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A Bad and Seriously Flawed Presidency
Is this also a lonely and gravely dangerous man?
by Charlie Leck[9 April 2007]

I was left pretty curious by comments last week in one of Robert Novak’s columns, stating that the current president is more alone in office than were Richard Nixon (Watergate), Lyndon Johnson (Vietnam) and Harry Truman (post atomic bomb). Remember, Novak is a pure conservative and has been one of George W. Bush’s biggest backers. Novak writes of him as abandoned and alone.

I would add that the President is also oblivious. He is still trying to strike the pose of an important and respected world leader. Neither adjective works. Neither does the compound noun. This is a lost presidency – confused and loose (as in ‘loose canon’) – that may also be very dangerous if it seeks to save face by some grand, bold act.

There have been a dozen presidents in the White House during my life time. Other than FDR, I have strong memories of each of them and formed strong opinions that did not always coincide with my political leanings. Richard Nixon was a tragic man, but not a terrible president. Elements of his presidency actually transcend his dishonesty and deception and win him some positive ranking (his China policy, for example, and his international relations work in general). John Kennedy was unproven because of his tragic death; yet he was unarguably the most charismatic of all the chief executives in my life time. Ronald Reagan I disliked personally; however, he deserves enormous credit for several historic achievements (ending the cold war and, though I think it is now doing us great harm, immensely broad deregulation). Jimmy Carter will, long after my death, finally be regarded by history as a capable leader and peace maker. I liked Carter immensely. I thought he was a kind, intelligent and honest man. Bill Clinton can lay out a record of remarkable achievement that leaves all of these other presidents, with the exception of FDR, in the dust. Clinton was the brightest president among this dozen. The presidency of the first George Bush was generally undistinguished but he does get great credit for being wise enough to know when to pull back and away from an invasion of Iraq. Many of us forget that he made that decision based on the enormous cultural consequences such an invasion would have.

Of them all, only George W. Bush stands as a tragic mistake on the part of the American electorate (though there is growing historic evidence that he may not have won either of his elections at all). I do not believe we can impeach a president on the basis of stupidity or ignorance. These are not high crimes! Yet, they are clearly very dangerous and perilous traits. And beyond this, there appear also to be serious character flaws in the man. It is clear that he has, with intent, lied to the American people about a number of matters. The Bush lies are not to be compared to the lack of candor on Clinton’s part regarding his personal sexual infidelities and dalliances. The lies of the current occupant of the White House have cost thousands of American lives and, perhaps, hundreds of thousands of lives of other international citizens. Few of us want to admit this, but it is, unfortunately, factual.

I am a big fan of the “Opinionator” section of the New York Times web site. I follow it almost religiously. In it editorial and opinion columns from across the nation and the world are sampled. Tid-bits are provided along with links to the full texts in case one wants to pursue the matters in greater detail. This little clip was included this week about a Joe Klein column in Time Magazine.

Living With a ‘Really Bad Presidency’
Joe Klein says he was not
advocating impeachment when he concluded his most recent Time column by writing,
“I’ve tried to be respectful of the man and the office, but the three defining
sins of the Bush administration — arrogance, incompetence, cynicism — are
congenital: they’re part of his personality. They’re not likely to change. And
it is increasingly difficult to imagine yet another two years of slow bleed with
a leader so clearly unfit to lead.” At Swampland, the Time political blog, Klein
writes, “NO! I am not hinting at impeachment. There are no ‘high crimes’ here.
Just a really bad presidency. In fact, I consider impeachment talk
counterproductive and slightly nutso.”

Indeed! We do have a “slow bleed” time ahead of us as we wait for the replacement of this failed and seriously flawed president. We can only hope that he will not, during this period of time, do something utterly stupid and dangerous.

If you wish to read it, the Joe Klein column can be found in its entirety at…http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1607243,00.html



The Presidents during my life time:
· Franklin Delano Roosevelt
· Harry S. Truman
· Dwight D. Eisenhower
· John F. Kennedy
· Lyndon Baines Johnson
· Richard M. Nixon
· Gerald R. Ford
· Jimmy Carter
· Ronald Reagan
· George H. W. Bush
· William Jefferson Clinton
· George W. Bush