Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Obama: Leadership as Wishful Thinking

Here's a post by Paul Krugman taking the Obama administration to task for failing to do the right thing and stimulate the US economy. Instead Obama has decided to pretend that "everything is all sunshine and light" and all that is needed is a little "positive attitude" to get everybody through this little rough patch:
Here’s the reality: the stimulus was too small; we’re not seeing growth at a pace that will bring unemployment down rapidly, if at all; we clearly should be doing more; but obstructionism from Republicans is preventing action. And the administration knows all this perfectly well.

So one way to play this politically would be to tell the truth, and try to place the onus on Republicans, accusing them of perpetuating high unemployment.

Instead, however, the administration has decided to engage in happy talk, saying that it’s all good.

Do they really think this will work? I mean, I live in fairly rarefied circles (that’s not a boast, it’s an admission of inadequacy), and even so I know a number of people whose lives have become a living hell: men in their late 50s who fear they’ll never work again, small business owners who have lost everything. Does the administration really believe that it can convince these people that it’s all on the mend?

I just don’t get it.
And I don't "get it" either. A real leader gets out in front of the people and points them toward a better future. Obama is leading from the rear shouting out "just keep stumbling about, keep at it, if you wander about enough surely you will find your way out of this mess called the Great Recession!" A real leader takes on his foes and slays them. Obama has decided to give the Republicans a big sloppy wet kiss and try to hug them into submission. It isn't working. Instead, the Republicans have made Obama look like an idiot, a pathetic loser who keeps trying to please the top dog in hopes that the top dog will let him have a chew at the bone too!

No comments: