Meus populus, mea culpa
Sep. 15th, 2005 02:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lady_songsmithOn a fundamental level, I fail to understand the Bush administration. It goes beyond disagreeing with policy, and beyond "what they heck were they thinking?" decisions. There is an attitude present that, while I can recognize and label it, I cannot comprehend.
The blame game in the wake of Katrina has brought all of this bubbling up to the surface for me. (Though perhaps I should be avoiding the liquid metaphors, eh?) Bush is struggling to lay the blame for the hurricane somewhere else, anywhere else, and even when he -- as several headline blared -- "took responsibility" for the problems, he couched it in language that clearly showed he didn't feel anything was his fault.
Like the post title says -- My people, my fault. At any level of leadership, a person is responsible for the actions (or inactions) of their subordinates. If something goes wrong, whether it be from poor planning, negligence, malice, or Acts of Murphy, the leader owns it. If s/he knows that someone within the organization is owed the lion's share of blame, then by all means, fire that person's ass. (Or whatever discipline is appropriate to the group in question.) But the purpose of that is not to reassign blame; the purpose is to prevent further problems.
I don't care if you were left out of the loop, or away, or in a coma when it happened. If your people screw up, you shoulder the blame for it. That's part and parcel of being a leader, and I truly do not understand how one can exercise power without accepting the responsibilities that come with it.
I know I shouldn't expect any better from him, but I can't help it. Watching Bush tap-dance his way out of shouldering the burden on this one just short-circuits my brain. However much I may disagree with some Republican ideas, I can at least see where they're coming from. This, though... You might as well ask me to accept that the sky is yellow and the sun is blue. At least you'd have a more effective argument.
The blame game in the wake of Katrina has brought all of this bubbling up to the surface for me. (Though perhaps I should be avoiding the liquid metaphors, eh?) Bush is struggling to lay the blame for the hurricane somewhere else, anywhere else, and even when he -- as several headline blared -- "took responsibility" for the problems, he couched it in language that clearly showed he didn't feel anything was his fault.
Like the post title says -- My people, my fault. At any level of leadership, a person is responsible for the actions (or inactions) of their subordinates. If something goes wrong, whether it be from poor planning, negligence, malice, or Acts of Murphy, the leader owns it. If s/he knows that someone within the organization is owed the lion's share of blame, then by all means, fire that person's ass. (Or whatever discipline is appropriate to the group in question.) But the purpose of that is not to reassign blame; the purpose is to prevent further problems.
I don't care if you were left out of the loop, or away, or in a coma when it happened. If your people screw up, you shoulder the blame for it. That's part and parcel of being a leader, and I truly do not understand how one can exercise power without accepting the responsibilities that come with it.
I know I shouldn't expect any better from him, but I can't help it. Watching Bush tap-dance his way out of shouldering the burden on this one just short-circuits my brain. However much I may disagree with some Republican ideas, I can at least see where they're coming from. This, though... You might as well ask me to accept that the sky is yellow and the sun is blue. At least you'd have a more effective argument.
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He's a slippery little sucker
Date: 2005-09-15 12:20 am (UTC)