Cap'n Jim from Smoke On The Water wanted to leave a comment for you in this thread, but Haloscan's 1k character limit prevented him. So he emailed me the entire thing and asked if I could put it up. It's not just a comment to you, it's one of the best rebuttles to Moore's assertions that I've seen. If you would like to respond, you can email him or email me and I'll pass it on to him.
Without further ado, Cap'n Jim:
Michael, it's evident from your comments that you've most likely never held a position of real power.
I've been both a police officer and have worked at the executive level as a Divisional Director, reporting personally to the President of a Fortune 1000 corporation.
In both capacities, I've been faced with various crisis. As a cop, I've had to take very immediate action, but I've also had to effect carefully considered responses, based on my observation of both circumstances present before me and the need to consider how those circumstances develop, in order to decide on the best course of action.
As an executive, I've often had to await the reports of subordinates who themselves were having to gather facts from various departments and individuals. I don't mean just planning for the next budget meeting either. Try having a $5 million department under you, when you're out of town at a meeting, and one of your subordinates reports having been raped on your company property. Then tell me how I was supposed to "leap into
action" again?
As the leader of that Division, it would have been grossly irresponsible for me to have interfered with the specialists who were already hard at work on the problem. My job was to ensure that they did theirs, not to do it for them.
I did exactly what President Bush did. Knowing that various people were doing their job, I monitored the situation simply to ensure that the correct processes had been set into motion.
And when those people asked me for input at certain decision points along the way, I got their suggestions first, unfiltered by my having interjected my opinions into their processes. I didn't always implement their ideas, but I always made sure I knew what they thought the options were.
And on more than one instance, they had the better ideas.
An effective executive most often decides from several options either already known to, or presented to him. Most executives don't personally invent those options, but they're generally pretty damned good at putting the right ones into motion.
Most frequently too, a strong executive wants to first ensure that he's got all of the relevant facts first, before taking hasty action.
And if you don't grasp the difference between "react" and "respond", well then, enjoy your burger flipping career.
At times, patience and well-considered action is the epitome of leadership.
In the end, it's the results that count, far more than any Hollywood show of heroics.
And results damn sure count for more than making a Hollywood showing of throwing someone else's medals over the White House fence.
Insofar as international terrorism and in dealing with the nations which support it, I find that President Bush is getting excellent results.
Jim
Sloop New Dawn
Galveston, TX
PS. And Michael Moore really is less useful than a used MaxiPad.
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