What’s happened in Afghanistan this week is a tragedy for the world. We’ve listened all week to voices opining on the “who, what and how.” While necessary, that’s all for naught if all we do is wring our hands and do nothing.
While the crisis in American government doesn’t equate to the human crisis in Afghanistan, it will continue to have long-term effect on the world. The executive and legislative branches of our government are simply hapless. The president, vice president, members of the cabinet, speaker of the House, and some in Congress choose to not recognize the disastrous effects of almost all their major decisions.
It’s not about who’s a good or bad person. It’s about competent performance. We should never condemn the person; we must condemn inept, hapless performance. In both the public and private sector, organizations must have competent and honest leadership that meets performance standards. When not met, the organization replaces its poor-performing management. Competence is mandatory if the organization is to survive, grow and meet its objectives.
The current administration has been in power for seven months and its track record speaks for itself. We see an administration repeatedly hiding its head in the sand and pretending there’s no problem, claiming they’re on top of the issues, bragging on what a good job they’re doing, when their record is abysmal. It has repeated hapless decisions, culminating with the monumentally inexcusable debacle in Afghanistan and deadly mayhem being visited on its people.
It’s painful to admit that our leaders are incompetent, but the record speaks for itself. This isn’t a Democrat or Republican issue… it’s an American problem. As citizens we need to pressure Congress to work within the Constitution to contain or restrain the damage being done.
Bob Dorris
Thousand Oaks
