Monday, November 17, 2008

President-Elect Obama's 60 Minutes Interview

The whole thing.  In three parts.  With commercials I believe.

UPDATE:  The CBS News 60 Minutes site is down, so these can't be seen right now as of 9:18 p.m. on 11/17/08.

Part 1 - Obama and the Presidency


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Part 2 - The Personal Transition


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Part 3 - A Father's Promise


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Good God, it's good to have a coherent thinking person in the Presidency.  I never watched GeeDub because I thought him too simple for the position.

A little personal aside here, because the word "simple" makes me think of something.  BOS accused me of being so high minded that it was beyond me to understand simpler concepts.  I resisted responding "F U!  Is that simple enough for you?"  Our exchanges got, um, heated shall we say, though primarily from me.  BOS really was amusing himself by getting my goat.  That said, he was getting my goat by relating how "simply" he thinks about things and that's good enough for him and, according to him, a whole nother slew of folks that I apparently cannot relate to.

Perhaps.  But that belief, that simple thinking is good enough, is a sure-fire way to stay mired in mediocrity.  It doesn't challenge one to consider the possibilities.  To consider the possibilities and how they can broaden and better and enrich one's existence.

President Bush was perfectly content being a simple-thinking man.  He was proud of it.  It is no secret that many who voted for him in 2000 and 2004 voted for him because they could relate to him...his simple way of thinking.  He was just like them.  They could have a beer with him, the old saw goes.

But the world is a complicated place with complicated problems.  Foreign intra-hostilities cannot be solved by a simple "Hulk Smash!!"  Allies cannot be assuaged by a back rub.  You cannot look into a leader's eyes, see his soul and base foreign policy upon it.

It takes considered logical practical thinking to be a president.  When our president walks into a room (or sit across the table from those designing to cause harm), people should feel secure that he's the smartest one present.

A simply thinking president should not be the bellwether.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous6:37 AM

    "...a simple hulk-smash." How funny! I thought that was the way of the west. I'm glad we have an intelligent President-elect, too. It's about time!

    ReplyDelete