Natalie Gonnella
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As debt talks resume amid an eroding sense of optimism, Governor Mitch Daniels's offers elected officials a much needed lesson in leadership in today's Washington Post. Urging lawmakers to move beyond their political pessimism, here's a look at what the Indiana leader had to say ahead of the next phase of negotiations:
True leadership incorporates a degree of selflessness. But in this stunningly affluent society – even post-recession, the poorest 5 percent of Americans are wealthier than two-thirds of the world’s population – selfless leadership will be less about accepting financial sacrifice and more about accepting psychic sacrifice. It will be require our political leaders to value results and action over philosophical purity and power.
Leadership typically requires courage. But in our debt situation, really, how much and of what kind? This isn’t Philadelphia in 1776 or London in 1940. No one is risking life, liberty or sacred honor, let alone all three. The worst that could happen is one loses an election.
It was said of Churchill that, by so relentlessly viewing his fellow Englishmen as heroic, “he transformed cowards into brave men, and so fulfilled the purpose of shining armour.” If our leaders wish to draw out the best in us, they will have to start by assuming the best about us.
Expressing and acting on this faith is, of course, an act of faith in itself. Maybe today’s Americans really will reject even trivial “sacrifice” and refuse to authorize the necessary changes to keep us from drifting over our Niagara Falls of debt. If so, we might as well find out now. If it turns out the cynics were right after all, then school’s out on our self-governance anyway.
But much more likely is that, not for the first time, Americans will surprise on the positive side of the ledger. Warren Buffett has said that it never makes sense to bet against America. I would concur, and add “or the American people.”
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