I found the allegations of politicians being “wafflers” or”flip-floppers” interesting in the last election cycle.  Apparently, if you change your mind about anything, at any time, you are being inconsistant, and that’ s supposed to be bad.  It’s bad, because….Why?  Allegedly, it’s because you are trying to have it both ways and being hypocritical.  How about- we’re changing our minds because we have new data, and this makes us reconsider the old opinion?

We now have a president and politicians who are taking “stay the course’ to new heights of insanity.    Would you “stay the course” and run your car off the road and over an embankment, just to be consistent?  No- the road has changed, and if you want to stay alive, you need to adapt to the new situation, not simply insist the situation has not changed.

We have a president and white house staff that are running the train off the tracks, driving the car off the bridge because they won’t make a left turn,  or even land a plane in an emergency because they are running out of fuel- no- that isn’t “staying the course”.  They are in effect saying the following- We would rather crash than reconsider our opinions.  How many kinds of stupid is this??????

I saw a hysterically funny clip of Jon Stewart on the Daily Show (Available at www.comedycentral.com)  all about how “Information gets into the brain, and then confuses it”, based on the President saying at a news conference, that the information leaking out of the White House is causing confusion in the minds of the voters right before elections.  Of course, he shouldn’t really worry, since he doesn’t believe that NEW information should change ANY thinking, so why should he assume we are changing our minds about the war?

Because people ARE intelligent and we DO change our minds when we get new information, rather than seeking information, real or manufactured, to meet with our pre-determined opinions and view points.  I am very disappointed in the current state of affiars in this country, especially in regards to the war, mostly because we are being “led” by people who are unwilling to actually think they may have made any errors in judgment, nor revisit past decisions, regardless of new information that becomes available!

The definition of bravery should involve being able to admit mistakes, errors, accidents, etc., accept responsibility for them, and do everything possible to make it right or at least better from that point on.  Our president should know that the first step to fixing a problem requires that you acknowledge a problem exists.  Denying a problem, trying to deflect criticism doesn’t fool any of us- we know there is a disaster taking place, and we also are rapidly getting the impression that we have Larry, Curly and Moe in charge of making the decisions .

I try to teach my children every day to accept responsibility for each and every one of their actions and choices- I wish the President would do the same.  If I can expect this level of thought from my eight year old, it seems reasonable to expect it from my government.