GfS,

While I often find myself wondering if Obama's inexperience is showing, there are no objective indications that a more experienced national politician would be any more effective. I am not too inclined, this early in the game to point fingers. I'm not convinced that Geithner has made any missteps that anyone else would not have made, given the urgency.

Where the lack of experience in the administration may show, is in their ineffectiveness at giving it the proper "spin" that we in the citizenry seem to require. That may also be the result of their attempts at transparency. The American people are going to have to decide if we are mature and thoughtful enough to tolerate transparency. Transparency, after all, means that there is less effort devoted to obfuscation of missteps.

We citizens really need to understand that the effect of demanding perfection is a reduction in honest accountability.



Again, it is easy to point the finger at Congress or the administration. Let us remember that all of these folks are mostly interested in maintaining their power base and getting re-elected. I'm going to sound like an elitist snob here. So be it. A truly effective, conscientious politician must find a way to both pacify his/her constituency and lead that constituency. That is going to require some pretty fancy footwork. It is easier to manipulate than honestly lead. It is harder to sway people with truth and reality, which acknowledges both cost and benefit, and requires a thinking person to weigh options and priorities, than it is to manipulate people with lies, half-truths and soundbites that tap into closed-system paradigms that exclude all objective evidence that challenges that paradigm. The voting population does not want to have to think objectively or acknowlege realities that do not fit with their individual paradigms and self-interest. Those paradigms and areas of self-interest vary a great deal. The politician has got to somehow find a way to integrate all of this and stay in office to be effective.

Where Obama's lack of experience may really hurt is if he is unable to use his still high approval ratings to leverage Congress. It is not his fault that he has so little time and so much pressure as the result of assuming office during such a crisis. But it is still his job to find a way. What I keep in the back of my mind, however, is this question: "Can I think of anyone else that I objectively think could do any better with this current crisis and climate? At least if they are trying to operate with transparency?

What I think, at this juncture, is there are politicians with a clear agenda and devotion to either a philosophy or a monied constituency who might be more effective in getting their agenda passed. However, I am less interested in an intrenched philosophical agenda, and more interested in what does it take to find effective solutions that generally work for a large and diverse society.

We can focus on blame, or we can turn our attention to figuring out what works. The two tasks are mutually exclusive.