Yes Nancy, You ARE Part of the Problem

Karla and I watch The Daily Show for laughs, and often a great interview. Like November 8, when Former President Clinton came on and gave a very interesting perspective on getting Americans back to work. His thoughts were precise, cogent, and practical.

Then came November 9 and Nancy Pelosi. She reminded me that the phrase Democratic Party Leader is an oxymoron. Heavy emphasis on moron.

The topic of discussion was Congress' 9% approval rating. Ms. Pelosi's response was that in early 2009, when the Democrats lead the House, the approval rating for Congress was in the low 40% range. And not only was that her first response. She kept coming back to it. Again and again.

• First, low 40s could also be read as almost 60% failure. Just saying...
• No acknowledgment that it was the miserable leadership of the House that set up conditions for 2010
• No understanding that in 2009, Americans were giving Congress the benefit of the doubt about solutions that never came
• And the thing that disgusted me the most (and I have been a Democrat my entire voting life) - Having the audacity to ignore the above and make the miserable failures of Congressional leaders and members a political plug.

Ms. Pelosi should remember if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem, and she is soooooooooooooooo not part of the solution.

What Were You Doing April 21, 1982?

It was a Wednesday. Twenty-four days before my first wedding. And nothing of any apparent note happened in MY life.

However, on April 21 1982, the thirty-ninth President of the United States, a man vanquished from office after one term, was the subject of an announcement at Emory University. On that day President Jimmy Carter was appointed as University Distinguished Professor, and effective September 1 of that year he would establish a policy research center. The Carter Center was conceived, if not officially birthed.

Today I watched a recent video report by Nicholas Kristoff of the New York Times about the near eradication of the Guinea Worm parasite. (WARNING: This video includes graphic images.) Mr. Kristoff is reporting (and op-editorializing) from Africa, and as one would expect, the work arising out of this junket is not given to smiley, happy feelings.

You might ask "What's so big about eliminating Guinea Worm?" To put it in perspective, it would be only the second disease in history that humans have eradicated, and the Carter Center is one of the key participants in pushing for the final solution. Of course, President Carter is not accomplishing this feat by his actions alone.

But here's the point. In the twenty-nine years since he was routed in an election that would have sent many people into a bitter retirement, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter have dedicated their lives to try and make the world a better place for many millions of people. Their work has lasted over one-half of my life span to date and for the millions their work has helped there are ten of thousands of people that have also played a role.

One person's vision creating action in thousands. He may not (probably will not) be ultimately remembered as an exceptional President. However, Jimmy Carter is an outstanding leader of compassion and action that we of Planet Earth are fortunate to have.

Book Review: White House Ghosts

There's nothing supernatural described in the pages of Robert Schlesinger's White House Ghosts. Unless you consider how remarkable it is that the Presidents deemed to have led the most regarded administrations in the last half of the 20th century were the most effective communicators with the American public. Another nugget a reader will mine from Schlesinger's work is that each President had some level of depth in substance and thought of where they wanted to take the nation. Schlesinger avoids the easy trap of attempting to report on and then judge the correctness of those policies and opts to adhere to the former course. Still, his research and the flow of his work brings the reader around to a singular conclusion: Only leaders that clearly voice their vision will get Americans to follow.

Listed at a daunting 581 pages, inclusive of 100 pages of bibliographical references, Schlesinger devotes one chapter to each Commander-in-Chief beginning with Roosevelt, whose fireside chats are consistently thought of as the onset of modern media presidencies. Readers get insight into the early evolutionary stages of political media, where grand programs began in lower case (i.e. Roosevelt talked about a "new deal for Americans"). And in an argument against evolution, we see that for the sake of a sound bite culture, Presidents began demanding their speechwriters develop capital letter names for their ideas. Could the focus on form over substance be an underlying cause of why Americans feel their government is failing them? Again, Schlesinger avoids being a judge, but for my part, the change in focus cannot be ignored, and words without substance at best allows for achieveing short-term agendas.

You will need to be a history buff to enjoy poring through all the pages. However, one benefit about Schlesinger's structuring of White House Ghosts is that you can pick and choose which Administrations that you will use Schlesinger's key through the back door of the White House.

I took the full sixty-plus year tour, and felt it was time well spent. It gave me several moments of pause to think how one properly worded speech could have changed much in our history. For example, what would have happened if Richard Nixon would have admitted early on that there are times when persons in power can lose sight of what is right instead of declaring "I am not a crook"? Once he made that declaration and then acted as if he was imperially exempt, his words and actions were too conflicting for the public to accept. Had he taken the mea culpa approach it is entirely feasible that Americans would have forgiven him, wanting to put it behind them as they did twenty-four years later during the Clinton impeachment.

By the time that I finished White House Ghosts I had drawn one additional conclusion. Now that we live in an era of instantaneous communications, the speechwriter's pen will continue to be one of the most potent weapons, or tools, of those that seek to lead.