The buck stops passes through here

When disaster strikes, as it did the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, a lot of politicians are quite to eschew responsibility. Former state finance commissioner John Gunyou has an excellent illustration of the Take Responsibility Two-Step, performed by Governor Tim Pawlenty, Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau, and President George W. Bush.

Where's Harry Truman when you need him? Today's leaders seem to have a sign that reads, "The buck passes through here." The non-apology has become the refuge of those who'd rather act resolute after the fact, than actually demonstrate forward-thinking leadership.

Bravo.

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Then there's the folks who voted for the war, but have withdrawn their support.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.

Comeuppance well deserved

According to Christopher Caldwell, our palpable relief at the Republican's midterm election beating is mostly to do with our satisfaction with the receding authority of President Bush. Great leaders, he says, listen to their constituents and then mirror back their interests. Bush, on the other hand, reflects a cocky, brash, "I don't do nuance" belief. As we collectively enjoyed this attitude when he took office, "U-S-A...U-S-A," we share the shame as it has led us into an Iraqi quagmire, a massive budget deficit, and several major ethical scandals. The haste to remove this mirror, says Caldwell, is why even Republicans have a sense of relief after the midterms. "The losers seem to believe they got what was coming to them."

P.S. Although I found the piece intellectually intriguing, Caldwell's argument that voters don't understand the Democratic agenda because one-third have never heard of Harry Reid is completely asinine. Agenda != Harry Reid