Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Leadership: Why We Need It

Boy, where are the Boy Scouts when you need them?  Now would be a good time for these micro troopers to swoop in and wow us with their manners, their McGiver-like skills with a pocket knife and their strong, I know we can get it done, Horatio Alger attitudes.  We need the Boy Scouts now more then ever.

We have lost our “can do” attitude that is the steam engine that drives this country forward. We worry too much that solvable problems won’t be solved. We shunt to the back of our minds that this is Andy Hardy country: no matter what the situation, we can come up with a solution, we can win the day and afford to buy that old jalopy junk hunkered car down at the local garage.  "Optimism" is just another word for "American".

So where are our leaders; not the eternal bicker snaps like Mitch McConnell whose sole goal for his party is to politically assassinate the president and make sure that he does not serve a second term.  Mitch McConnell has devolved from being a statesman who, for years garnered my unconditional respect, into the Lee Harvey Oswald of political intrigue. Shocked?  Somebody had to say it.

President Obama is not doing much in the way of offering solid leadership either. Me thinks he thinks too hard, I think.  He offers this country up to his opponents in witless compromise and comes to us with slogan after slogan after slogan.  President Obama, I respect you greatly but, honestly, if the GOP wants you politically dead, why would you bother to compromise?  Lead this country, Sir, lead this country.

Then there is Occupy Wall Street. No one really knows what they want or what they stand for.  Occupy Wall Street, as I see it, is a mewling, seething mass of emotion. It’s a n’er do well wannabe revolution in the guise of an amorphous grass roots movement.  This land is my land: mine! Mine! MINE! And I am not sharing.  Occupy Wall Street is a flock of sheep without a head ewe.  The 99 per centers are just a bunch of pissed off people who forgot that great countries, great movements and great men have a manifest; something of relevance to say.

Well, dear reader, there is always the Tea Party. Well, how do I describe the Tea Party—let me cut and paste this line from the Occupy Wall Street crowd: The Tea Party is just a bunch of pissed off people who forgot that great countries, great movements and great men have a manifest; something of relevance to say.  The Tea Party has no host. They are not about leadership. They are nihilists, anarchists and they want their cake handed to them on a golden platter. They want to eat the cake and not share and then they want to eat the platter. They are the most cannibalistic of the bowels of movement that this country seems to be offering today.  If a leader rises in the ranks of the Tea Party, garnish him up and eat him. We don’t want no leaders 'round here.

Leadership.

Leadership, in this country, is the Energizer Bunny without the battery. You remember batteries. Batteries are that energy source that you never have the right size of when a flashlight goes dead.  I put it to you America that our battery of leadership is going dead and there is no right sized battery to step in and light up this country with bright strong guiding light. Right now, we would be better off with gorillas from Jersey Shore running this country.

The GOP candidates have been fun to watch. They have been for us the Grand Old Entertainers. We thank you Republicans for entertaining us. Now lead us. Don’t tell us you are the best leader and then not tell us why.  Not one of you has taken to the task of showing us why Obama must go and how you will LEAD this country.  How will you lead us? Show us your Moses moment, Mitt Romney and not be the silent majority for once. How will you lead us to the Promised Land?  We are all waiting.

Democrats. Ditto. Get off your high horses and quit licking the tail gate side of the special interests pick up truck.  Yeah….we see you. We know what you are doing and leading is not what you are doing. You are the GOP from an alternative universe and you have offered us thus far nothing but self interest, self serving tactics and self involvent beyond the scope of the keepers of our country.

So, if I want a leader I must look to the Supreme Court, right? WRONG!  The Supreme Court is supposed to be the high exalted roost of lofty ideas and opinion. It’s where the wise old owls go to dispense long sought after constitutionally correct solutions.  Right? Wrong.  Apparently our wise old owls are exempt from their own rules: like not participating in special interest fund raising events.  Look at the case of Clarence Thomas:  his wife is a lobbyist for Republican special interest groups.  Yeah, I trust that guy.

These are all we have people, get used to it. We put them there and for better or worse we have to pony up and accept them as the right people for the right job right now. Cough. Cough.

For the Democrats and Republicans alike: this race is proving to be a Filene’s Bargain Basement assortment of simpleton ideas, slogans and under educated guessing.  Whatever happened to the Kennedys, the Goldwaters, god…..even the Reagans.   None of our current contenders are up to the task of leadership; this fact is painfully obvious.

Why do we need leadership?  Because we need jobs and a strong economy. We need hope for a fair and balance future for our citizens.  We need to wake up one morning and feel secure knowing that when we turn on the morning news that nothing bad happened, that we are in our happy place and that our strong and mentally erect leaders got us to the top of the mountain and into the promised land.


I’m just sayin…..


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