Low-Information Leadership

Peggy Noonan's Blog ^ | DEc 3, 2013 | Peggy Nonnan

[Vince Ferrer]

From what I have seen the administration is full of young people who’ve seen the movie but not read the book. They act bright, they know the reference, they’re credentialed. But they’ve only seen the movie about, say, the Cuban missile crisis, and then they get into a foreign-policy question and they’re seeing movies in their heads. They haven’t read the histories, the texts, which carry more information, more texture, data and subtlety, and different points of view. They’ve only seen the movie—the Cubans had the missiles and Jack said “Not another war” and Bobby said “Pearl Harbor in reverse” and dreadful old Curtis LeMay chomped his cigar and said “We can fry a million of ‘em by this afternoon, Mr. President.” Grrr, grrr, good guys beat bad guys.

It’s as if history isn’t real to them. They run around tweeting, all of them, even those in substantial positions. “Darfur government inadequate. Genocide unacceptable.” They share their feelings – that happens to be one of the things they seem to think is real, what they feel. “Unjust treatment of women—scourge that hurts my heart.” This is the dialogue to the movies in their heads.

And when you apply this to the ObamaCare debacle, suddenly it seems to make sense. The White House is so unformed and chaotic that they probably didn’t ignore the problem, they probably held a million meetings on it. People probably said things like, “We’re experiencing some technological challenges but we’re sure we’ll be up by October,” and other people said, “Yes, it’s important we launch strong,” and others said, “The Republicans will have a field day if we’re not.” And then everyone went to their next meeting. And no one did anything. [...]

Because the doing isn’t that important, the talking is.

[Billthedrill]

Correct you are. I recall the breathless delight with which the midnight pizza sessions were received in the Clinton White House. Wow, those young, energetic, hip political operators are going to set the world on fire!

Yeah, right. They were amateurs whose only skill was making up good fables about themselves. And it showed. And then when it became too obvious, the pizza stories stopped.

[Bullish]

Wow. that’s really well put, Bill. I like reading your take.

[lepton]

http://washingtonexaminer.com/white-house-obama-hasnt-yet-signed-up-for-obamacare/article/2540035

President Obama has yet to make good on the administration’s promises that he would sign up for health insurance on the new government exchanges, the White House acknowledged on Monday.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said that Obama has not signed up for Obamacare and that he did have a reason for the delay.

A reporter pressed Carney on whether the White House would make it an open-press event if and when Obama does enroll.

“I’ll get back to you,” Carney replied.

Shortly after Obama signed the new health care law in March 2010, a White House official said the president planned to walk the walk and sign up for the insurance exchanges his law created.

“The president will participate in the exchange,” an administration official told USA Today at the time.

[JoeFromSidney]

One thing I've noticed about liberals is that they believe in magic. That is, they think mere words can change reality. Some of them never get over it.

[gnarledmaw]

The Noonans, Hannitys, and even Limbaughs of the supposed conservative movement are a major part of the problem. They all claim that the Obamas of this world are ignorant, incompetent, and emotionalist. The fact is far more disturbing.

There are only two kinds of liberals. The first kind is too stupid to know what the question is and too emotional to be taught. The second group knows full well the weight of the answer and seeks to undermine it by preying on the first group.

We will all become victims if we continue to listen to the pipers playing the cadence for the right.

[capt B]

This is worth the read.