Make No Mistake: Presidents Wouldn't Admit It / erratum: Elvira Arellano event info.
Make No Mistake: Presidents Wouldn't Admit It
The Washington Post
By Linton Weeks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 9, 2006; C01
Being president apparently means never being able to say you're sorry. Or wrong.
President Bush said that the Central Intelligence Agency did secretly detain
certain people suspected of working for al-Qaeda, and that CIA interrogators
have used "an alternative set of procedures" designed to pry information from
prisoners. Given the opportunity to say he was wrong or that he was sorry, he
did what presidents do: neither.
It is a presidential maneuver that satisfies some Americans for whom the ends of
the Bush administration's approach to combating terrorism justify the means, and
that angers others who believe civil liberties have been casualties of that war.
It is a tack that the president may take again in light of reports from the
Senate Intelligence Committee that Saddam Hussein was not linked to Osama bin
Laden at the time Bush was mounting a war against Iraq. In any case, it is an
unapologetic apologia consistent with 230 years of U.S. history.
"Thomas Jefferson was wrong about a lot of stuff," says Peter Onuf, Thomas
Jefferson Foundation professor of history at the University of Virginia. But
when it came to admitting he was wrong or sorry, Jefferson "could be evasive."
For example, when it was suggested that Jefferson had a liaison with the slave
Sally Hemings, "he never addressed the issue," Onuf says. "The charges were
widely bruited about in the Federalist press and his response was not to
confront it directly. It probably was prudent of him."
Partly "it was the code of an honorable gentleman that provided coverage," Onuf
says. Jefferson wouldn't stoop to "answering claims by social inferiors. He
didn't respond to things he didn't have to. He was a pretty smooth guy. He
certainly believed he was already on the side of the angels."
Other presidents have sidestepped culpability. When the British sacked the city
of Washington in 1814, says Gerard W. Gawalt, specialist in American history at
the Library of Congress, "James Madison managed to blame everybody but himself
for that fiasco."
The presidential posture: Take responsibility, not blame.
Self-certainty is built into the presidential software. Steve Rubenzer, a
Houston psychologist and co-author of "Personality, Character, and Leadership in
the White House: Psychologists Assess the Presidents," says: "People who become
president tend to be dominant individuals. They tend to like to be one up on
other people. Apologizing is being one down."
Being wrong or sorry "is seen as a disadvantage. That's a position they try to
avoid."
Presidents present themselves as competent and moral. "To admit otherwise is to
essentially impeach yourself," Rubenzer says, "and once you have admitted it,
it's not contested anymore."
Allan J. Lichtman, a history professor at American University and a Democratic
candidate in Maryland for the U.S. Senate says that presidents have always had a
sense of their own righteousness.
When it was discovered that members of Ulysses S. Grant's Cabinet were selling
favors to the highest bidders, "Grant never took responsibility," Lichtman says.
"He tried to defend his Cabinet and staff." Other presidents backed into corners
-- Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, for instance -- have used parsed and
parsimonious language to justify their actions. Franklin Roosevelt never
apologized for interning Japanese Americans, Lichtman says.
It wasn't until years after Jimmy Carter had left office, says Richard Norton
Smith, a scholar in residence at George Mason University, "that he was able to
reply what he would have done differently during the Iranian hostage crisis."
During a presidential debate in 1976, Gerald Ford said, "There is no Soviet
domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford
administration." Ford was given opportunities at the time to admit that he was
wrong, but "Ford is a stubborn Dutchman. He dug in his heels. He could have
backed off in the program. But that's not in the nature of these guys," Smith
says.
Years later, as the Soviet Union crumbled, Ford wrote a piece in this newspaper
saying "I told you so."
Making the best of a bad situation is part of the job description. Marjorie Cohn
of the National Lawyers Guild, a group that has been highly critical of Bush,
says that the president's announcement about secret prisons reminds her of the
man who was being run out of town and got out in front of the crowd to make it
look like he was leading the parade. "That," she says, "is what the president is
doing."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/08/AR2006090801713_pf.html
============================================
via http://peaceandjustice2005.blogspot.com/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tues. Sept 12, 2006 , 6:30pm - Elvira Arellano speaks via phone conference from Chicago! (ST. AGONY'S CHURCH, 101 st Street & 3rd Ave)
re: Elvira Arellano speaks via phone conference from Chicago to New York City
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
via Fwd: www.HawkinsForSenate.org Tuesday 9/12: immigrants rights event [edited]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When ordered to report to be deported on August 15, Elvira Arellano instead took refuge with her son Saul in the Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago, where she remains today and continues to organize a campaign for a moratorium on all raids and deportations. Her courage in publicly resisting a law that routinely separates families and destroys lives sets an example for us all.Elvira will speak via phone conference from Chicago.Also featuring local Immigrant Rights Leaders.Come and get involved in this and other campiagns for immigrant rights!
Tues. Sept 12, 2006 , 6:30pmST. AGONY'S CHURCH(101 st Street & 3rd Ave)
Sponsored by: No One Is Illegal (NOISI) Coalition (Art for Change/Carlito's Café, CECOMEX, International Socialist Organization, Not in Our Name, and individuals)
Call (347) 537-3433 ... [for more info]
The Washington Post
By Linton Weeks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 9, 2006; C01
Being president apparently means never being able to say you're sorry. Or wrong.
