As fond as Joe Biden is of quoting his father, I thought I’d write about an aphorism MY father taught me. It is: “The hallmark of a powerful man is the ability to admit when he is wrong.” In my opinion, one of the biggest problems the Democrats have is their unwillingness to do just that. That they’re wrong on most everything is undeniable except by die-hard leftist delusionists, pedants and sycophants. The last thing I want to do is give them a formula for righting (.sic) their sinking ship, but how jarring and rejuvenating would it be for the Democratic leadership to come up to the microphone and say the words, “America, we were wrong. We were wrong about the economy, about the border, about COVID, masks, lockdowns, about therapeutics and mandates, about defunding the police, about energy independence, about wokeness in the military, about selective prosecution, about lying for political gain, about the means and methods we used to manufacture and count illegitimate votes during the 2020 elections, about unconscionable gerrymandering, about packing the Supreme Court, about ending the filibuster, about Russian collusion, about the Afghanistan withdrawal, about the sham impeachments, about apologizing for and defending anti-American, antisemitic, anti-Christian bigots, about transgenderism, about deviant behavior (e.g. pedophilia), about critical race theory and the 1619 Project, about kowtowing to the unions, about conflict of interest investing with impunity, about suppression of dissenting views and canceling voices that disagree with us or don’t preach the leftist orthodoxy, about supporting fake news, fake polls and ignoring the will of the Silent Majority, about an ambiguous, flaccid and indefensible foreign policy, about China, about Iran, about North Korea, about Venezuela, about CUBA, about Russia…”
They will of course never admit any of this nor claim to be wrong on anything.
Much as I detest the content of the nonsense that spews forth from the mouth of the White House spokesperson Jen Psaki every day, I have to give her credit for her mastery at the podium. She has that skillful facility to deny, decry, defend, deflect, divert, dissemble, detract, and dismiss. “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is”. Contrast her with two other equally talented spin doctor/press secretaries: Kayleigh McEnany and Dana Perino. The difference between Psaki and the other two is that the former can ONLY use the list of ‘d words’ above while McEnany and Perino had truth, facts and fundamental honesty on their side. They too spun the messaging so as to cast as positive a light on both successes and shed the spotlight on the failures of their administrations. But the successes so far outweighed the failures the preponderance of messaging was straight up truth. By contrast, Psaki has to cover, “circle back”, postpone, attempt to belittle valid questions, launch ad hominem attacks or just outright lie to cover the failures of the Biden administration. And of course, she NEVER admits Democrat wrongdoing.
Over the years I’ve had to admit I was wrong many times. It always stabs me in the gut to do it, but I WILL admit mistakes when I make them. Oh that we had leaders that could and would do so as well.
I’ve been reading Dwight D. Eisenhower’s book written shortly after World War II, “Crusade in Europe.” In it he describes the character attributes that would disqualify potential commanders: “Foremost among these was the one who seemed to be self-seeking in the matter of promotion.” Another was evidence that a man made any effort to ‘pass the buck’. Pessimists were eschewed, as were men who made every decision himself, i.e. who was unable to delegate both authority and responsibility. In the book he recounts numerous incidents when his own estimates or judgments were faulty or just plain wrong. The consensus building, the arbitrating, the therapy he had to administer to get the Allied commands to work together was superb preparation for leadership not just of the military, but of, as it turned out, the Country. Admitting he was wrong when he was garnered deep respect and support from the Allied command.
Lay these attributes up against what we have now. Self-aggrandizement on the part of all politicians is inveterate but the narcissism of the celebrity-addicted Left is manifest and amplified by a makeup-laden media. I’ll posit that the Left’s pre-occupation with celebrity has infected and damaged the two youngest generations to the point where social media (a euphemism to be sure) has created an almost universal self-centeredness among them.
Passing the buck or blaming everyone but oneself is commonplace, a REAL pandemic, but especially among the Left (Did you hear Kamala Harris the other day blame Congress for not fixing the border?!).
Weak-kneed positions on crime, on our duty and responsibility to be the beacon of freedom in the world (Nancy Pelosi: “Go compete at the Olympics but be careful not to offend the Chinese.”; “We will boycott the Olympics by not sending any diplomats.”), on supporting not tearing apart the American dream, about the rule of law, about the Constitution itself…the Left and Democrats have deliberately sought to “transform our country” according to a Rules for Radicals (Saul Alinsky), frankly, communist way.
I’ve been encouraged of late that there is more talk among the Republican leadership of fashioning a Contract With America version 2.0. I think they’ve figured out that it is not enough to expose and openly denigrate the idiocies of the Democrat Left. It is imperative that we provide an alternative vision of what America can and should be. Unfortunately, the Democrats have so mucked things up, it will be necessary to enact harsh measures to eradicate the detritus they have scattered across the political, social and economic landscape.
We need to distribute “No More Mr. Nice Guy” coffee cups to every elected or appointed, conservative-minded, constitution-supporting Republican now or prospectively in office. The true fabric of our nation is frayed and, in some cases, hanging by a thread. If we screw up along the way, we need to admit our mistakes and make course corrections that keep us on a path leading up the slippery slope down which we have so lamentably slid.
And by contrast let’s NOT encourage the Left to admit their mistakes. Let’s continue to point out their fallacies and destructiveness while also adhering to Napolean’s maxim: “Never interfere with the enemy when he is in the process of destroying himself.”
And let us fashion a positive, seductive message that begins to restore America to the greatness her people deserve.