Pre-Ramble: As U.S. Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner walks a tight-rope over the global economic crisis, critics on the other side of the aisle rush (unfortunate pun) to judgment on his plan and challenge his credentials. Despite repeated attempts to build confidence, manage expectations and signal much needed regulatory reform in his Plan for Bad Bank Assets (opinion piece in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, p. A15), Geithner still faces a swarm of criticism from the antagonistic crowd over at Fox News. 

Commentators Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and go-from-the-gut-doughboy, Glenn Beck are still dancing around on the us-vs.-them warpath,  justifying their sorry, partisan pot-shots as vital “checks and balances” on an administration that is solidly weighted to the left and attempting to operate above the fray.

Sure, the value of discussion and opposition is still an important part of the democratic process, but at this particular point in time, the last thing the President and his advisors, (or any of us who want to see meaningful progress) need is a pack of self-serving detractors with stop-watches heckling from the cheap seats.

I guess they don’t understand that it’s going to take longer than 57 days to turn this around and that the part where “we as a nation must work together“ means them too. 

The Take-Away:  Under these critical and complex circumstances, it is going to take more than fifteen seconds, a paper clip and some chewing gum to address the ticking national and international challenges that we face. In the words of civil rights activist, Eldridge Cleaver, “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”

Trackback URI | Comments RSS