SamSaid!

Twenty years ago, MargaretThatcher, the British Iron Lady offered some cogent comments about “consensus”.  She said, ” To me consensus seems to be to process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies in search of something in which no one believes but to which no one objects  —   the process of avoiding the very issues that have to be solved merely because you cannot get agreement on the way ahead. What great cause would have been fought and won under the banner, ” I stand for consensus”?

Maybe we would only have had 9 colonies instead of 13.

During the next two weeks, Obama and his brain trust will be trying  to develop an Afghan strategy for the war which seems to be going badly or at least not good enough. It doesn’t seem all that long ago when the might Red Army of the USSR packed up their gear and walked away from Afghanistan. Their military defeat in large measure can be attributed to the Stinger missiles supplied to the Afghans by the USA. The Afghan defeat in part led to the disintegration of the old USSR.  Now we face the same dilemna as did the Russians. Do we get out or don’t we? Our military leaders want 40,000 more troops . Obama who is anything but a hawk is reluctant to make such a commitment in “his” war. So,  now we seek a”consensus”. Do we make a major commitment or don’t we?? One thing is for sure  –  the basis of whatever decision is reached will be based on the consensus.  It will not be an Obama decision. The soaring rhetoric has produced nothing and an inexperienced  Obama is in over his head. In short, he doesn’t know what to do. Keep looking for the word “we”. Brain picking is OK, But Harry Truman had it right, “The buck stops here”.