A great op-ed piece from David Gergen, A Deepening Leadership Crisis
A Deepening Leadership Crisis - David Gergen
This is a really insightful post of the lack of trust amongst the leadership of our country today. Not only a trust in our President, but trust in the leadership of all levels of government and most of the private sector.
Where will our next great leader come from? Is it one of the candidates running for President? Is there someone else out there?
We need a great leader to come forward. I hope they come soon, because we definitely need it.
Nancy Pelosi fails at bipartisanship, fails America!
I just want to say that the U.S. Congress is the most dysfunctional group in the world.
But it is led by the worst, most ineffective speaker that the U.S. House of Representatives has ever seen, Nancy Pelosi. This idiot was smiling in the press conference this afternoon after failing to get the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the financial bailout, something that needed to be done in some form.
Despite her claims, it was her fault that the bailout didn’t pass. Throughout this entire process she said that the bailout bill needed to pass as a bipartisan effort.
But what does Pelosi do?
Right before the vote, Pelosi takes the floor and proceeds to rip President Bush and the Republicans over points of disagreement. Pelosi was being extremely partisan, EXTREMELY!
The prepared version of the speech, which is still be handed out by her office, was relatively tame. But the actual version she delivered today before the vote deviated quite radically.
Here is a sample:
This is the reason that the bill didn’t pass. The ineffective leadership that Pelosi brings to the House is what is driving the partisanship and causing Congress to be the most dysfunctional group.
It was her plan all along to do this and make McCain and the Republicans look bad in the process.
As long as 30 years ago with Tip O’Neill was the Speaker of the House, you fought for what you believed in and then came together for the best of the country.
But what Nancy Pelosi did today was drive a dagger right through the heart of America. That is no way to run the House of Representatives or for a member of the U.S. Congress to act.
Lance from A Second Hand Conjecture sums it up best:
More importantly, if Pelosi believes her rhetoric about the importance of this bill the poor judgment, lack of leadership and inability to understand the importance of statesmanship in a crisis should be grounds for immediate dismissal from her post.
Shame on you Nancy Pelosi, SHAME! You are supposed to be a leader, the leader of the House of Representatives. But you did anything but lead today.
I support the University of Idaho
I am getting tired of all the naysayers out there that say the University of Idaho football and athletics should move back to Division I-AA, also known as FCS. Idaho is in the right conference and the right division.
Has the football team struggled the last 10 years? Yes!
Has the basketball team struggled? Yes!
But there are signs of improvement in the football program. I think Rob Akey is the right person to lead the turnaround. He came in and had to deal with a disaster of a team, one that Dennis Erickson tore apart in one year.
Akey had to let go 18-20 players who were dealing drugs, stealing from teammates, and couldn’t handle the academics of college. They are now playing mostly freshman and sophomores. While they are getting experience, they are making mistakes and it is costing wins, but the future is quite bright.
There are signs are getting brighter for Idaho’s basketball program. They have a good coach who can guide them. I am also hearing that they are getting commits from some good recruits. Face it, the basketball program can only get better.
Now I am a person that thinks that Idaho needs to build an outdoor football stadium, but I wouldn’t get rid of the Dome. It is too heavily used by the student body for intramurals and workouts. It would also make a great practice area for various sports.
Having an outdoor stadium would add so much. Also when Idaho played their home games at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Idaho averaged higher attendance than the Kibbie Dome holds.
Basketball needs a new arena for basketball and volleyball. The Kibbie Dome does not cut it for those sports. The new arena could even be used for the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival where good jazz gets lost in the vastness of the Dome.
I am a supporter of Vandal athletics and the University of Idaho as a whole. They are going through a transition in their athletic program, but the academic program is growing. The enrollment is up, they are getting more grants and research dollars (over $100 million since 2003), and is consistently rated as one of the best values in education.
The search for a new President is on and it will be nice to get that settled and the new person into the position.
Everyone just needs to be patient with the football and basketball programs. They will come around. The future is bright for the University of Idaho.
Go Vandals!
McCain’s New Economic Plan, per The Onion
McCain’s Economic Plan For Nation: ‘Everyone Marry A Beer Heiress’
Statement I received from the McCain campaign…
The following is what I received from the McCain campaign about the financial crisis.
John McCain’s Remarks on the Economic Crisis
New York, NY
Wednesday, September 24, 2008America this week faces an historic crisis in our financial system. We must pass legislation to address this crisis. If we do not, credit will dry up, with devastating consequences for our economy. People will no longer be able to buy homes and their life savings will be at stake. Businesses will not have enough money to pay their employees. If we do not act, ever corner of our country will be impacted. We cannot allow this to happen.
Last Friday, I laid out my proposal and I have since discussed my priorities and concerns with the bill the Administration has put forward. Senator Obama has expressed his priorities and concerns. This morning, I met with a group of economic advisers to talk about the proposal on the table and the steps that we should take going forward. I have also spoken with members of Congress to hear their perspective.
It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the Administration’s proposal. I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time.
Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me.
I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.
We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved. I am directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday night’s debate until we have taken action to address this crisis.
I am confident that before the markets open on Monday we can achieve consensus on legislation that will stabilize our financial markets, protect taxpayers and homeowners, and earn the confidence of the American people. All we must do to achieve this is temporarily set politics aside, and I am committed to doing so.
Following September 11th, our national leaders came together at a time of crisis. We must show that kind of patriotism now. Americans across our country lament the fact that partisan divisions in Washington have prevented us from addressing our national challenges. Now is our chance to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of leading this country.
What are your thoughts?
An interesting video, CatholicVote.com
Here is an interesting video from CatholicVote.com. Take a look.
I am Catholic, but I am wondering if focused on one issue is too narrowly focused. Should they be focused on all of them?
In gaffe, Biden says FDR led when market crashed in 1929 and addressed country through television
General News - In gaffe, Biden says FDR led when market crashed.
Here is Biden’s quote,
“When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, ‘Look, here’s what happened,’” Barack Obama’s running mate recently told the “CBS Evening News.”
This is pretty bad. To not know who was president when the stock market crashed and that TV was at least 10 years away.
Not good Biden.
Flickr Photos
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