champs

President Obama is presented with a Green Bays Packers football jersey by quarterback Aaron Rodgers during a ceremony honoring the Super Bowl XLV Champion Green Bay Packers, Aug. 12

President Obama reacts to being presented with a stock certificate by Green Bay Packers football cornerback Charles Woodson

‘the big lie that obama can’t lead is crumbling’

Walter Rodgers (Christian Science Monitor): “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it,” instructed the Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, “people will eventually come to believe it.”

….the big lie repeated about President Obama has been that he’s not a real leader … Some of this maligning reflects darker bigotry toward Mr. Obama. But it also shows our outdated and wrongheaded notions of leadership.

American culture mistakenly prizes bravado and arrogance as sure signs of leadership. Public showmanship – like donning a flight suit in front of a “Mission Accomplished” banner – is easy. Quiet, cool, competence that gets results – like pulling together an international coalition to protect civilians in Libya in record time – is hard. It’s a bias we learn as kids. Our history books lionize war heroes, yet are often silent about the diplomats who prevented conflict.

Let’s recall the herculean tasks Obama has already accomplished (see here)

….Forgetting these and other accomplishments …. Goebbels-style nihilism that rejects anything Obama does as odious remains a powerful narrative. The good news is that Obama’s shrewd and calculated management of the hunt for bin Laden shows how hollow these critiques are…

….Obama’s hawkish critics chide him for allegedly “sitting on the sidelines” during recent uprisings in Yemen, Tunisia, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, and Syria. Take it from someone who has reported from across the Middle East: Sitting out potential Arab civil wars isn’t abdication of leadership; it is wisdom.

And yet, when facing near-certain humanitarian disaster, Obama wisely and rapidly put together a broad NATO coalition to deal with the Libyan revolt while keeping American involvement to a minimum – no boots on the ground and no dead Americans.

…A friend, a center-right voter, told me recently, “The reason I voted for Obama is because he has no hatred in him.” In another era of divisive bitterness, Lincoln preached, “with malice toward none, with charity toward all.” It’s worth noting how closely Obama’s philosophy of leadership approaches that.

Full article here

‘huntsman-bachmann in 2012!’ (seriously)

Ed Rodgers (former White House staffer to Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush): ….Jon Huntsman is an articulate, attractive, cerebral, urbane internationalist. He’s a proven conservative with a reassuring, moderate tone and a model family. His vast experience … clearly makes him qualified to be president.

In other words, he is “toast” in today’s Republican Party, and he has very little chance to be the 2012 nominee.

Elections are won in the center. The right ticket led by Huntsman could unify and motivate the party to believe it actually could replace President Obama and Vice President Biden with real conservatives.

The GOP, with its traditional approach to the nominating process, will never give former Utah governor Huntsman room to explain his participation in the Obama administration and nuanced issues, such as his position on immigration. He will never satisfy the most angry members of our party. And if he somehow managed to win the nomination, a third-party candidate could attack him from the right and almost guarantee Obama’s reelection.

….Michele Bachmann is a GOP leader to watch. She is a star in the party and bulletproof with our right wing. She is more thoughtful than she gets credit for. The Tea Party will follow her to the ends of the earth …. But she also has many glib, shallow positions … The left will be vicious and eager to Palinize Bachmann before she builds any momentum. Given her inexperience she will make her share of mistakes, and she is not yet credible as a commander in chief. 😆

Huntsman and Bachmann should have a meeting of the minds and offer themselves as a Huntsman-led ticket … Think about it … Republicans need to do something radical … let’s try something different. Take the best team the party can offer and get it started early. Let’s give ourselves a chance. We can’t compete with the Obama team on its terms or on its preferred calendar.

Full article here (Washington Post)

Does Rodgers seriously believe Huntsman (pro-civil unions, worked for President Obama, etc, etc) can win the GOP nomination – considering what the GOP has become?!