Guest Blogatorial from Average Bro

Why I Voted For Obama In The First Place.

Here's why. Because even though the guy's already in office, taking his lumps, and surrounding himself with people who hardly scream "change", he still does things from time to time to show he's not your typical "politician".

Case in point.





"I screwed up."

Ask yourself this: when is the last time you heard a President say those words?

We've heard Presidents say "I screwed... her."

We've heard Vice Presidents say "Screw you!"

We've heard Presidents say "Screw... what's a screw?"

When Presidents say "I'm sorry", they usually mean "I'm just sorry I got caught"[1], or "F*ck you, I ain't sorry for sh*t", or "You've seen my wife's cankles! What would you do?"

But falling on the sword, manning up, admitting your mistake, explaining your original rationale for a decision that's backfired, and promising to do better? Well, that my friends is indeed change. Does it atone for some of the odd Cabinet choices he's made? No. But it does tell me that he understands he's being held accountable by the American people.

Would Mr. Obama have come out with this missive had Daschle been confirmed by the Senate? Prolly not. But by telling Daschle and Nancy Killefer to kick rocks (no way in hell either "voluntarily stepped down"), it's clear to me that Obama realizes the error of his ways. I think dude start getting high on his own supply after November 4th, and forgot who the real bosses were: the folks who voted him in. When you campaign on being high and mighty, folks expect you to follow through.

By saying a figurative "my bad", Obama tells me he's got some level of self awareness and cares about following through on his promises.

Well done.

Question: Does Obama earn any points for coming out and freely admitting his mistake? When's the last time a President issued a sincere apology?

Crapaud says: Amen to Average Bro. His take on things is most often right on the mark.

Most other recent presidential "apologies" were never "personal." Examples: Clinton's landmark apology for the horrors of the Tuskegee Experiments were "easy" because he himself was not responsible. Lil' Bush's disingenuous deflecting about the horror at Walter Reed, blamed others for that and he did not "man up" to the fact that the "buck" for that one was squarely in his chain of command.

Refreshing indeed, refreshing indeed!

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