The President's Press Conference
A person in a position of power who doesn't realize his or her own fallibility, and bear it in mind when planning ahead, is a dangerous fool. On the other hand, a strong case can be made that the Trumanesque quality of refusing to get mired down in hand-wringing over past decisions is desireable in an executive, whose primary responsibility, after all, is not to tidy up his place in history but to shape the future. I see no justification for criticism of President Bush's leadership qualities based on his press conference of last night. On the contrary, it seems to me that he exhibited both a disposition to bear in mind his fallibility, and an ability to get on with the business of making the best of present options, undistracted by useless hand-wringing or preoccupation with developing new rationalizations to make his past decisions look better in hindsight.