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Performing Leadership. Executing Nothing

There are three easily recognizable homeless guys who hang out near the Columbus Circle area where I live -- they've been there for years. One's a white guy with long graying hair, one's a tall black man with dreadlocks, and one's a cantankerous coot who spits on people. During this year's Republican Convention, they were gone -- for the entire week. And lo and behold, Friday morning, when the GOP had bolted town, all three were back, sleeping near the entrance to the 59th Street subway station. In that situation, I almost wanted to ask them where they'd been all week (maybe not the spitting guy). The whitewashing of the city that occurred during the Republican Convention drives home a larger point that's particularly true of the Bush Administration -- when it comes to governing, the guys in power are singularly obsessed with making things look good; that is, promoting the appearance of leading ... rather than actually leading. Saying that our leaders are attuned to theater is nothing new. Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were masters of massaging the message, for example. But this administration has brought this sort of execution to a new level; an uninterrupted delivery of the day's political message. It's the President as Brand: a four-year photo opportunity. As advertising increasingly encroaches on every segment of our lives, the GOP, and particularly the administration, have proven that the message comes first.[more

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