Summary: There is no need to read the daily news when one can remain current by reading David Halberstam’s The Best and the Brightest. It’s better written than any daily paper, and more informative about today’s events (by virtue of the perspective it provides on them).
Many of Obama’s supporters claim that he’s similar to Jack Kennedy. They are so right. Today’s example comes from Glen Greenwald, Salon, 12 October 2009:
As for the “you-have-to-wait” justification, here’s the time-line of the Democratic Party mentality on all such matters:
- 2004-2006: “You have to wait until we win a Congressional majority in the 2006 midterms.”
- 2006-2008: “You have to wait until we win the White House in 2008.”
- January-May, 2009: “You have to wait until we have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.”
- Currently: “You have to wait until after the 2010 midterms so we preserve our majority” or “you have to wait until Obama is safely re-elected in 2012.”
Once Obama is safely re-elected, it will be: “you have to wait so you don’t jeopardize the 2014 midterms.” That’s the mentality that produces majority power which exists for no real purpose but to perpetuate itself.
A voice from the past shows the similarity: Chapter 7 of The Best and the Brightest:
Yet if there was a problem with the pragmatism of the period, it was that there were simply too many foreign policy problems, too many crises, each crowding the others, demanding to be taken care of in that instant. There was too little time to plan, to think; one could only confront the most immediate problems and get rid of them piecemeal but as quickly as possible, or at least postpone any action. Long-range solutions, thoughtful changes, would have to wait, at least until the second term.
And thus it was the irony of the Kennedy Administration that John Kennedy, rationalist, pledged above all to rationality, should continue the most irrational of all major American foreign policies, that policy toward {Communist} China and the rest of Asia. He was aware of the change in the Communist world, he was aware of the split between the Chinese and the Russians; it was, he realized, something very important. But he would deal with it later. Early on, when Stevenson and Bowles repeatedly mentioned China to Kennedy, saying that the policy was absurd and that it was urgent to try to change it, Kennedy would smile and agree and say yes, it was a stupid policy, but it would all have to wait. Until the second term. It could not be changed now. There was a limit to the things he could do.
… it was one of the wonderous things which would take place in the second term. …
Analysis
“Wait for a better time to do important things.” The sad thing about this logic is that it’s self-defeating on two levels.
(1) By encouraging timidity, it prevents the risk-taking that creates major accomplishments and electoral victory — like a football team that’s afraid to pass.
(2) For most people in the White House, this is their one chance to make a difference on a large scale. There’s little to be gained by focusing on neatly spelled memos that produce no results, leading to a lifetime of “if only I had dared” regrets. Both career logic and personal satisfaction suggest boldness.
For more information from the FM site
To read other articles about these things, see the following:
Reference pages about other topics appear on the right side menu bar, including About the FM website page.
Other notes from the past on the FM site:
- Our futures seen in snippets of the past, 16 June 2008
- President Grant warns us about the dangers of national hubris, 7 July 2008
- de Tocqueville warns us not to become weak and servile, 21 July 2008
- Let’s look at America in the mirror, the first step to reform, 14 August 2008
- Can Americans pull together? If not, why not?, 29 August 2008
- Napoleon’s advice to President Obama about the financial crisis, 29 April 2009
- A wonderful and important speech about liberty, 23 July 2009
- A warning from Alexis De Tocqueville about our military, 7 August 2009
- Another note from our past, helping us see our future, 16 September 2009
- A note from America’s diary: “My power proceeds from my reputation…”, 22 September 2009
- Seeing today through the eyes of a future historian, 25 September 2009
Afterword
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