Listening to Richard Clarke, I get angry all over again

[journalist3072]

Listening to the audiobook of Richard Clarke's "Against All Enemies," I get angry all over again about the Bush administration's downright negligence and indifference when it comes to homeland security.

And it just reinforces my point that we need a President who is not afraid to do "nuance." We need a President who is not afraid of minute details.

One of the most telling passages from Clarke's book, for me, is when he talks about how, early on in the Bush Administration, they were told "The President is not a big reader." And he mentioned that Bush liked to look for the "bumper sticker" solution.

By contrast, he said that President Clinton devored details. He'd read books before his staff even read them, sometimes getting copies of books while they were still in galley format. And he stayed up late plowing through his inbox of staff memos, and reached out to the experts in each of the Departments, and then reached out to experts in universities, etc.

That's the kind of leadership we need in the next President- whoever it may be. And that's precisely what I'll be watching for.

We need a President who doesn't treat details as if they are the next plague. We need a president with the intellectual fortitude to realize the complexities in various issues.

[against all enemies]

1. Read "The Assassins Gate", McCain was the neocons choice in 2000.

Bush was a second choice.

[JoFerret]

2. I don't think the OP is a McCain supporter

Rather - someone making a good case for why we need someone in the WH who masters the details, grasps policy complexities, takes responsibility, understands the issues and is relentless. Sounds like Hillary to me for all her "flaws".