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.
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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
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John / Billybob
We intelligensia know him as Chauncey Gardiner.
Bump.
Great film, Lousy President.
“I like to watch.”
Great movie and great posting. Thank you!
Bump!
Those with Netflix, “Being There” is available on watch-it-now.
Those with DirecTV HD, it’s coming on the HDNM channel sometime in the next few weeks, in HD.
Chauncey Gardiner, simple, good hearted and honestly ingenuous but not a real leader, is more Dubya than Obama. Barry is more Richard Corey, only he’s not going to go down alone. He’s taking us all with him.
—good one, Cong.Billybob—although I suspect Harding will be rated more highly a century from now than Obozo—if anyone is left who cares about stuff such as dead U. S. presidents-—
I remember the posts about, the parallel was really made then.
Even then it was clear.
Regards,
Texas Fossil
—good one, Cong.Billybob—although I suspect Harding will be rated more highly a century from now than Obozo—if anyone is left who cares about stuff such as dead U. S. presidents-—
I admire your good, solid sense. That’s precisely what we lack on Capitol Hill.
“You can trim the branches, but never sever the roots.”
Chance
Gotta see that one again....
That same thought has been running through my mind.
Thanks for writing it down!
Obamaloon is a huckster and a hoax!
Be Ever Vigilant!
John
I rest my case.
Would only add one tiny chilling point: Chance the Gardener learned everything he knew about the outside world from.... television.
Reagan was smart enough to allow others to hash out the details, acceding to compromise on tactics and sometimes even on strategy, but always focusing on the bedrock principles that provided the foundation of his beliefs.
Obama, in contrast, secrets his own principles by resort to rhetorical devices: repeated phrases, grandiloquent intonation, presumption in place of argument. I have not yet decided whether he does not believe he will be seen through, or whether he much cares. Either way, it is not good news for those who recognize the principles he takes care to hide.
See my Reply to:
A Man of Seasonal Principles (Charles Krauthammer)
Friday, July 04, 2008 9:50:54 AM · 7 of 29
FlameThrower to kellynla
Do you all recall BEING THERE — the oddly great Peter Seller’s film about an empty vessel of a man absorbing the popular culture from TV and dishing it out to the people, guided by political hacks who believe they have discovered a nascent messiah? I believe we are seeing something similar. The difference is, of course, that Obama is not an empty vessel. He is a little, damaged man like Chauncey Gardner, but one with a nasty streak and dangerously leftist instincts. This man has been adopted by the Democrat establishment as he emerged — first as the front runner and then as presumptive candidate. Now they are repackaging him as a viable, mainstream candidate. The false facade is under construction as we watch. The question is this: what will emerge after victory? A butterfly or a moth? I suspect a moth.
Just watched the movie a couple of weeks ago for about the 5th time.
Great movie. I had forgotten that once, a long time ago, Shirley MacLaine was a knockout.
Thanks for posting.
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