Fisticuffs Needed?

On a news clip from CNN last night John Boehner was quoted as saying George W. Bush would have punched Putin. And Boehner believes that is the difference between Bush and Obama.

Yes. That’s about right. Bush shot from the lip and the hip before thinking things through. He had lots of advisers clamoring for action and bravado. Machismo, really. And the result was two wars with no end; trillion dollar deficits with no defense budget ever disparaged for over the top spending; trillion dollar annual tax cut for the rich and silly; down the drain real estate values and banking industry with enormous bail outs required for national stability; growing poverty in America, especially among children, but the entire global village has grown poverty exponentially in the years since Bush’s failed policies.

But he could fight. Like a Texan, no doubt.

The false front of bravado instead of brains seems to capture the republican sentiment precisely.  This is the sophisticated, learned and wise course advised by the republican party leaders? Really?

I pale at the lack of unity among Democrats. They have failed their party leader and President. But the course chosen and followed by Obama is one of history and wisdom. One does not settle long term issues with short term tactics. Short term thinking barely earn short term results. Rarely are long term ends served well with short term maneuvers.

Public policy is often thought to be common sense. It is not. It requires disciplined thinking focused on long term desired results. This sort of leadership does not fit well with sound bite journalism. It also doesn’t fit audiences with lazy instincts about thinking and action. No. Long term strategic thinking requires a commitment to research, logic, wisdom, historical context and a lot of concentration. Those doing the work require teamwork and trust. They need to be focused as a team to problem solving vital to the common good of the nation.

Needless to say Bush and Cheney were men of action. Unfortunately it was the manhood of the nation and their own they were defending. History is made from such blunders, but not the good kind of history. The Crusades were that kind of history. Popes fomented it. Knights Templar waged them. History recorded the folly and the results several hundred years later. World unrest among the main religions is the result. Terrorism is a result as well.

Diplomacy gets lost in such an environment. Long term thinking gets lost quickly. Bush made diplomatic circles so uncomfortable, so anti-intellectual, that hoards of seasoned diplomats simply retired from public service. Our foreign policy establishment was severely weakened as a result. We are still paying the price of those blunders years later. Only now Cheney and Boehner fault the current President for these problems when it was they who made them happen in the first place. The chutzpah of these people is enormous!

What to do about it? Who do you believe? Who are you comfortable following? Men of ‘action’ or people of thought and long term logic? Which is easier to follow? Which takes more faith and strength of character?

Thought so! Now you see why our system of governance is so screwed up and ineffective. Generations of sloppy thinking and short term results focus get you there every time.

And it’s not a good place to wind up. It will take even more discipline and courage to repair the damage and rebuild the platforms of public policy. But will short term thinkers step on the stage promising quicker results? Will the public fall for it again?

Yep, I think so. Bad history has a habit of repeating itself endlessly.

Maybe it is better to grow up stupid and lazy. At least then we wouldn't care.

October 31, 2014