The four types of leadership after Iraq

The brouhaha over the Iraq War goes on, flowing naturally into the 2008 Presidential campaign (the one that started shortly after the 2006 elections). Columnist Debra Saunders is scathing in her assessment of the Democratic field because so many of the candidates voted for the Iraq War resolution but are now touting their opposition to the troop surge and the war itself. To her, this displays the best of the infamous "I was for it and then I was against it."

Leadership isn't so black and white. At the top you have Visionaries like Dennis Kucinich or Barack Obama. Kucinich opposed the war from the get-go and has this to say of his vote against the Iraq War resolution:

"You know, it must be really tough for candidates for president to come before the American people and to complain that they were tricked, deceived and misled by George Bush.

"Well," he deadpanned, "here's one person who wasn't."

Then there's the folks who voted for the war, but have withdrawn their support. I call these leaders Owners, because they take responsibility. John Edwards starts his Iraq War mea culpa with "I was wrong." He, among others, has the leadership skills to admit error and correct it.

Below them we have the Correctors. These folks can at least admit mistakes, though they're loathe to claim full responsibility. Hillary Clinton, for example, has been "misled by "false" intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction presented by the Bush administration." As Dennis Kucinich pointed out, being fed moose ka ka didn't prevent him from voting the right way.

And at the bottom of our scale are the Idealogues, the marble statues of the intellect that continue pointing boldly in the same direction regardless of the changing landscape. President Bush and Vice President Cheney proudly stand on their Iraq record and now point the military finger at Iran, as though starting another military fiasco will repair the errors of the first. These stone edifices are pretty, inspiring, and completely nude.