![74325: Kingdom Triangle: Recover the Christian Mind, Renovate the Soul, Restore the Spirit"s Power](http://ag.christianbook.com/g/tiny/7/74325.gif "74325: Kingdom Triangle: Recover the Christian Mind, Renovate the Soul, Restore the Spirit"s Power")
Obama Cool With Being Jimmy Carter
In interview number 3,348,495,483 since taking office one year ago President Obama made some noteworthy comments. He told Diane Sawyer he wouldn’t mind being a one term president, a la Jimmy Carter, if he can just be a good one. Better than being a “mediocre two term president.” He also said, “You know, there is a tendency in Washington to believe our job description, of elected officials, is to get reelected. That’s not our job description…Our job description is to solve problems and to help people.”
This is a tough one. I predict it will play well with the people because to some extent it is true. The President should be focused on what is good for the country not on what will get him reelected. The problem is the policies Obama supports are demonstrably bad for the country racking up trillions of dollars in debt that our great-grandchildren simply will not be able to afford. He’s creating more problems that he’s fixing. The people get this. Why doesn’t the President? Sometimes presidents have to make difficult decisions that cost them the job but Obama isn’t pardoning Richard Nixon here.
It’s hard to escape the idea that Obama associates unpopularity with leadership. That’s dangerous and does not bode well for him, his party, or for us over the next three years.
What do you think? Should the President pay more attention to what the people think about policies like the health care bill? Or should he dig in and try to pass the 2000 page monster?
UPDATE: I woke up this morning thinking about why BO’s way of thinking is so dangerous and biblical examples of leadership. The President’s thinking that unpopularity is leadership removes one of the checks on presidential power: the will of the people. If he does not realize-or care- that he governs by the consent of the governed (i.e. you and I) then he will think he’s leading by merely by doing anything he wants potentially causing damage that cannot easily be undone.
But there are biblical examples of leadership in times of when the people do not want to go along. I keep thinking about Joshua’s farewell speech in Joshua 23-24. The land God gave them has been conquered with God’s assistance. Yet the people still clung to idols. Joshua called them to get rid of idols and serve God only giving one of the best lines in the Bible: “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Interesting that he let the people choose. When they chose God, Joshua renewed the covenant and set up a reminder.
But he did more than give them a choice. He inspired Israel to remember all that God had done for them in his speech. I certainly wasn’t one of those enamored by Obama’s ability to read from a teleprompter but many were. Did he think people were just sheep and his words didn’t really matter beyond election day 2008?
Can you think of better examples of leadership in the Bible? Leave a comment.
Of course, if he was a good president he’d get reelected. But let’s not go there…
If he’s fine with being a one-term President… I say let’s accomodate him!
Rev Nev Reply:
January 26th, 2010 at 7:50 AM
Yes! I really think he underestimates the power of emotion. If people really loved him then reelection would not be an issue.
Ben Reply:
January 26th, 2010 at 9:50 AM
I must differ with your assessment that he underestimates the power of emotion. Why? Because as a general principle, Leftists make a living out of appealing to the base emotional instincts of people. From the rhetoric of gay marriage (“You’d deny them the right to be with the person they love!”) to the language of class warfare (“Those rich people are getting richer from the sweat of YOUR brow, while you get poorer and poorer!”)… on and on… leftists appeal to banal insticts in people. They make their bread and butter by working people up into a lather.
What I think you’re getting at is that he underestimates the presence of emotional charge and power of conviction… from those on the right. So, as an example… in their eyes, for leftists to picket and riot and clash with police is a cherished expression of 1st Ammendment rights. But when conservatives express a fraction of that anger… oh, boy, they completely lose themselves. They run for cover from these “fanatics!”
By nature of being “conservative,” people on the right as a group tend to be more reserved and less willing to be flamboyant. So I think Obama, and other leftists in the political and cultural “elite,” were and are totally unprepared for the response they’ve recieved.
Rev Nev Reply:
January 26th, 2010 at 8:52 PM
Well, you might be right about liberals and emotion generally. But what I meant was that he thinks being unpopular means he is leading instead of giving people real reasons to follow him. He’s running around claiming that people just don’t understand and that he didn’t communicate enough, unable to see that maybe people do understand his plans and reject them. The statements quoted above reflect that misunderstanding. He’s already cashed in all his leadership chips.