An Internet hub with domestic and international news, analysis, original reporting, and popular features from the left, center, indies, centrists, moderates, and right
This Is A Leader
Understand, now?
Clearly, many Americans do — thank God.
23 Responses to “This Is A Leader”
I agree. The president is right that this was an unfortunate situation were two good people got heated and it ended as neither of them would have liked. Hopefully the press and blogs will follow his lead and we can move on.
Why is saying something stupid and then half apologizing better than keeping your mouth shut in the first place?
Thanks, adelinesdad. It's a good thought to start the weekend with.
Ellis: I'll let you know when and if I see your apology.
Thanks for showing yourself Kathy
Obama is doing the right thing to defuse the situation, and he should be commended.
Let's hope Gates, or more particularly his attorney, can now show the same class and character.
It seems they already have… Boston Globe: Crowley, Gates camps pleased by president's phone calls</a
(emphasis mine)
Sure is nice to have a president who is articulate and thoughtful for a change. Good god ya'll!
I commend Obama for apologizing, but he would have been a more effective leader had he not placed himself in that position.
Let’s wait until Obama actually apologizes before we commend him for it.
And all this time you've had us to believe that you wouldn't commend Obama for anything unless, and until, hell froze over.
SteveK – That Gates and his lawyer are also ratcheting down the rhetoric is indeed very good. So, to be fair, lets also call on all the police unions and brotherhoods to follow those examples.
No good will come from continuing to try and make this a national referendum on race, police profiling, police over-reaction, individual over-reactions, Presidential decorum, etc.
“Let's hope Gates, or more particularly his attorney, can now show the same class and character.”
Having a good beer with the President shows plenty of character…and class
“Let’s wait until Obama actually apologizes before we commend him for it.”
That's why we'll probably will never have the occcasion to commend Bush
Dorian – responding to earlier posts after the facts have changed, and a new post reflecting those changes has been made, is bad form.
There is actually of very good (and funny) discussion on another thread about WHAT beer they should have.
My two favorites were an Arrogant Bastard or a Black and Tan.
“Dorian – responding to earlier posts after the facts have changed, and a new post reflecting those changes has been made, is bad form.
There is actually of very good (and funny) discussion on another thread about WHAT beer they should have.”
AR, with all due respect, can you please explain to this dumb Latino what in the hell you're talking about?
With respect to beers, see my comment on the beers post, hoping that is “good form”
Perhaps I misunderstood the intent of your post. If so, I am sorry. I have taken a some severe attacks over this whole subject, and perhaps I am a little sensitive.
As to the 'beer cocktail', I don't think I have ever seen that one before. Interesting concept.
BTW – my daughter FINALLY got her review board paperwork signed, so it is off to the Medical Board in Washington. That is a 2 – 8 week process (got to love bureaucracies), then another 2 -3 weeks of final processing after it comes back, and then she gets to come home.
She has finally started walking short distances with only one crutch, and very small amounts unsupported, so that is good progress. There is unfortunately compression that has occurred, so shw will have a slight limp the rest of her life, but no sign of necrosis yet.
She has also said that the unpleasantness of two months so far stuck in the military medical system has completely put her off ever re-enlisting, even if eventually she is cleared medically. That is too bad, but anyone who has spent extensive time in military and VA hospitals can attest to the morale-draining atmosphere that pervades there.
AR glad things are progressing well for your daughter. I worked in a military hospital 1988-1992 and have to say nowhere was the Peter Principle as evident as in the military health system. The good people leave and the not-so-good rise to the top. There are actually some very good people there, both enlisted and officers, but they tend not to stick around.
Austin Roth–
I am sorry to hear your daughter was injured.
I hope the good progress continues.
AR:
Thanks, no apologies necessary. I just thought I had missed something.
As to your daughter, we continue to wish her well and a speedy process through the VA bureaucracy.
I have no complaints with the military (active duty) medical system, but I have heard “horror stories” about the VA system, although I am hoping for it to improve drastically under the “new management.”
Best wishes,
Dorian
I commend Obama for apologizing, but he would have been a more effective leader had he not placed himself in that position.
I think that's grossly unfair, and even churlish.
Number one, may I remind you that Obama did NOT bring up the subject? He was responding to a direct request for commentary from a reporter at a press conference, who wanted to know what Pres. Obama thought about the incident from the point of view of a black man. The reporter put him on the spot, not just policy-wise, but personally. She wanted a *personal* response. He gave it to her as best he could, and he did pretty well, except for one unfortunate choice of adverbs.
Number two, when the use of that adverb caused a storm of outrage, offended feelings, anger, etc., Obama called the police officer, he called Prof. Gates, he called an unplanned press conference, he spoke for almost 10 minutes to reporters — and hence the nation — about what he had done, and why, and how sensitive the issues at stake were, and how his bad choice of words had made things worse. He took total responsibility.
Number three, he went one huge step further than taking responsibility for his own mistake. He made the effort to transform the entire conflict into a learning experience, for everyone. He tried to use the entire unpleasant event and all the bad choices that were made by the various players (including himself) as an object lesson that illustrated how real and serious these issues still are. None of this would have happened if the issues were not still real and serious DUH.
God almighty and jeez louise, people make mistakes. I reject, totally, and I deplore, the idea that Obama “would have been a more effective leader had he not placed himself in that position.” I say that the reality is the opposite: Obama proved himself to be a highly *effective* leader, precisely because he was able to see a series of mistakes, including his own mistake — a *mistake* okay? a *mistake*! — as a metaphor for a much larger problem, and thereby create the possibility of meaningful change.
And I'm sorry, but I have to say this: I think that Pres. Obama's skin color and racial identity is creating in people (and “many” means definitely not just you, DaGoat) an expectation or a requirement that he be twice as responsible, twice as correct in his words and actions, and twice as successful at not making mistakes, as any other president would be expected to be. I think that Obama is being held to a standard of rectitude and perfection that the previous president would never have been held to, and indeed was not held to — and I don't think that's entirely because the previous president was intellectually and ethically subpar. Partly, but not entirely.
We'll have to disagree here Kathy. No matter how elegantly Obama may have resolved the situation he would have been better off not putting himself into it.
Your last paragraph you are saying I am holding Obama to a different standard because of his race which is kind of a “when did you stop beating your wife” accusation, so I'm not going to bother with it.
First he didn't make any mistake at all. Popular opinion seemed to shut that down so then his response was so good that even though it wasn't a mistake the way he handled it should overshadow any other feelings anyone has, unless they are racist. Throw in some second grade wordplay and we have Kathy's position. Personality he screwed up, covered well, but in the end hurt his momentum for health care reform badly and would of been much better off saying nothing.
EEllis, if as you suggest, he “hurt his momentum for health car reform badly”, which is to say, a minor altercation between two egos should effect the welfare of millions of Americans… well then we have truly become a nation of idiots.