STEVE PIECZENIK TALKS

Instant/Pablum Knowledge Provided to Dr. Ben Carson by Ex-CIA Operative Dewey Clarridge—To No Avail!

The Presidential candidates are acting like parrots who are cramming for a test!
Enough!

In the midst of all the hoopla about the French/Belgium terrorist arrests of Islamic Terrorists, I found an article in the NY Times which highlighted a problem that I have noticed in this circus called, “the presidential debates’. None of the candidates are truly qualified for the Presidency; because there is no particular course or professional path that is specifically designed to prepare someone for the panoply of jobs involved in becoming POTUS.

At best, we, citizens, might entertain some thoughts [or wishes] as to what we might think are relevant skills to becoming POTUS: 

▪ management of a large bureaucracy replete with inertia.

▪ extensive hands-on foreign policy experience with successful outcomes. 

▪ an impressive military experience so that we can avoid unnecessary wars; or, we have to go to war then make certain that we can win.

▪ a strong economic/banking/business background.

This wish list could go on and on. The perfect future candidate has not yet been realized;  because, at best, any person running for that Presidency brings her/his unique experiences to a position which has never been properly delineated. It’s the only job in America which has never had a classical job description; unlike any position in the federal bureaucracy which is replete with minutiae that might entail tons of paper work [just for the Top Secret clearance].

Therefore, we have obtained candidates who have never been properly vetted like Barack Obama. We, Americans, entrust our faith to a self-selected group of people who can parrot the necessary words that the media feels might suit the American public, irrespective of the true merit or the past accomplishments of that particular candidate.

Recently, the NY Times [Nov. 17, 2015], had an article entitled “Ben Carson Is Struggling To Grasp Foreign Policy, Advisers Say.” By Trip Gabriel. Gabriel points out that a former well known, highly experienced ex-CIA operative, named Duane R. Clarridge felt that as ‘an advisor’ to Ben Carson on foreign policy, the “good doctor” was not ‘properly briefed’ on foreign policy.

More importantly, Dewey [his nickname] said the following:

“Nobody has been able to sit down with him [Carson] and have him get an iota of intelligent information about the Middle East.”

Now that is quite a damning statement! Fortunately, I have known about Dewey and his stellar if not, unusual career in the CIA. He was kind enough to offer me a job in the presence of former DCI Bill Casey. I respect Dewey; and more importantly, his assessment jives with my past blog that Carson has a major problem telling the truth; or, more importantly, assimilating new knowledge, especially when the issues are completely out of his purview. Similarly, I can say the same things for Cruz, Rubio and Jeb [whose ‘new advisors’ gave us 9/11].

What we hear, if we are still tuned in [I am tuned out by now] are not the thoughts or feelings of a real person; but of a contrived entity [human robot] who is filled with an assortment of content which most of the time is rarely relevant to a profession entitled, POTUS. We hear nothing but an endless repetition of words that drone on without any meaning, or merit. Bereft of serious content or any real talent, each candidate, performs according to the cues of his instant stream of twitter, Instagram or some other binary internet message. There is much ‘sound and fury signifying nothing’.

The process of selecting a President, must change in the 21^st  century in such a way that we, Americans, have some inkling of whether that person is real; knowledgeable; or even talented in something other than self-aggrandizement.There was a time when the citizen-soldier who had another profession [other than politics] were inaugurated. Our Founding Fathers understood that the creation of a new country was far more important than their own personal ambitions.

Perhaps, that moment of history can be repeated spontaneously without the prompting by some paid consultant or advisor. I would love to see a candidate who changed the rules of the game… right now.

Donald Trump—this would be your proper introduction to the game called, the “Presidency”.

Grab it and close the deal…now! In your own way… and not in the prescribed, artificial way that has no bearing to the present day realities of immediacy and crisis management.

Homer wrote :
“Achilles absent, was Achilles still!”