regular schedule on Monday and Tuesday in California, Arizona, and Texas to hold some staged Medicare events and enjoy more vacation time, while finally returning to the White House yesterday. The joint task force including National Guard set up by the Pentagon failed to be on the scene in New Orleans in a timely manner to stop the looting and assist in the evacuation. Where is the leadership?
Then just this morning, the President claimed that no one could have anticipated the levee breaches we’ve seen in New Orleans after Katrina hit. That’s not leadership, that’s an excuse. In fact, people have predicted this kind of disaster for many years, including President Bush’s own FEMA in 2001, when they ranked hurricane flood damage to New Orleans among the three likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing America. Instead, funding was significantly cut back, leaving key engineering projects on hold. Instead, this Administration focused on the war in Iraq, tax cuts, and private sector economic growth without asking the American people to make needed sacrifices for the good of the country. Again I ask you, where is the leadership?
You’ve got to keep asking that question. What I learned about leadership is that you have to give people challenging goals and work with them and inspire them to reach them. You’ve got to have the courage to set goals and make a difference.
Leadership for America starts with the leader’s vision of where you want the country to be. And that’s the problem we have in America today. We need visionary leaders who can see the promise and potential of our country and take us there. We can find those leaders again — and we must.
Damn straight. When is this country going to grow up and put LEADERS in charge instead of good old boys? I don’t want to have a drink or a barbeque with the President – I want him to lead the nation.
Bubble Boy is a total failure. The cuts to levee restoration, the sending of the National Guard to Iraq, the gutting of FEMA have led to the current chaos in New Orleans. New Orleans, Lousiana, Mississippi, and Alabama all are paying the price for two things – a hurricane and the incompetent leadership from this administration. One could be anticipated and planned for. The other, we the people must change. It’s time to grow up and accept our own responsibilty to do that. And don’t accuse me of politicizing the event — this IS political. This administration chose to ignore global warming, which leads to bigger storms. This administration chose to deliberately lie us into an unnecessary and fruitless war. This administration chose to cut funding for our security at home from natural disasters. This administration chose to gut our disaster planning agency. These are the choices they made, and we pay the price for. Yes, it’s political.
And I for one, am sick and tired of the Democratic apologies and backing off from attacking them for it. THANK YOU, General Clark, for not being afraid to say what has needed to be said. I hope others will gain the courage to speak up as well. I hope, fervently, that the leaders we need will not be afraid to show us the way to go. And it isn’t backwards into the 18th century of old ideas. It’s forwards, into the future of sustainable living in harmony with a rapidly warming planet that will be more dangerous, more deadly, and more harsh than we can imagine – unless we act NOW to slow it down and deal with the real environmental problems we face and get ourselves weaned off of petroleum.
Enough. Grow up – or there were be a lot more cities suffering like New Orleans. This is only the beginning.
One Response
don’t want to have a drink or a barbeque with the President
The MSM has being lying about this “good ‘ol boy” thing and “catapulting this propaganda” ever since chimpy threw his hat into the national arena. NOBODY WANTS TO HAVE A DRINK WITH AN ABUSIVE ALCOHOLIC AND COKE ADDICT, throughout the campagn we were given that lie, “people would prefer to have a beer with George Bush instead of John Kerry.”
Reasonable people can disagree — I think there is much truth in what you have here, but I don’t see it exactly the same where. I whileheartedly agre with your statement:
It’s time we started treating those people like the spoiled little brats they are, and Bush like the ultra spoiled brat he is. The message we need from whoever the Democratic adults turn out to be is GROW UP ALREADY. Stop the namecalling, stop the backbiting attacks, and grow up, America. It’s way past time.
GREAT OBSERVATION! If we could only get those that want to see positive change to move from the insults to a more thoughtful statement of the maturity and therefor rationality of the right – POWERFUL IDEA!!!!
I can just see chimpy and the kool-aiders now (have you noticed that the filthy rich that benefit from his crimes tend to keep their mouths shut — have to be quiet when you steal). Yup, can imagine them saying something like:
“Look at me! I am over here!!!!! But I am right!! You are an asshole! Come on back over here and listen to me — you are wrong, go “f” youself. I am me! But I said so — I can’t hear you, lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala”
Great stuff donna, thanks!
I saw your post over at mahablog and was really impressed