We all use timetables we're not all quitters

I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that CNN’s ratings are so far into the tank that very few people probably saw the arse wippin’ Mitt Romney laid on John McCain during Wednesday night’s debate. The good news is that CNN’s rating are so far into the tank that very few people probably saw our presumptive nominee looking like a tired, bitter, angry, petty, sanctimonious, self-righteous, lying weasel.

Keep in mind he’s all of that while he’s winning. What’s he going to turn into when the press finally exposes him for what he is – and that’ll be about two seconds after he wraps up the nomination?

McCain insisted on sticking with his fantasy that Romney called for a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq - sort of like him sticking with the idea that his amnesty bill wasn’t an amnesty bill or his bill assaulting the First Amendment didn’t assault the First Amendment etc. etc. Romney and nearly everyone who reads Romney’s remarks objectively disagree with McCain on the meaning of those remarks. Yet McCain insists that it’s the rest of the platoon who is out of step as his right foot hits the deck just as 43 left boots strike the deck.

Here’s the quote:

When asked by ABC News’ Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America” if he believes
there should be a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, Romney
replied, “Well, there’s no question that the president and Prime Minister al
Maliki have to have a series of timetables and milestones that they speak about,
but those shouldn’t be for public pronouncement.”


The former governor went on to explain, “You don’t want the enemy to understand how long they have to wait in the weeds until you’re going to be gone. You want to
have a series of things you want to see accomplished in terms of the strength of
the Iraqi military and the Iraqi police and the leadership of the Iraqi
government.” End quote

A Marine General once told me that a leader’s job consists mainly of three things:
Determine what’s happening
Determine what’s not happening
Use your skill, leadership and assets to influence the action


So who among us decides we want to remodel the house then pays the general contractor the full amount for the job before the work has even begun? I guess John McCain does. Smart people – ah sorry John – set timetables and milestones for payments. Also, smart people – again sorry John – use the timetables and milestones not simply to call off the job if it’s running a day or so behind but rather to manage assets and focus the priority of work.


So when you learn on Fri that the tile you ordered to be laid on Mon won’t be in until Thur, you can either use the John McCain management (ah what he’d call leadership) style and have the tile man stand around for three days while McCain berates him for not being patriotic enough; or you could use the Romney leadership style and call the tile guy and tell him he’s not needed until Thur. Then maybe you’d have to shuffle painters, electricians, carpenters and counter men in order to keep the job moving forward and expenses down while you waited for the tile.

With McCain, republicans are buying into a myth.