"The first however-many days of Barack Obama's presidency have been a study of amateurism."
Kathleen Parker, "So Far, Amateur Hour," The Washington Post, February 11, 2009.
Dismissive words like featherduster, lightweight, dilettante and many others haunted FDR before and after being elected. I always thought amateur had a wonderfully populist and democratic connotation. Weren't Darwin and Lincoln amateurs?
The evidence: Obama not controlling a stimulus bill that passed in record time and letting Congress do its job; admitting mistakes and taking ultimate responsibility for poor vetting of appointments (and I still don't quite understand all the swooning over Daschle); the press conference in which he answered rather than dismissed questions; reading to kids; and taking the debate out of DC to where the pain is in our cities and communities.
Not bad for three weeks. And then he says judge me by whether I'm successful. Very amateur.
"Absent is maturity -- that grown-up quality of leadership that is palpable when the real deal enters the room. There's a reason why elders are respected.."
You mean like "Sully?" Certainly not the bank or auto CEOs. The mad spoutings of Lindsey Graham and Rush Limbaugh? Let's not do a McCain rerun. Of course Obama will make some mistakes, live the life of trial and error. That challenge doesn't cease even when your an elder.
What Republican elected official or conservative columnist has stood up (of whatever age) and admitted the huge policy failures of the last 8 years and the depth of today's economic crisis? Where's the maturity, the real deal?
Originally posted at BobGiloth.com