President Bush said that the Central Intelligence Agency did secretly detain
certain people suspected of working for al-Qaeda, and that CIA interrogators
have used "an alternative set of procedures" designed to pry information from
prisoners. Given the opportunity to say he was wrong or that he was sorry, he
did what presidents do: neither.
It is a presidential maneuver that satisfies some Americans for whom the ends of
the Bush administration's approach to combating terrorism justify the means, and
that angers others who believe civil liberties have been casualties of that war.
It is a tack that the president may take again in light of reports from the
Senate Intelligence Committee that Saddam Hussein was not linked to Osama bin
Laden at the time Bush was mounting a war against Iraq. In any case, it is an
unapologetic apologia consistent with 230 years of U.S. history.
"Thomas Jefferson was wrong about a lot of stuff," says Peter Onuf, Thomas
Jefferson Foundation professor of history at the University of Virginia. But
when it came to admitting he was wrong or sorry, Jefferson "could be evasive."
For example, when it was suggested that Jefferson had a liaison with the slave
Sally Hemings, "he never addressed the issue," Onuf says. "The charges were
widely bruited about in the Federalist press and his response was not to
confront it directly. It probably was prudent of him."
Partly "it was the code of an honorable gentleman that provided coverage," Onuf
says. Jefferson wouldn't stoop to "answering claims by social inferiors. He
didn't respond to things he didn't have to. He was a pretty smooth guy. He
certainly believed he was already on the side of the angels."
Other presidents have sidestepped culpability. When the British sacked the city
of Washington in 1814, says Gerard W. Gawalt, specialist in American history at
the Library of Congress, "James Madison managed to blame everybody but himself
for that fiasco."
The presidential posture: Take responsibility, not blame.
Self-certainty is built into the presidential software. Steve Rubenzer, a
Houston psychologist and co-author of "Personality, Character, and Leadership in
the White House: Psychologists Assess the Presidents," says: "People who become
president tend to be dominant individuals. They tend to like to be one up on
other people. Apologizing is being one down."
Being wrong or sorry "is seen as a disadvantage. That's a position they try to
avoid."
Presidents present themselves as competent and moral. "To admit otherwise is to
essentially impeach yourself," Rubenzer says, "and once you have admitted it,
it's not contested anymore."
Allan J. Lichtman, a history professor at American University and a Democratic
candidate in Maryland for the U.S. Senate says that presidents have always had a
sense of their own righteousness.
When it was discovered that members of Ulysses S. Grant's Cabinet were selling
favors to the highest bidders, "Grant never took responsibility," Lichtman says.
"He tried to defend his Cabinet and staff." Other presidents backed into corners
-- Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, for instance -- have used parsed and
parsimonious language to justify their actions. Franklin Roosevelt never
apologized for interning Japanese Americans, Lichtman says.
It wasn't until years after Jimmy Carter had left office, says Richard Norton
Smith, a scholar in residence at George Mason University, "that he was able to
reply what he would have done differently during the Iranian hostage crisis."
During a presidential debate in 1976, Gerald Ford said, "There is no Soviet
domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford
administration." Ford was given opportunities at the time to admit that he was
wrong, but "Ford is a stubborn Dutchman. He dug in his heels. He could have
backed off in the program. But that's not in the nature of these guys," Smith
says.
Years later, as the Soviet Union crumbled, Ford wrote a piece in this newspaper
saying "I told you so."
Making the best of a bad situation is part of the job description. Marjorie Cohn
of the National Lawyers Guild, a group that has been highly critical of Bush,
says that the president's announcement about secret prisons reminds her of the
man who was being run out of town and got out in front of the crowd to make it
look like he was leading the parade. "That," she says, "is what the president is
doing."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/08/AR2006090801713_pf.html
============================================
via http://peaceandjustice2005.blogspot.com/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tues. Sept 12, 2006 , 6:30pm - Elvira Arellano speaks via phone conference from Chicago! (ST. AGONY'S CHURCH, 101 st Street & 3rd Ave)
re: Elvira Arellano speaks via phone conference from Chicago to New York City
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
via Fwd: www.HawkinsForSenate.org Tuesday 9/12: immigrants rights event [edited]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When ordered to report to be deported on August 15, Elvira Arellano instead took refuge with her son Saul in the Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago, where she remains today and continues to organize a campaign for a moratorium on all raids and deportations. Her courage in publicly resisting a law that routinely separates families and destroys lives sets an example for us all.Elvira will speak via phone conference from Chicago.Also featuring local Immigrant Rights Leaders.Come and get involved in this and other campiagns for immigrant rights!
Tues. Sept 12, 2006 , 6:30pmST. AGONY'S CHURCH(101 st Street & 3rd Ave)
Sponsored by: No One Is Illegal (NOISI) Coalition (Art for Change/Carlito's Café, CECOMEX, International Socialist Organization, Not in Our Name, and individuals)
Call (347) 537-3433 ... [for more info]
posted by peaceandjustice2005 at 4:49 AM
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