A lot of the discussion seemed to be about “backing down, ” running away” and other such euphemisms for cowardice, loss of pride, shame, embarrassment and the global consequences of such action. There is a lot of testosterone in the upper ledges of decision making, and I found myself wondering about gender and decision making at the highest levels. Also about the level of American maturity, which seems to be quite low. We try to raise our kids to understand the courage it takes to admit we were wrong, we misunderstood, we made a mistake, ………..and that the first step to addressing it is to admit it, than we can get on with the business of correcting it.

What does it mean that America cannot make a mistake or even consider that it is fallible? History proves otherwise, so who does it serve to maintain this fiction? The principles in play about how we want to raise human beings don't seem to have application when we speak of us as a group. The group that reduces all to saving face and protecting our image seems to be the group that so many agree with. In other words, our personal narratives seem to be out of sync with our national narratives. To reduce it to my understanding, the former requires humility and strength of character, and the latter seems to be more certain, unrelenting, righteous, unapologetic among other descriptions. Did anyone else notice these discrepancies?

I wonder too, as a former presidential advisor, if Moyers wasn't both empathizing with Pres. Obama, but also trying to get his ear………..Psss………..it would be powerful historical advice.

I heard this on the podcast last night and I was surprised at the similarities. I was hoping someone would post about it. Thanks!

I added a link to this from my site: http://vitalmuser.ning.com/

Specific link: http://vitalmuser.ning.com/forum/topics/johnson…