08/07/2005
The loss of public support for his Iraq policy linked in a
functional way with his and his party's loss of credibility as the leadership needed for our times leaves us with a situation
much more critical than lame-duckiness.
Are we supposed to stagger forward for three more years handicapped
by a flat tire at the highest level of our leadership vehicle?
We are getting no right-direction signals from any of these
leaders. They have no skill up to the task of leading or even managing difficulties.
Despite the lop-sided political advantage of our most recent
national election and the temerity and caution of the opposition party, these supposedly wise republican leaders and strategists
are demonstratining an incredible lack of skill at managing the affairs of state.
They are demonstrating an inability to manage or even subdue
what they might label as brush-fire problems which - one could say - routinely crop up in the normal course of political business
in this country. And as James T. Kirk goaded Khan, "You guys just ... keep ... missing ... the target."
If there is such as thing as a "normal situation" in this
country I could say that "normally" when one party emerges victorious in an election, those who voted for the other party
can take comfort in the general high quality, integrity and bi-partisan value of governing wisdom of those who did win.
These guys make it look like this country elected the Washington
Generals instead of the Harlem Globetrotters. They can't dribble, can't shoot and certainly can't play team-oriented ball.
They're constantly out of bounds, palming the ball, committing
foolish and egregious personal fouls and falling further and further behind on the scoreboard.
They try to play on only one end of the court where the bleachers
are full of fanatics who want to change the way the game is played, who can play and what the public address system is allowed
to broadcast.
If you look down their bench, you don't see anyone riding
the pines capable of substituting for the fumblers on the floor and doing any better.
You do see some of those benchwarmers nursing dreams of future
stardom by focusing on the bleachers when they should be focusing on the game itself.
You see flashes in the pan for whom the team's financial backers
have big plans and lots of money but also a limited self-serving priority of filling more bleachers rather than championship
rings.
Not the players ...
Not the coaches ...
Not the owners ...
... none of them show skill, wisdom or even a concern that
the team remain viable, competitive and effective.
We're not witnessing the creation of any kind of winning tradition
here in the spirit of Celtics, Yankees, or Patriots.
We're looking at having to endure years of the 1960's Mets
when Casey Stengal asked "Can't anyone here play this game?"
Arthur Ruger