Home › Blogs › James's blog ›

Their Achilles heel?

Submitted by James on Wed, 02/15/2012 - 4:56pm

Near the top of any leadership ethos is the concept of stewardship: the responsible overseeing and protection of something considered worth caring for and preserving

This is our strong suit. From education to the environment to women to family to democracy itself, progressive positions reflect a deep commitment to stewardship - a mindset all but absent in the free-market model of government. Is a failure of stewardship the Achilles heel of the right?

We're seeing this drama unfold today with Republican proposals to sell off public resources to cover short-term needs. These ideas violate the principle of strategic flexibility - and guarantee fewer options for the future. Whether it's about prisons, highways, hospitals or parks, the instinct to let public assets fall into private hands is the instinct of a renter, not an owner. It's an instinct devoid of stewardship. Short term thinking at its toxic worst.

Republicans may be good at something, but it sure as heck isn't stewardship.

Tagged:

Comments

Stewardship and transparency

Submitted by James on Wed, 02/15/2012 - 5:15pm.

Not exactly Republican family values ... witness McCrory's continuing dodge of transparency.

"It's clear from today's filing that Pat McCrory is dead set on hiding his lobbying activities and financial conflicts from the people of North Carolina. Pat McCrory needs to come clean and release a full list of his clients so the citizens of North Carolina can see exactly who has been paying him to run for Governor for the last four years. If Pat McCrory has been unfairly taking advantage of his access to lawmakers as a political insider and perpetual candidate for Governor, the people deserve to know about it."

The strain to justify privatization fever

Submitted by James on Wed, 02/15/2012 - 6:14pm.

NC Policy Watch says it best

manifesting on women's health issues

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/16/2012 - 3:07am.

Selective responsibility. The repub opposition to the continuance of the Violence Against Women Act in cases of illegal immigrants and/or gays is a case of selective responsibility - unimaginable for any truly responsible person. Luckily, some courts agree as in case won a couple of weeks ago in the ninth circuit. A woman - Guatemalan - sold into sexual slavery, tortured and allowed to rot in prison in the US for six years because she was brought back into the US after being deported, heard a lawyer speaking on the radio and managed to call the lawyer, who met with her and spent over a year gathering the evidence to prove the woman's story. She is allowed to stay, checking in with Homeland Security regularly. The responsibility of treating each human with dignity is paramount.