[quote=Allan from Fallbrook]Breeze: But you didn’t answer the question. Yes, he is extremely intelligent and his responses clearly support that. However, what about his appointments? You know as well as I that actions speak louder than words, and now we’re confronted with appointments that would seem to indicate a “business as usual” posture.
What about that? As I said earlier, I’m curious to hear what you think. Which means, don’t continue posting snippets of the interview, but weigh in yourself as to what you think his appointments represent in terms of “change” versus the status quo ante.
You mentioned Clinton earlier and that’s interesting. Interesting, because for an unabashed policy wonk, Clinton came up with very little in terms of new policy during his tenure. He was someone inarguably prepared to be President, from his Rhodes scholarship to his work as governor of Arkansas, but he produced little in terms of substantive policy. There might be some parallels here worth considering.[/quote]
Allan: This is the question that I keep posing to Obama supporters, and they (without exception) have real difficulty answering it. It seems we are at the point now where intelligence alone is relied upon to guide us through this crisis. Dubya has left this country so starved for a leader who can string two sentences together with proper grammar that we really aren’t demanding anything more than intelligence from the POTUS.
However, I think we can all agree that intelligence alone will not suffice in these circumstances. We see where intelligence has gotten us so far. Karl Rove: brilliant. Alan Greenspan: hailed as a genius (at his apex). Henry Paulson: widely-lauded as one of the brightest minds on Wall Street.
And yet, each of these men has managed to screw us every which way from Sunday.
What we desperately need now is someone of intelligence AND worthy intent. For it matters not if we are sold down the river by a brilliant mind. I look at Obama’s actions — not his words, mind you — and what I see troubles me.
We need a leader who is willing to erase the chalkboard, grab a new piece of chalk and start over. We need a leader who is willing to excise every trace of the cancer in this system, not just a few large tumors. Because unless the cancer is removed, the disease will continue to re-assert itself.
Many of the economic advisers that Obama has appointed are nothing less than cancer cells from a diseased system.
Breeze: please do yourself a favor and familiarize yourself with those individuals cited in the article as Obama’s economic stewards during this crisis. It is not sufficient to say that you don’t have an opinion on the matter. You did enough research to determine that you enthusiastically support Obama. Now do enough research to ask the hard questions. Because you will be doing a disservice to both yourself and this country if you do not hold a man accountable for his actions and his decisions and simply give him a free pass because he’s “intelligent.”
And no, I am not waiting until Obama gets into the White House before I raise my criticisms, because his appointments are quite telling and are evidence of judgment (or lack thereof) and intent.
I looked the other way when Obama hauled Biden, the 35-year Congressional dinosaur, onto his team. I even held my tongue when I saw Obama raiding the Clinton personnel files to fill cabinet positions despite this promises to “turn the page”.
But this…this is really too egregious to ignore. This is nothing less than a slap in the face to all those who were truly expecting *change* at a time of crisis.
