Posted on 03/07/2009 1:14:35 PM PST by Congressman Billybob
Spring is a very special time, here on the Eastern Continental Divide. This was a particularly harsh winter. The first task on this first truly warm and sunny day was to patrol the grounds and see which plants had survived, and which had not.
We were worried about the red maple planted just last summer. It and the wisteria made it through with flexible small branches, not small and brittle ones. Both plants were presents from dear friends, and one of those friends did not survive the winter. So it was good to see that her plant survive.
Michelle is a bit of a gardener; I am not. But we both appreciate the results. And this tour reminded me of one of the most successful gardeners of all time. How many of you remember Chance the Gardener?
Chance was the character played by Peter Sellers in his last and perhaps finest movie, Being There. His name is merely Chance; no last name. He has only two functions, one is polishing an antique car that sits on four flat tires in the garage of an elderly wealthy man who is about to die. The other is tending a walled garden behind the old man’s townhouse. This he does with experience and skill.
By an improbable series of events I won’t describe here (it is a fine movie, get and see it if you haven’t already), Chance winds up in the home of the man who is the power behind the President of the United States. Asked who he is, he replies that he is Chance the Gardener. It is misheard as Chauncy Gardiner.
Thereafter, whenever he talks about “pruning the plants so they will thrive in the spring,” others take his comments as profound metaphors on the state of the nation. By the end of the movie, Chance has been chosen to be in line to be the next President, despite the fact that no one knows what his background is, or what he has ever accomplished.
You know where this is headed. I saw you smile. Except for the fact that Chance was totally honest and was not trying to fool anyone, he is a parallel to our current President Barack Obama.
The simple truth is that Obama is a one-trick pony. He gives speeches. In every situation he gives another speech. Let’s put it in plain terms. If Obama had been at the controls of that plane which ditched into the Hudson rather than Captain Sully, he would have given the first two sentences of a bang-up speech about the future of aviation as the plane crashes in Manhattan, killing all on board and thousands on the ground.
Sit down with a list of Presidents starting with George Washington. Ask yourselves which ones were good speakers and which were successful leaders. See for yourselves how often the ability to give an inspiring speech is unrelated to the ability to govern.
Begin with Washington. He seldom spoke, and never at length. His eloquent Farewell Address to the People of the United States was not delivered live. It was thought through and written down, as were all Presidents’ addresses to Congress until well into the 20th Century.
The simple fact is that rhetorical skill is a valuable adjunct to executive skill. A leader who knows what he/she is doing will be more successful if he/she can also communicate those intentions effectively to the people. But, and this is an important caveat, speaking well is not a substitute for knowing what you are doing.
Speaking well without knowledge and experience to back it up, involves a double deception. The speaker deceives his audience because he can. Then he deceives himself because he sees a sea of nodding faces in from him and thinks he is succeeding.
In a movie, the result is Chance the Gardener. In real life, the result is Chance the President. In a time of peace and prosperity, the nation can survive with no effective President. Consider the Administration of Warren G. Harding.
Now is not the time for President Chance. We need more than fast talk and Roman Emperor poses on camera. We need results.
- 30 -
About the Author: John Armor practiced law in the Supreme Court for 33 years. He now lives on the Eastern Continental Divide in the Blue Ridge of North Carolina. John_Armor@aya.yale.edu
- 30 -
Thanks for your many great threads!!!
He was also kind-hearted, cheerful, and most importantly, humble.
Barry is none of those things.
"fluttered pulses" -- Hoo yeah. I'm talking to you, Chrissy Matthews. And that NYT bimbo and and and ...
"glittered when [s]he walked" -- Mrs. Cory and her cut-glass-and-paste Mardi Gras homage to Winnie Mandela's lovely necklaces.
"richer than a king" -- On our dime and then some.
"went without the meat" -- Middle-class America is getting there. President Wagyu, not so much.
"imperially slim" -- Not for long at this rate.
"clean-favoured" -- Oh, all right. He's not exactly ugly. Just creepy-looking.
"human when he talked" -- Well, umm, I suppose, err, stammering aaaaannnd, uh, stuttering, ahh, qualify as "human."
However:
"quietly arrayed"? Granted, he has a good tailor. But that Air Force One jacket? And those bathing trunks? And those columns...?
"admirably schooled in every grace"? People's Exhibit A: 25 Classic American Movies on DVD.
"gentleman"? "I won!"
Yep, he’s like Toonces the Cat.
He can run a country — ‘just not very well’.
I was saying the same thing to everyone as well.
People thought I was nuts.
______________________________________
No, he is Blacula, striking terror and sucking the life out of everything around him.
= reading the teleprompter.
Leni
Tom Paine has nothing on you Sir.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.