Leaders Can't Vote 'Present'
In 1989, at the ripe old age of 34, I bought out my partner and became the CEO of TranzAct. At the time TranzAct had about 100 employees. That summer I visited my father and we had a discussion about leadership. During the discussion I shared my fears and apprehension about leading TranzAct and, as usual, my dad had some sage advice.
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“Michael, never forget, leaders must make decisions.” Knowing my love for basketball, he added: “It’s not difficult to make easy decisions; what is difficult are tough decisions - decisions that are fraught with risks and will impact people’s lives. By the time the decisions get to your desk, the layups are gone and you are taking nothing but three point shots with the game on the line. Leader’s make the tough decisions.” He ended by telling me that: “No decision is in essence a decision to avoid resolving issues that can be critically important for the company.”
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In studying the current political environment in Washington, I am reminded of my father’s advice. As a country, we are facing enormous challenges on domestic and international fronts. Our economy is in tatters, the wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan are complex, and we have a myriad of issues that have effectively split the population of this country in half. That is why we need leaders who can make decisions without taking polls to determine which decisions are most popular.
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There appear to be few, if any, political leaders who are willing to stand up and be counted. It starts at the top. During the 2008 presidential campaigns, Hillary Clinton criticized then candidate Obama for voting ‘present’ on legislation in the Illinois State Senate. During one of the Democratic primary debates, she noted that: “Senator Obama voted 130 times ‘present.’ That’s not ‘yes.’ That’s not ‘no.’ That’s ‘maybe.’ ”
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In fact, Senator Obama voted ‘present’ 129 times during his eight years in the Illinois Senate. The Obama campaign maintained that this was not important and anyone who criticized his ‘present’ votes did not understand how this type of vote is used in the Illinois legislature. So the issue blew over as the candidates focused on other more important issues. Is it possible that what we were really seeing was a precursor of things to come?
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For example, on the domestic front, look at what is - or rather what is not - happening with the Transportation Bill that technically expired on September 30. To his credit, Rep. Oberstar, Chairman of the House Transportation Committee, has been pushing for a new highway bill that would address critical transportation infrastructure issues. Since this next transportation bill is likely to be in the 450 - 500 billion dollar range, funding for this Bill is likely to be controversial.
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Ultimately when the bill gets passed one thing is certain: It will cost all of us a lot more money to use our highways and drive our cars. Our politicians know that this will make this legislation unpopular. Thus, the administration has, in essence, voted ‘present’ on this issue, and has pushed for an 18 month extension that would effectively allow them to “kick this can down the road” until after the 2010 elections.
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On the international front, look at the war in Afghanistan. Over the weekend 14 more U.S. soldiers died in helicopter crashes. Several of the soldiers were returning from a combat mission. According to news reports, these soldiers were on a helicopter because without enough troops to be effectively deployed, our soldiers have to be ferried from one combat zone to another. We are not here to debate the controversial war in Afghanistan; it is one of those issues that divides the populace. But on August 30th, the President received General McCrystal’s recommendation calling for an additional 40,000 troops to deploy to Afghanistan.
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Almost two months later, the President has yet to make the decision. His aides state that the President is being deliberate and that it is important that there be an authentic government representing the Afghan population. What I find interesting is that while there will be another election on November 7, we have no idea if there is a timetable for when the President will make his decision.
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October has been the deadliest month in Afghanistan month for US Forces since 2001. Thus, there is a growing chorus of people who are saying that we need to decide: Put more troops in to gain the upper ground, or pull our troops out and avoid further deaths and casualties. Thus far the President is voting ‘present’ on this issue.
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This country needs leaders who will make the difficult decisions instead of just voting ‘present.’
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Mike commented:
GJames:
Appreciate your tongue in cheek (I hope)comments and your solid grasps of the facts. One thing that intrigues me is that Dave and people like Dave overlook the reality that the Blog posting addressed an issue of critical importance to logistics professionals; to wit, the House passed yet another extension to keep the highway funds coming, instead of actually passing a Highway Bill that we desperately need. And as Steve pointed out, there are may who believe that there are political leaders who are in fact absent in addressing this issue. And on a very personal note, I respect and appreciate the fact that the Editor of this fine magazine allow his bloggers the editorial freedom to cover a wide range of issues. I guess that is the beauty of living in America
GJames commented:
According to Wika; "Blogging can sometimes have unforeseen consequences in politically sensitive areas. Blogs are much harder to control than broadcast or even print media. As a result, totalitarian and authoritarian regimes often seek to suppress blogs and/or to punish those who maintain them. After expressing opinions in his blog about the state of the Sudanese armed forces, Jan Pronk, United Nations Special Representative for the Sudan, was given three days notice to leave Sudan. The Sudanese army had demanded his deportation.
In Myanmar, Nay Phone Latt, a blogger, was sentenced to 20 years in jail for posting a cartoon critical of head of state Than Shwe."
I agree, Mike - we simply can not have this political commentary in a logistics blog, it's time for you to go. What is it with your authoritarian blog editors that would allow such a thing to happen in your blog?
Dave commented:
So now we know your heart felt politcial convictions. Excellent. Isn't there some politcal blog for this kind of article ? I though this was Logistics Management. Nice job editors.
GJames commented:
When Bush was in office, Keith O of MSNBC prided himself (he's good at that) by ending his nightly diatribe by stating X number of U.S. Casualties since Bush declared 'Mission Accomplished in Iraq' with a smirk, (we all know Bush was referring to the initial invasion which went like knife thru butter thanks to our outstanding military men & woman). Well, where is ol’ Keith O now? Will he end his dog & pony show with X number of U.S. Casualties since General McCrystal’s request to Barrack Hussein Obama for more troops on Aug 30th? Oh no – you won’t hear ol Keith O expounding these words. Yet Barrack Hussein Obama has somehow found the time to golf more in 9 months than any other president in History? Voting present.
The other tragedy is the left’s willingness and wantonness to abandon the Afghan people themselves at a time when they probably are relying on us most. Not all surely, but those that assisted us, those that aided us, those that merely spoke with us, those especially vulnerable like the woman of Afghanistan who have worked hard to overcome the horror of abuses pressed upon them like indentured slaves by the Taliban and Al Qaeda. If we leave these people, if we abandon them, if we cut and run as the left would have it, these people will be slaughtered in the streets and the streets will run red with their blood. And what of our enemy forces we went there to inilate? They will regroup and come after us again. How easily the left will forget 9/11
Oh but 2 civilians die in a cross fire attack involving U.S. Troops and its front page news now in the minor-stream news. When we left Vietnam and there was mass slaughter the minor-stream media hide their heads up their you-know-what - and they’ll do the same here too – watch them.
Yes Mike, this country desperately needs a leader again, and it’s only been 9 months. And so in closing, I sadly report 87 DEAD as of OCT 27 since General McCrystal’s request to Barrack Hussein Obama for more troops on Aug 30th 2009. No smirk here.
Steve commented:
I think voting "present" would be a lie. This president has his head stuck in the sand. That isn't being present, it's being absent.
