After watching President Bush wait almost 8 years to admit that he made mistakes, it was refreshing to see President Obama deliver his first mea culpa a mere 2 weeks into his first term. Fortunately, the errors of Obama's vetting team are easily corrected and won't result in the loss of life or treasure.
That Presidents sometimes make mistakes shouldn't surprise anyone. It's a job that requires a hundred gray decisions a day, and the management of a 2 million person bureacracy. But a President should be careful in the age of YouTube about admitting those mistakes.
I was one of the millions who gnashed his teeth when President Bush repeatedly refused to admit mistakes related to Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, Guantanomo, Abu Ghraib, etc. The truth is that Bush understood and appreciated these mistakes but chose not to admit them for fear his admission would be subsequently used against him by his political opponents.
President Obama has promised a new era of honesty and transparency in governing, and should be commended for admitting that the vetting process for Daschle, Geithner and Killefer was flawed. But he needs to be judicious in admitting future errors if he wants to avoid having his words used against him in a future campaign commercial.
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Joan Walsh
Kerry Lauerman
Salon.com
Comments
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Plus, throwing out an "I screwed up" takes one's opponents by surprise and gives leeway to do more *stuff*, screwed up or not.
(Or?? - gives, as you suggest, one's opponents ammunition...)
Sigh, decisions, decisions...
I think if he turns the economy around, brings troops home, defuses hostility towards America around the world, he's going to make the last paragraph of your post inoperative.
yes, political opponents will make hay of it, but they will make hay of anything. Unlike most Democrats of our generation, Obama doesn't seem to make decisions based on whether conservatives will criticize him. He knows they will criticize him no matter what.
His greatest strength right now is being a communicator, and he can't be that if he doesn't admit obvious mistakes, because it erodes trust.
By admitting he made a mistake in glossing over his prospective appointees tax issues, he gave the Republicans one news cycle to gloat.
But longer term, I think this week's actions will be remembered (if at all) more for Obama's demonstration of his ability to respond quickly and effectively to problems. Making a mistake, either in judgement or action, is understandable. Keep making the same mistake, or sticking with a choice that is doomed to failure, can be ruinous to a Presidency.
I personally looked at the multi-page application on Obama's transition website. How Geithner and Daschle could have gone forward with their massive tax issues outstanding is beyond me. Its not like either man was unaware of the sort of scrutiny, or the expectations for ethical history, that were going to be placed upon them. Shame on Obama's team for not picking up on these problems before their names were submitted for nomination.
Long term, I believe that Obama and his advisors have learned a powerful message. And hearing The Man himself take responsibility on TV can only spur his staffers to work harder in the future to avoid repeats.
nominating a tax-dodging medical lobbyist for secretary of health is not a mistake: it is evidence that washington is so crooked that they no longer have a sense of smell within the beltway.
Did the media question anything in the disastrous Bush years? Not really. And now we're paying the price!!!
I saw a 2001 clip of Bill O'Reilly stating how un-American to criticize Bush, the then new president and how we had to give him a chance, etc, that it was un-American not to, but in the United States of Hypocrisy, such words only apply to Republicans. Bill started bashing, attacking, smearing, questioning, criticizing, along with all the other Republicans such as Rove and Limbaugh (who made overtly treasonous statements on national TV!!!), the day after Obama's inaugaration!!! Although the Democrats are better than this sort of thing, remember to apply the same standards of morality, decency, ethics, and conduct to Republicans as well as Democrats!!
As for Daschle, I was much more outraged that he made $5 million giving speeches to the very industry he would be charged with overseeing as HHS Secretary than by his failure to pay all his taxes. Almost everyone can identify with someone who fails to pay all their taxes, because many of us have failed in the same or similar way. But very few of us can identify with those incredible speakers' fees.