Another President Who Governs By Polls
Jan 9, 2009 Political
Leadership is the ability to influence people to willingly follow those in charge. A true leader inspires people to do things and to accomplish great deeds. Those who are not leaders just go along to get along. People want to be led. They want someone in charge and they want someone who takes decisions. Well, at least they used to.
Enter Barack Obama. He won the last election by a pretty good margin and he did it by promising that government would take care of every little thing that comes along. Health care, jobs, money if you are poor, it did not matter because Obama and his Democrats would provide it. The people who elected him and who want these things have lost the ability to be independent. They have lost the will to thrive. These are people who feel they are unable to do for themselves so they must rely on government to do it for them.
George Bush, for all his failings, is a man of principle. One can argue about the principles involved but Bush did not use polls to govern. He led this country and he took unpopular stands in order to keep it safe. He will leave with about a 30% approval rating but he is not worried about that because he said that he did not govern by polls, he took decisions he thought were in the best interest of the country. Yes, there is debate as to whether they were in the best interest. Perhaps we can say that Bush was not a great leader because he failed to get people to willingly follow.
Or is that the case? The members of the military, by and large, support him and what we are doing. Perhaps they are not the dumb, uneducated people that John Kerry described but are well informed instead. The people who disapprove of our safety or who blindly follow Barack Obama would be a closer fit to the people John Kerry described, or to paraphrase; If you don’t stay in school and get a good education you become a liberal.
George Bush had high approval ratings and was perceived as doing a good job especially after 9/11. The Democrats and their media wing could not allow this so they tried to systematically destroy the president for political gain. They were successful in 2006 and 2008 but after January 20th they will hove only themselves to blame.
Barack Obama is not a leader. He has never been in charge of anything and his boldest move in office was to vote “present”. Obama, like Clinton before him, relies on polls. His transition team is now using polls and focus groups to try to ram a stimulus package through Congress. This package will undoubtedly cost over a TRILLION dollars and will prolong the recession and might well drive us into a depression.
[note]If spending money is the answer to the financial crisis then we should not be experiencing one because our government has done nothing but spend.[/note]
Relying on focus groups and polls is not leadership. The military would not be effective if leaders took a poll before every mission. Soldiers follow leaders. Outside the military people will follow a leader.
Unfortunately, in hard times people will also follow charismatic individuals who promise them the world. The people somehow lose focus on being independent and follow the person who says what they want to hear. Jim Jones, a charismatic leader, led hundreds of people who were looking for something better, something better he promised to deliver. He got them to drink poisoned Kool-Aid in a mass suicide. This is where we get the term, “drinking the Kool-Aid.”
Many in this country drank the Obama/Democratic/liberal Kool-Aid because the sainted one is a charismatic person who was able to make them believe he has the answers. Have those who consumed that Kool-Aid caused the suicide of this nation?
Obama’s decisions are based on polls which means that he is trying to govern by using popular decisions to get things accomplished. This is a recipe for disaster as Clinton demonstrated. He was not a great president and he brought us the events of 9/11. Clinton diddled while Rome burned.
“Leadership” by poll watching is ineffective and counterproductive. The popular position is not always the correct position and depending upon where polls are taken and who is asked, any preconceived conclusion can be obtained.
Sometimes a true leader must take an unpopular decision. When some serious problem exists, people do not take polls to determine how to handle the issue. However, the sheeple in this nation have decided to put their faith in a Kool-Aid dispensing, charismatic, poll watching, empty suit who could not lead them out of a burning building.
Regardless of what the polls say…
[tip]If you enjoy what you read consider signing up to receive email notification of new posts. There are several options in the sidebar and I am sure you can find one that suits you. If you prefer, consider adding this site to your favorite feed reader.[/tip]
Tags: Bush, charisma, leadership, Obama, polls