Take Me to Your Leader
In the United States of America, there is no greater an identifiable leader than the President, and none whose leadership demands legitimacy more.
OK, what do good leaders do? How would you describe a good leader?
For me, a leader worth his/her salt is honest, confident and humble, with a vision and approach to things that inspires others. That leader also is a good communicator, good decision maker and surrounds him/herself with smart people.
Those of you who read last week’s blog: “There’s an Elephant in the Room” know I don’t believe the current president has the mental or physical capacity to fill the demanding office he holds.
This week I’m going further. Joe Biden is not a leader.
While he has the title, sadly, the current President of the United States is not a good leader.
Under his short time on the world stage, the country has domestically devolved into chaos at the southern border, extreme divisiveness among the population, record-breaking crime, crippling inflation and attacks on free speech.
Add to that his foreign policy that has involved fighting a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, has emboldened other countries, including Russia, by our embarrassing withdrawal from Afghanistan – where we not only abandoned Americans, but also Afghans helping us in that elongated war – not to mention the estimated $85 billion in military equipment left behind for the Taliban. Our international respect was seriously eroded by that debacle, and we’re playing with the real possibility of a nuclear war with Russia, and Allah forbid, their new-found nuclear allies N. Korea and China.
On another critical front, Biden removed all the oil sales sanctions against Iran upon taking office. That removal has put $60-70B additional dollars into the coffers of Iran. In addition, President Biden also allowed the sanctions on Iran’s capability to purchase and supply missiles and drones to terrorist groups and other enemies of the U.S. and Israel to expire. Since the 1979’s Islamic Revolution in Iran and it becoming an autocratic theocracy, the country has been a major sponsor of Islamic terrorist organizations in numerous Mid-East countries. It openly admits it’s involvement and support of Hamas and Hezbollah, and a host of other jihadist radicals.
Negotiations since 2021 have also allowed Iran more latitude in developing its nuclear abilities. The recent payment of $6B (ransom) to Iran as part of a prisoner exchange made Iran positive it could get away with almost anything.
Iran took advantage of that knowledge by supporting, if not planning, the Hamas invasion of Israel several weeks ago. Iran has also armed another Israel-hating, terrorist group, Hezbollah, in Lebanon.
A decisive US president would not ignore the murder of 30 Americans in the Hamas attack in Israel, nor the estimated 20+ American hostages taken and held hostage by Hamas. A decisive and patriotic president would give Hamas maybe 24 hours to give up those hostages or face the US military – not another proxy war behind Israel.
Publicly warning Israel to be restrained it its response to over the 1,400 civilian Israelis murdered and mutilated by the recent Hamas incursion into that country only makes Hamas and others more confident they have nothing to respect or fear from the US. Making a commitment of $100M to Gaza residents before any action in the strip only cements the sense we will do just about anything to appease. A presidential leader would not make any of those moves.
He’s also totally ignored the Abrams Accords to diplomatically normalize Arab countries relations with Israel. What he’s done is the opposite, namely lighting a fuse on the powder keg represented by the seemingly constant unrest, tension and hate in the Middle East. That hate is not limited to the Jews and Americans, but between Muslim sects as well. We.ve already had attacks on over a dozen military installations in the Mid-East, and we can expect attacks on our Mid-East and African embassies.
Russia was/is, and now Iran is, emboldened by our non-actions and empty words, and now China is doing its saber rattling regarding the China South Sea and Taiwan and may invade that island anytime.
An analogy is the current criminals facing no consequence for crimes committed. Without consequence, they just continue and even expand their crimes. Do we expect something different from rogue countries?
In the WH and other institutions today, success is attributed to first placing blame on others for its own deeds when they fail – and then complaining about those results by attributing those results to ideological or political ‘enemies.’
Instead of leading, taking those positive things accomplished by his predecessor, Biden has been on a bent to totally undo everything Trump did because Trump did it, not because it was all bad. It’s petty – and for the country, dangerous.
A good leader builds on strengths regardless of who was around when they were developed. A corporate CEO who would start a new job by undoing everything any predecessor did would last about 5 minutes.
When does the United States get real leadership back in our federal government?
Answer: when we vote for such a person.
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Have a great and prosperous week.
Hug somebody.
References:
https://blog.taskque.com/characteristics-good-leaders/
SPIDER Bites
This week’s trivia question: What is the only continent without an active volcano? The answer to last week’s question. Who wrote the “Star-Spangled Banner”: Francis Scott Key. The poem, originally titled “The Defense of Fort McHenry,” was written after Key witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the War of 1812. Key, was inspired by the sight of a lone U.S. flag still flying over the fort at daybreak, as reflected in the now-famous words: “And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.” It became our national anthem in 1931.
The hurricane season officially ends Tuesday. No hurricanes in Florida or the US in 2023. Climate change was supposed make it one of the worst ever. Oops.
Isn’t it thrilling? The House selected a new Speaker last week and now can go on its merry, spending way.
The conflict in the Middle East expanded to 20 attacks on US forces stationed there. Hamas still holds over 200 hostages, including 20 Americans in Gaza. Israel started its ground assault last week, limiting its incursions into the Gaza Strip thus far. It’s war, and war is hell – and there’s going to be civilian casualties. Proportionality be damned. A 2007 election put Hamas in power in Gaza, and there hasn’t been an election since. Protests continued here against Israel and the Jews, including students playing with their future employment opportunities. Let’s hope the lid stays on WWIII over there.
Here’s a story you can trust. In its latest poll released last week, Gallup reported 39% of people say they have no trust “at all” in mass media – an all-time high. The poll also found that only 32% of those polled had a “great deal” of trust that the “mass media” reports “news fully, accurately and fairly” – matching the all-time low established in 2016. The poll was conducted in late September before the Gaza Strip hospital bombing hoax was reported as an Israeli target. The media has little credibility as most media outlets appear to have a preconceived bias and narrative on many major issues and events.
President Maduro of Venezuela has barred his main rival, Maria Corine Machado, from running for office. We’ll see if that order works with the voters.
Well, it’s almost November and the World Series finally started Friday. If it goes to 7 games, the last game between the Rangers and Diamondbacks will be 11/4.
If you worked for the State Dept you could have celebrated “Intersex Awareness Day” last week. I know, you’re sorry you missed it.
