[lit-ideas] Bush's domestic tsunami and a question
- From: Eric <eyost1132@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 17:33:03 -0500
Mike: Mistake? You can't use the word "mistake"
in reference to the Bush Foreign Policy -- that's
like calling the Indonesian tsunami a high tide.
Bush's biggest mistakes have always been domestic
policy mistakes. Outside the country, he can fly
by the seat of his pants, innovate, experiment,
fine-tune, provoke, intimidate, infuriate,
advance, retract, and take the big gamble.
At home, he is a high-spending Calvin Coolidge who
does nothing to stop corporate tax shelters, and
allows his party and important domestic agencies
to be pirated by hacks who would make Ulysses
Grant blush. Out of fear of "the Japan scenario,"
he allows state governments to float in red ink.
So padlocked into the confines of his Reagan-era
ideology, he has no vision of domestic leadership.
He gets pulled into energy conservation by Wall
Street and into environmental restraint by his
Fundamentalist constituents. He has no compass, no
oar, and no rudder.
So--if anyone has read this far--a different
question, one between presidents' personal
leadership skills and their political ideologies.
_______
Imagine there's an election. One candidate
espouses your fondest hopes, values, and political
aspirations; yet he (or she) has no imagination or
leadership ability, no managerial skill and no guts.
The other candidate proclaims an ideology you
despise; yet she (or he) is brainy and tough,
knows how to manage complex groups, is courageous
and inspiring, albeit for the wrong reasons.
So who's your choice? Do you pick bad government
based on an ideological point of view you
support? Or good government in service of an
ideology you loathe? Don't rush to answer. Can a
bad leader with the right ideals do more damage
than a good leader with the wrong ideals?
Not that we have such a choice. But the problem
interests me.
Eric
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