To President Obama
I have read that you are very competitive. In politics, it’s winner
takes all and winning is better than losing. However, winning isn’t
everything. G. W. Bush won re-election but it was a hollow win. I
feel the same way this time, Obama wins, but America is burdened with
his limitations. Christie said Obama walks around in a dark room
looking for the light switch. The Republicans claim that Obama does
nothing for the next generation, his childrens’. This resonates with
me.
There is a difference between intelligence and wisdom. I know wisdom
when I see it but can’t define it. While you and your staff are
intelligent, I don’t sense wise decisions in economic matters.
Having admitted I can’t recognize wisdom, I believe it is unwise not
to reach out to critics who are allies. I think time has validated
certain of their concerns and it would be wise to incorporate their
concerns for a better future. Some smart Democrats have been shunned.
I think it is a fair to criticize the shortness of your Rolodex file
of people to consult. There was an unreasonable delay in replacing
Goolsbee and his replacement seems stifled. Moreover, you went for
inferior replacements of S. Bair, E. Warren and possibly L. Summers.
It seems you pick your basketball co-players and teams but for the
real world you don’t know how to pick an economic team..
I don’t know why you are so thinned skinned to shun people like Eliot
Spitzer, Robert Reich, James Galbraith and James Carville. I wouldn’t
say they are wise men, but they have a public record to care about
everyday Americans. They mean well. The same cannot be said about
you, V. Jarrett or T. Geithner. The outsiders feel they have been
forced to go public to promote heart felt concerns knowing full well
the sentence of ostracization.
I think you should try to improve for a second term. I think adapting
ideas from this selection of outsiders would be good. I feel you are
a reasoned person and can find merit in this idea but I feel you don’t
want to be disloyal to your band of thin skinned advisors.
It is not living dangerously rather, living wisely.
My previous suggestion was to make H. Clinton head of your transition
team.. You have to admit she has a better Rolodex of people to call
upon than you. It will be your legacy to have appointed such a
cabinet of losers, Geithner, Holder and non descript Chiefs of Staff.
Clinton was a winner, but she’s leaving and Gates was already in
place. I fear Clinton is leaving for the same reason Romer and
Summers left, jump a sinking ship.
Wisdom is such an intangible, but I think you should up your game and
build a council of wise advisors and strive to act wisely which is a
step above making intelligent decisions.
Go beyond Geithner, as intelligent as he is, he lacked the wisdom to
keep in mind the big picture in the decisions he made and he failed to
apply his intelligence to find a voice to communicate effectively.
Volcker doesn’t have Geithner’s communication handicap and they deal
in the same subject. Look at the Clintons. They have found their
voice and can transmit values through their communication.
takes all and winning is better than losing. However, winning isn’t
everything. G. W. Bush won re-election but it was a hollow win. I
feel the same way this time, Obama wins, but America is burdened with
his limitations. Christie said Obama walks around in a dark room
looking for the light switch. The Republicans claim that Obama does
nothing for the next generation, his childrens’. This resonates with
me.
There is a difference between intelligence and wisdom. I know wisdom
when I see it but can’t define it. While you and your staff are
intelligent, I don’t sense wise decisions in economic matters.
Having admitted I can’t recognize wisdom, I believe it is unwise not
to reach out to critics who are allies. I think time has validated
certain of their concerns and it would be wise to incorporate their
concerns for a better future. Some smart Democrats have been shunned.
I think it is a fair to criticize the shortness of your Rolodex file
of people to consult. There was an unreasonable delay in replacing
Goolsbee and his replacement seems stifled. Moreover, you went for
inferior replacements of S. Bair, E. Warren and possibly L. Summers.
It seems you pick your basketball co-players and teams but for the
real world you don’t know how to pick an economic team..
I don’t know why you are so thinned skinned to shun people like Eliot
Spitzer, Robert Reich, James Galbraith and James Carville. I wouldn’t
say they are wise men, but they have a public record to care about
everyday Americans. They mean well. The same cannot be said about
you, V. Jarrett or T. Geithner. The outsiders feel they have been
forced to go public to promote heart felt concerns knowing full well
the sentence of ostracization.
I think you should try to improve for a second term. I think adapting
ideas from this selection of outsiders would be good. I feel you are
a reasoned person and can find merit in this idea but I feel you don’t
want to be disloyal to your band of thin skinned advisors.
It is not living dangerously rather, living wisely.
My previous suggestion was to make H. Clinton head of your transition
team.. You have to admit she has a better Rolodex of people to call
upon than you. It will be your legacy to have appointed such a
cabinet of losers, Geithner, Holder and non descript Chiefs of Staff.
Clinton was a winner, but she’s leaving and Gates was already in
place. I fear Clinton is leaving for the same reason Romer and
Summers left, jump a sinking ship.
Wisdom is such an intangible, but I think you should up your game and
build a council of wise advisors and strive to act wisely which is a
step above making intelligent decisions.
Go beyond Geithner, as intelligent as he is, he lacked the wisdom to
keep in mind the big picture in the decisions he made and he failed to
apply his intelligence to find a voice to communicate effectively.
Volcker doesn’t have Geithner’s communication handicap and they deal
in the same subject. Look at the Clintons. They have found their
voice and can transmit values through their communication.
