Unacceptable Leadership

August 29, 2007

I sometimes try to imagine what would happen if a CEO at a large corporation made as many errors as the Bush administration. Say a CEO, along with his close advisors, pushed for an aggressive overseas expansion that flopped and caused the reputation of the corporation to nose dive all around the world. Then add disastrous performance on any number of business fronts and several high profile examples of cronyism. This CEO would have been removed a long time ago by the corporate board. But our president continues to muddle along with enough support to stave off a serious call for his resignation.

I don't mean this post simply as a snark.. I really am curious why it works out that a president who performs like Bush is able to continue in his job. Israel offers a counter example with their Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The disastrously run war in Lebanon last summer brought his approval ratings into the single digits. It seems that no matter whether one is liberal or conservative in Israel.. there can at least be agreement over the poor handling of the war.

My sense is that this phenomenon has something to do with the nature of party affiliation as encouraged by Republicans. Among the core party supporters there is not merely an intellectual buy-in to the positions of the party.. but also an identity commitment. Bush as the head of the party is thus more than just a figure to be calmly approved of or disapproved of.. but a representative of the self. Professional and college ball clubs enjoy a similar commitment from fans. I see it here in Wisconsin with respect to the Packers. Last season I read a letter in our paper about how the test of a true fan is that he sticks with the team in bad times as well as good. Bush and his team, with their emphasis on loyalty and party basics, end up constructing a similarly fan-based version of political loyalty.

A second explanation as to why Bush continues to remain in office is his skill at muddying the waters. You can listen to Bush stand in New Orleans after Katrina and say: "We will do what it takes, we will stay as long as it takes, to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives... This great city will rise again." Nothing like this has happened and the continued federal response to New Orleans has been pathetic by all accounts. But the calculation on the part of Bush and Rove seemed to be that a large section of the public will hear the sound bites and then trust that things will go OK. If the public does question the broken promises then the issue can be muddied by blaming this or that local official.. and pretty soon they aren't sure who to blame.

We have witnessed a succession of points at which Bush has walked out onto a stage and pronounced this or that situation "unacceptable". It is a distancing word that makes it sound as if the problem lies out there separate from his own policies. But what is unacceptable for our nation is the leadership of George W. Bush. This second anniversary of the devastation of Hurricanne Katrina is as good a time as any to call for the resignation of this president and his vice president.