A Tribute
Mitch Daniels ·
Jun 6, 2010 at 4:17pm
As Hoosiers celebrate the life of our incomparable Coach John Wooden, it was encouraging to see the President note in his gracious tribute the Coach's "modesty" and "humility". Maybe a gentle reminder of flattery's sincerest form would be in order? Those two traits are especially valuable in high national office, and have been, might we say, noticeably lacking the last year or so?
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May '10
Re: A Tribute
I would expect the form of his comment to emulate Charlie Brown yelling at Lucy Van Pelt, "Oh yeah, I bet I'm twice as humble as you are!"
Re: A Tribute
So true, Governor. Wooden said a lot of stuff I wish the current president would take to heart. Especially, when we're talking about the stimulus package and nationalizing health care and the financial reform bill: "If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"
Re: A Tribute
I think the traits of modesty and humility have actually been getting scarcer and scarcer-- on both sides of the aisle -- since the end of the Reagan/Bush years. (Although the current leadership puts its predecessors to shame on that score.) And it's interesting that this correlates rather well with the increase in bitterness and divisiveness at the national level over the same period. When you perceive the other side as arrogant and condescending, you have little incentive or desire to hold out the hand of friendship and compromise. And it wouldn't surprise me if -- just as the electorate reacted to Carter's dreary pessimism by turning to the positive Reagan and reacted to Bush 43's inarticulateness by turning to the glib Obama -- voters significantly reward candidates who bring genuine modesty and humility to the table over the next couple of election cycles. One can hope so, anyway.
May '10
Re: A Tribute
That's an interesting thought, Steve, and I share your hope. The whole electoral process also seems to make it difficult for a person of genuine modesty and humility to even run for office -- the patience, the dedication, the sacrifice, the strain on family, etc. Which is why folks like Gov. Daniels seem to be so few in number?