A lesson in failed leadership
Category: National, Red vs. Blue
June 16, 2010 | BY Byron Bradshaw
I think today I’m going to dive right into my topic: the oil “spill” in the Gulf. (By the way, is it really OK to call it a “spill” now? A spill is what happens when a 4 year old tries to pour themselves a glass of milk or I try to snow ski. This is not a spill. Shouldn’t we be using a different word to better reflect the magnitude of the situation? I guess we can give props to the BP Public Relations people for doing something beneficial for their company.) What I’d really like to focus on is the speech that President Obama made from the Oval Office last night in regards to the worst environmental disaster our country has ever faced.
I guess I should give a caveat: I am not an Obama fan (surprise, surprise). There’s a laundry list of things I don’t like about him, and in fact the way he and his administration have been handling this crisis are going to be at the top of the list going forward. First of all, I would like to point out that last night was Day 58 of the crisis, and 8 weeks after it happened. It is absolutely ridiculous to me that Obama has waiting this long to speak to the country about what’s happening in the Gulf. For me, this was a “feel good” speech and a Public Relations move for the President himself. There were many, many cushy words but no concrete plans. Speaking in ambiguity, he almost (almost!) makes his speech hard to argue against. It’s hard to disagree with generalities. Because his administration has completely failed as a leader in this situation, the President reverted to doing what he does best: politicizing the situation 2/3 of the speech he gave wasn’t about cleanup or recovery, but about energy policy. (Don’t get me wrong – I’m a huge proponent of alternative/green/renewable energy sources, but last night was NOT the time for sermon.)
The most concrete thing he said last night was he was going to “force” BP to create some sort of an escrow fund to help compensate those who have suffered from the disaster. While I agree that BP should be held responsible for their actions, it sets a VERY bad precedent for a President to promise to the American people that he is going to force a private entity to do anything. Sometimes, I think Obama forgets he is a President, and therefore his domestic policy power is severely limited. Legally, he can’t force BP to do anything. Obviously, BP should (read: will because they seriously need a PR boost) comply and be responsible for the company’s actions. However Obama should not be taking credit for this at all, because it’s really out of his hands.
What the President should have been focused on last night was cleanup and recovery, and we heard hardly any of that. Obama’s insincere proselytizing isn’t going solve anything in the Gulf. It just left us with gushing oil well in the gulf that needs to be plugged, and another in Obama’s face that needs to be stopped up as well.
As always, I’ll appreciate your comments!
Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions.
–Harold S. Geneen
About the Author
Byron Bradshaw: Byron is a recent transplant to New York City. Before his move to the East Coast, he was a Texas boy. He grew up on a small ranch outside a tiny town in Central-Northwest Texas. While a student at The University of Texas at Austin, Byron got his first taste of politics through an internship with a Republican state senator. After graduating from UT in 2008, Byron worked for a large Republican fundraising/consulting firm that provided advice in new media, direct media, event planning, grassroots, speech writing, and television commercial content to clients that ranged from State Representatives, State Supreme Court Justices, and U.S. Congressmen. During the 2009 Texas Legislative session, Byron worked as a clerk in the Committee Coordinator’s office. Byron lives with his partner, Scott, and their dog, Bentley. In his free time he enjoys tennis, choral music, trips to the “bark park,” and supporting gay and lesbian Republican organizations.
I agree with you that Obama should have spent more time on clean up and recover, especially considering the time it took for this speech to happen.
Byron,
I appreciate the fact you’re willing to communicate your views in an open forum. As a result, I hope you’re willing to take advantage of a great opportunity that is in front of you: an opportunity to further develop your view of the world and offer constructive solutions to its problems. I plan to comment further in another post on why I fundamentally disagree with many of your views but with this post I only want to focus on one thing: your (apparent) bifurcated view of politics and the world. To me, it appears that you have latched onto the dichotomy of politics, Democrats versus Republicans, blue versus red. It is almost like you’ve taken the rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma and applied it to the political world. You’ve latched onto ONE team and would rather be caught dead than cheering for the other side.
Referencing your Republican Manifesto post, you are long on rhetoric and short on substance. It is my belief that people today would rather be entertained than educated (hence why the Bill O’Reillies of the world are so popular). I see a common thread in your posts where you are trying to leverage the Bill O’Reilly model of political discourse in an effort to garner public support. It just doesn’t work for me.
“Obama’s insincere proselytizing isn’t going solve anything in the Gulf. It just left us with gushing oil well in the gulf that needs to be plugged, and another in Obama’s face that needs to be stopped up as well.”
–Byron, you can do better than this. You are smarter than this. Let’s create a forum that can truly foster solutions to the problems we face. I put the ball in your court; you decide how you want to proceed.