Our Nation Needs Leadership, Not Ideology

But let me condition this phrase. Hitler showed leadership as did Mussolini in addressing the problems their countries were faced with. But I don't sense Obama in the same light. He asks reasonable questions and proposes reasonable solutions. He doesn't seek scapegoats, but is willing to look for solutions.

Our nation seems to crave reason after blindly following dogma for eight years. Obama is smart enough to understand that though we made a mistake by invading Iraq, we must somehow make our exit of Iraq within our national interest. He understands, that our real problem is Al Qaeda and it's resurgence in Afganistan and the unruly parts of Pakistan. He's examined the situation, not on the basis of liberal or conservative ideology, but on the basis of American national interest.

Now, admittedly, I am the rare liberal who agreed with the idea of the surge. I never thougth the "light footprint" idea of Rumseld/Casey would work. I disagreed with the invasion of Iraq, but my biggest complaint was the inept adminstration of reconstruction in Iraq. De-baathification and the dissolution of the Iraqi army were critically bad decisions that seemed to be made by subordinates of the President, not by the President himself, which shows you just how passive and weak the President was in determining the most important policies of his adminstration.

George W. Bush wasn't a decider, he was a tragically inept third party to others who controlled his administration. George W. Bush substituted the perception for control for the absence of control. That kind of institutional incoherency seems to be the antithesis of what Barack Obama is all about.

John McCain is a noble American who means well but has surrendered his morals for political pragmatism, only to find that what he thought was pragmatic, was merely dogmatic. He is a tragic figure, one whom I used to respect, and now pity more than despise. Obama has been the unflappable leader while McCain has showed himself as an erratic politician. I mourn the loss of the 2000 McCain. Our nation desperately needed him. But McCain out of what he considered political pragmatism supported that which in his heart caused him grief. And now, he looks into the abyss of his surrender of principle and common sense and tries to convince us it never happened.

McCain could have shown us leadership and wisdom, but he decided upon a safer course, but one that was disastorous to our national intersts. The cool and collected Sen. Obama will likely win the Presidency simply because he appears like a leader. And leadership is what our nation needs.