Richard Fernandez in Through a Cloud is looking for specific talents in the next President: The point is that the problem of "who will make a good president in 1990" is not quite the same as "who will make a good president in 2017." For the sake of discussion, let me suggest that only four things matter in selecting a man to face a challenge whose present dimensions cannot be predicted. For purposes of debate, let these four qualities in descending order of importance be:
1. An ability to face the facts, however unpleasant they may be. The most important quality of the next president should be a lack of self-deception and a willingness to see things as they truly are, even if he or his ideology wish them to be otherwise. This is so important that it trumps the next item.
2. An unswerving patriotism. This is not the same as a sincere feeling of love or empathy for America, though that is good. In this context it means the willingness to share the fate of the principals of which he is an agent. It means no personal survival apart from the survival of the nation; no personal greatness except as it reflects the greatness of the principal. It means there can be no separate peace; no side payoff from the crisis he is to face. Perhaps the lines which best capture this patriotism comes from a movie script depicting a commanding officers commitment to his men before a battle. "I can't promise you that I will bring you all home alive. But this I swear, before you and before Almighty God, that when we go into battle, I will be the first to set foot on the field, and I will be the last to step off, and I will leave no one behind. Dead or alive, we will all come home together. So help me, God."
3. Nerve. This is the quality of grace under pressure who no one, unless he has the misfortune to be tested, can be sure he possesses. To a certain extent heroes are born and not made, a phenomenon sometimes called the "Ace Factor. There is no known test which can detect its presence a priori; you just have to wait for the day. A Yale psychologist once used the example of "Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot of the aeroplane that was successfully landed on the Hudson River" to illustrate the problem. One can fly an airliner thousands of hours without ever finding out what you will do if your engines flame out 3,000 feet over New York with only six minutes left to live. Of which of the candidates can we say: well he can face that live or die moment?
4. Intelligence. This is important, because it determines basic competence. But it surprisingly the least important attribute in this list. Intelligence, though rare, is not nearly as hard to find as the 3 characteristics above. You can find staffers who can give you intelligent advice. You cannot find staff to give you a character that you do not possess.
RTWT @ Richard Fernandez in Through a Cloud
Posted by gerardvanderleun at February 19, 2016 9:12 AM
How about Wisdom to select and act upon an adequate alternative, in a timely manner?
Posted by: Howard Nelson at February 19, 2016 10:32 AMPeople with those principles recognize the underlying criminality of gov't and will never have anything to do with it at all.
Once again, even though today it seems gov't is overflowing with criminals, most of them were good people at one time. Upon entering the sphere of criminality they too succumbed for there is no other way to remain there. The very foundation of democracy is criminal and there is no way around it.
You'll only be able to avoid this truth for a short while longer.
Afterward you'll look back and regret that you didn't recognize it sooner as it seems so clear now, maybe.
Posted by: ghostsniper at February 19, 2016 10:50 AMThe primary job of the President is to protect the people from foreign and domestic enemies. He is the C-in-C and the chief law enforcement officer for the nation. The four characteristics cited by Fernandez are what an ideal C-in-C would possess.
Unfortunately, very little time is spent on measuring our candidates for the job of C-in-C. Most of it is spent in looking for the Santa Claus-in-Chief with the most domestic programs to "help" people.
In Obama, we certainly have an example of a man in the job who does not measure up to the standards cited. Although men with no military experience have served adequately in the job, it appears to me that men with military experience are more likely to meet the qualifications cited. I can think of two men who might qualify, if they chose to run for the office - Senator Tom Cotton, and former Representative Allen West.
IMO, not one of the candidates among the present crop meet the these standards to be C-in-C. In a time of seemingly never-ending conflict/war that concerns me.
Posted by: Jimmy J. at February 19, 2016 11:04 AMHe means someone completely unlike Obama.
Posted by: DiogenesLamp at February 19, 2016 11:06 AMI have been reading RF's site for many years. He knows more about what it means to be an American and American values than most Americans. Unlike him, I have lost all hope in politicians. In this day of media soundbites they will say and promise anything to get elected....as they know that nobody will hold them accountable.
Posted by: Dave J at February 19, 2016 11:58 AMWhat type of man we needed before this new age is now irrelevant; what is needed in the age after Obama and the explosive growth of the State is another issue, completely.
A Sam Adams is needed now, not a John Adams. A man with the will and ruthlessness of Lenin, a Patton or a Pershing; not a McClellan or a Petraeus.
Don't think about or plan to fight Obama or those of his ilk. Think and plan to fight against the depraved electorate that uses those fools as it's tools to enslave the rest of us.
If you are self-censuring your words and even your thoughts every day then thank an 'Educator', if you don't understand the language of your home streets then thank the media and your politicians.
Someone is going to become the new Kulaks, (i.e. To be eliminated as a class...); them or us.
Posted by: John the River at February 20, 2016 7:01 AMUnfortunately a Man with Qualities is not what you get in Kakania.
It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress. - Stuff Samuel Clemens said over 100 years ago.
Some things never change.
Posted by: David at February 21, 2016 6:50 AMOne more thing: we need a man who can look at that painting of Washington crossing the frozen Delaware and say. "Whoa! That's a LOT of ice in that river! Maybe there really was something called the Little Ice Age!"
And the planet has been warming up from the LIA, in fits and starts, ever since. "Carbon" has nothing to do with it. Just like CO2 has nothing to do with the bogus global warming scare.
We need a man who is sick and tired — like we are — of all the propaganda, hype, and false alarms that are nothing more than a giant scam, intended to grease the skids so the Progs can take over...
...otherwise, BOHICA.
Posted by: Smokey at February 22, 2016 7:02 PM
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