We are running a trillion dollar deficit but we should buy Pres BO a copy of "No lost causes" by ex-Pres Uribe of Colombia.
Remember leadership?
PM Churchill picking up the English people after the deadly German attacks on London:
Pres Reagan turning around the morale of his countrymen after Pres Carter's malaise:
Pres Bush vowing to fight back after 9-11:The book is a memoir and a marvelous testament to leadership.
This is how Alvaro Vargas Llosa describes it:
"The country he inherited, upon his election, was a perfect hell. Various paramilitary groups and Marxist terrorist organizations, pre-eminent among them FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), controlled half of the country's territory, often aided by Colombia's left-wing neighbors, Venezuela and Ecuador. Every year, an average of 28,000 Colombians were killed and 3,000 kidnapped, usually to coerce a ransom. Drug traffickers generated $3 billion annually. Unemployment was close to 16%.
By the time Mr. Uribe left office, the homicide rate had halved and kidnappings had dropped to a 10th of what they once were. Most of the country had been cleared of terrorists, and 50,000 paramilitary troops had been demobilized. Under a more secure and business-friendly environment, foreign investment had doubled and exports tripled; economic growth was close to 7%. By lowering some taxes, introducing more flexibility in the labor market and promoting trade, Mr. Uribe helped trigger a boom that, by 2010, took the investment rate to 28% of gross domestic product from 13%.
Mr. Uribe's feat was punctuated by daring moments, including the rescue of former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, three American contractors and several hostages in 2008, when an intelligence mission broke the enemy's code of communications and duped FARC into believing that the rescuers were humanitarian workers."
And there is a lot more in Mr Vargas-Llosa's book review.
How did Pres Uribe do it?
Did he master the teleprompter and give meaningless "hope and change" speeches?
No he didn't do that!
Did he avoid difficult decisions and make appearances on ladies' TV shows in Colombian TV?
No he didn't do that either!
Did he attend campaign fundraisers when his soldiers were in the middle of a crucial military campaign?
No he stayed at the office and gave the courageous soldiers his moral and tactical support.
Did the Colombian First Lady take expensive vacations to Spain or tell parents what to feed their children?
No she did not do that. She stood with Pres Uribe and understood that image is an important part of leadership.
Again, we hope that someone in the White House puts Pres Uribe's book on Pres BO's desk. We further hope that someone attaches "a must read note" to the cover.
As we discussed with Frank Burke on Saturday and Bill Katz on Sunday's show, the American nation yearns for leadership.
Leadership is what this election is all about. Leadership is what Pres Uribe's presidency was all about!
You can get Mr Uribe's by clicking here!
Tags: Can someone get Pres BO to read Pres Uribe's book? To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
