The Situation

Every U.S. President, shortly before or after being sworn in, is briefed by his top advisors.

Understand first the real purpose of the Executive in this representative republic so carefully crafted by our founding fathers: His power is more or less co-equal to those of the other branches, and that is crucial. In this one individual is vested, by intent, enormously power.

The reason for this is that a true democracy is two wolves and a sheep arguing over what's for dinner. Representatives will, neccessarily, serve and answer to their own local consituancies first. They will compete (and make deals) with other representatives, forming blocs. They will attach riders to bills. They will trade favors. They will try to get re-elected, at any cost.

Their thinking tends to be rather selfish, and short-term. The Executive's first and foremost duty is the defense and preservation of this republic, in the present and the f u t u r e. That is, the whole country, and no specific community of any size.

This is important: The founders expected the Executive, once elected, to meet this obligation, even if it was unpopular. The Executive, if you will, is the ADULT.

This is because the Founders understood human psychology. What do you care about? Your paycheck. Your family. Your local community. YOUR everything. And check out the time-frame you think in: Basicly, your own lifetime. The Executive, by intent, cannot think that way.

More of human psychology: If it's not in your face, it does not exist for you. You might repeat, verbatum, stuff you heard or read about, projecting emotion--but it's a pretense. People dying, or whatever thousands of miles away, means little to you. It's allright--it's how we survived. It's normal. Overcoming it requires training and discipline--although many people, once vested with power over the lives of hundreds or millions, undertand inuitively that they must...put away the rose-colored glasses, and other childish things. (Too bad...many don't.)

And here's a little more: If you are well-fed, have a home, and are reasonably comfortable, and nothing "big" has happened for awhile, you assume that it will always be that way. Just sort of by magic. We are the most powerful nation on Earth, so nothing will ever be able to hurt us.

All of this is childish thinking. It's emotion-based. I has nothing to do with logic, or even common sense. Understand this.

You hear what you want to hear, and believe what you want to believe. You filter out whatever contradicts you. If you can't rationalize a rebuttal, you simply dismiss it and declare it dismissed. Reality is what is most comfortable.

The President of the United States MUST protect this whole country, now and in the future!

..at least that's what he's supposed to do. FDR was handcuffed for too long by public opinion. We know the result. At least he wanted to do the neccessary thing. But as you see: "You aint gonna send MY son over there to die for those people! What they evah done to us?"

Now, part of the briefing I mentioned earlier is called a "Threat Assessment". In a future Blog, I will synopsize two of them. The first will be the ones which every U.S. President got since before the Carter Administration. The second will be the one GW Bush got before 911.

This intro was simply to point out some oft-ignored facts about the President and his role, and the selfish and child-like nature of much of the population.

Nothing here is aimed at you. Please step back from your gut reaction and examine the statements made, as if you are out of that loop. As if this is another country. You'll see that nothing here is even debatable. Reality. Please.