As we approach the 500th day of Jimmy Carter’s second term, I am reminded by the obvious lack of leadership parallels, of just how dangerous it is to have such incompetency run rampant in the White House, and the downright irresolute actions of the man sitting behind the Resolute Desk.
On Tuesday the president made yet another speech with the same tired, focus group-tested language delivered via a teleprompter instead of from the convictions of his heart, and as always, with plenty of blame to go around, except of course for him. Mr. Obama does not seem to understand that the Presidency is the office of ultimate accountability.
Take for instance the “Bay of Pigs” disaster. It was an operation almost entirely planned by the Eisenhower administration, but the embarrassing failure took place on President Kennedy’s watch. But President Kennedy accepted full accountability, he never once even mentioned President Eisenhower or the prior administration, and he didn’t blame the military or the CIA. He simple paraphrased on old proverb: “Victory has a thousand fathers; failure is an orphan.”
It is also worth noting that President Kennedy’s approval rating after those remarks shot up 12 points. Tuesday’s oval office speech was an opportunity to do that. Instead, the president’s verbose yet vague recounting of last 58 days left the American people justifiably uneasy with your leadership going forward. What Americans expect is the ability of their leader to take charge.
After listening to Obama’s BP speech, I don’t think it is out of the realm of possibility that one could hear the faint whispers of Rahm Emanuel saying “you never want a crisis to go to waste.” What I know for sure is that elections have consequences, and I fear the consequences of 2008, with the election of a man now proven to be clearly out of his depth, will be catastrophic for this nation.
Michael Wendling is currently a senior sales associate with a leading resort company. He is also a business entrepreneur currently in development of a social networking site on track to launch later this year. He spent more than two decades in the restaurant industry from a bus boy to general manger, most notably the historic Occidental Restaurant adjacent to the White House where he served on the management staff, focused on service and wine.