The Leadership Principle

Cartoon from BALOO'S WEBSITE

Nope, not das Führerprinzip, but just the notion of leadership at all.  Something we don't have, it is said, like we used to. Right now, we have a struggle for power between Romney and Obama, who isn't a leader in any sense at all. The only decision he makes is to make no decision, it seems, and his Affirmative Action life has called on him to do nothing except what his handlers tell him to.  Then we have Mitt Romney, who looks like Alexander the Great in comparison, but who is actually a pretty run-of-the-mill businessman, a man of the balance sheet (which is a good thing in itself, make no mistake) but not a dynamic idea guy.  His father was more of a leader in the political sense, I think.

One thing a leader is not, is the fellow who runs to the front of a movement and pretends he's leading it.  A leader changes the course of events.  The Founding Fathers included a lot of leaders in that sense.  Most any of them could have joined the other side and done just fine in their lives, but they didn't like the accepted path, and wanted to create a new one.

It's hard for any of us to be objective, because we hate to think of those we despise as leaders, though they might be very good leaders, indeed.  FDR was, for example.  As was Lincoln.  And we tend to think of those we agree with as leaders, though they might not be very good leaders at all. Ron Paul is a great man and a great statesman, but is he a great leader?

Well, Charles Coulombe asks where all the great leaders have gone, and attempts and answer and an explanation HERE.

Speaking of leadership, one last point:  I ask again, is it too late to run Putin as a write-in candidate here?  Wouldn't you love to have a President who talked to reporters like this?  Thanks to Kylie over at http://isteve.blogspot.com/ for the link.