Thursday, November 01, 2007

Presidential Courage

In his new book "A Higher Purpose: Profiles in Presidential Courage", Thomas Whalen described a series of acts of political courage by various Presidents in our history. A few examples:
- Chester Arthur who, despite being well connected with the patronage system, became a model president, by establishing the bi-partisan Civil Service Commission to eliminate the patronage system at the Federal level.
- We all know the courage of Harry Truman who fired Douglas MacArthur in 1951. The General of the Army, who was at that time, very popular, but had a problem with insubordination.
- Also, John F. Kennedy who knew that if he went against the segregationists, he could lose the 1964 election.
As explained by Thomas Whalen, when confronted with difficult choices, some presidents make decisions that lead to personal redemption. They see the light, and act on their conscience.
Unfortunately, all those qualities do not apply to the present President. He did not have the courage to fire Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Bolton, Chertoff, Rove, and so many more.
How about the accumulation of bad nominations, including the influence of Giuliani at Homeland Security (Kerik and Chertoff). Staying the course, in spite of failures, and against all sound advices, is not courageous, but plain stupid, irresponsible and incompetent.
Very few of the present presidential candidates have the courage of their convictions, and dare to say what they believe should be done, for a better country. Unfortunately, the media do not cover them properly. The voters are not always aware of what is best for them.
We are paying the price, now......and our children will bear a tremendous burden, tomorrow....because, we, the nation, did not have the courage to stand up against a coward Congress.
The Facilitator