Obama as a Non-Leader

Here is a nice post by Paul Krugman pointing out that Obama fails crucially as a leader. A real leader sucks up his courage, admits a mistake, and re-directs the troops so that they might live to fight another day. A "pseudo-leader" like Obama pretends to be in charge and when things go badly, they develop the thousand yard stare that is supposed to make the look "manly" and they re-iterate that they are "in charge" and that "things are going according to plans". Yeah... right into the shitter.

Read and weep:

I felt sorry for Jared Bernstein, who surely knows better, having to convey the administration’s attempt to downplay the terrible jobs numbers.

I know what’s going on: the administration decided, more or less a year ago, that rather than admit that its stimulus package was inadequate and call for more, it would put on a happy face and hope for better news. But here’s the thing: by now we know that this strategy has been a political disaster. So you would think that the administration would change its line.

But to do that, someone at the top has to make the decision to change direction. And clearly, nobody has. I don’t think there was a deliberate decision to persist in an obviously losing strategy; I just think top management has gone missing. And so the administration drifts …

What the US needs is somebody who is willing to stand up to the insanity of the Republican party and put the country on the track to recovery. Instead, the US is trapped in a pothole and doesn't have the traction to drive out. Instead, it will require people piling out of the car, putting their shoulder to the car, and push in unison. Instead, you have Republicans in the back seat screaming "watch out, there are dangers down the road, we must slow down now before it is too late!". Bizarrely they are worried about "inflation" and "deficits" while people go for years without jobs, lose their homes, can't afford to educate their kids, can't put enough food on the table, etc.