Great historical prospective.
BTW I take full responsibility for the editorial content of the Report (except for the content submitted by T Spritzler).
How did the Cow get into the Ditch?
By James Banakis, Kass News
September 1, 2024
In April of 1961, just 4 months into his presidency, John F. Kennedy had his first test in crisis management. He failed. The CIA plan, hatched under the Eisenhower administration, was an attempt to overthrow Castro with 1500 Cuban exiles. Historically we know that CIA chief Alan Dulles assured Kennedy that the plan was fool proof. The only assurance Kennedy asked for was that he would not have to use US assets and air cover. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. The worldwide reaction was swift and negative. Kennedy thought he would get impeached as a result. The next day he held a press conference and made the following statement: There’s an old saying, ‘victory has 100 fathers and defeat is an orphan,’ I’m the responsible officer of the government, and I accept that responsibility. We intend to profit from this lesson. In defeat, Kennedy exhibited the best qualities of leadership, and his approval rating shot up to 83 percent. Now he might have said:
This was planned by Eisenhower, not me.
The CIA gave me inaccurate information.
My staff thought it was a good plan. I wasn’t so sure.
The Cuban exiles were very disorganized.
We plan to appoint a committee to find out who is to blame. We may never know.
Kennedy had great leadership qualities despite his own personal inadequacies. He then went on to fire all those responsible, privately without fanfare. Kennedy was fiscally conservative, and socially found handwringing liberals like Adlai Stevenson, miserable and socially unbearable.
To his credit, Jimmy Carter took complete responsibility in 1979, after a failed raid into Iran to attempt a hostage rescue. He did this in an Oval Office address to the nation. The lesson all leaders should acquire from this is that people are willing to forgive a leader who honestly takes accountability, and vows to fix the problem. Wistfully refreshing, isn’t it? Our daddy’s Democratic party doesn’t exist any longer.
Today, for all the Democrats ranting about threats to democracy, we are not a democracy, but a republic. In a republic we elect people to represent us. They in turn vote and act by proxy. We simply ask them to explain their actions, take responsibility, and solve our common problems. Our remedy is to vote them out of office if they fail us. That’s our way of firing them. Sounds simple, yet it’s become terribly convoluted.
Since 1980 the Democrats have become the party of uber wealthy technocrats, minorities and marginalized groups. To keep these groups on the reservation, their leaders tell them that any failure or disappointment they experience in life is not their fault, but someone else’s. In other words, they’re hopeless victims. Pathetically, they tell their constituency that they themselves are also victims, but they’re doing the best they can against impossible obstacles. For example, they claim the biggest threats to America are fascists, racists, and Wall St. billionaires. As they hold and retain power, there always must be ambiguous villains. In an atmosphere where everyone is a victim, nobody can get fired for incompetence, because no matter how inept they are it’s not their fault. Collective government control has usurped individual accountability.
I find it interesting that the minority missing from their reservation are Asian Americans. During WW2, Franklin Roosevelt put Japanese Americans in detention camps. Because of the war, the country adopted racist tendencies toward Asians. Currently though, Asian-Americans are among the wealthiest, and best educated Americans. They’re entrepreneurs, and professionals. I think the reason is because of the Asian-American tradition of FAMILY, and because many of them have escaped totalitarian regimes. Asian-Americans vote for candidates that reflect their personal interests. Some may be liberal, others conservative. Our largest and most elite universities discriminate against them in favor of other minorities, punishing them for academic excellence. Despite all this they tend to thrive and excel in our system without casting blame on others.
Returning to our topic of leaders taking responsibility for their actions, we’ve reached a tipping point. It seems the only thing the Biden/Harris administration does well is to force DEI hires, make activist judicial appointments, and import minorities illegally. Biden claims all his many foreign policy failures are because of Putin. All his many domestic policy failures are because of Trump and Republican opposition. His son’s laptop was Russian disinformation. His DEI press secretary blames everything on MAGA Republicans. The Secretary of Transportations blames bridge collapse, product shortages, and airport narcotics security, all on climate change. The Secretary of Homeland Security claims is no problem at the border, and has 100 percent confidence in the head of the Secret Service even after the assassination attempt on former President Trump.
The head of the Secret Service Kimberly Cheatle was asked where the buck stopped, she replied, “I guess it stops with me.” Asked why no one lost their job she just deflected under oath. She later resigned with full pension and retirement benefits including full Secret Service protection from President Biden. Her successor, Ronald L. Rowe Jr. claimed local police were to blame. The local police claim no one told them that it was their responsibility. As I write this, 5 Secret Service agents have been put on leave. We still don’t have answers to what happened and who was responsible. Why?
Kamala Harris had one assigned duty after assuming office, oversee border security. She just ignored the order. When asked why she had never visited the border, she said I haven’t been to Europe either. Biden before the coup, claimed his economy was great, but the punishing inflation is Trump’s fault. After the assassination attempt Biden implored the country to tone down the dangerous rhetoric, not taking any personal responsibility, but just claiming all of us are guilty. Two days later, in a Lester Holt interview, Biden went right back using dangerous rhetoric. Holt pointed out that the week before the president said, “we need to put a bullseye on Trump.” Biden’s defense was that he didn’t say “crosshairs” and that bullseye, only meant to concentrate on something. So, that’s one more thing Biden is good at, “gaslighting.”
America is aching for strong leadership. Our victim-in-chief’s cognitive issues, and his inability to take personal accountability has the entire country in the backseat of his speeding Corvette with grandpa driving, and grandpa has fallen asleep at the wheel. Who is running the country? The Harris campaign is in the process of rewriting responsibility for the policy failures of the past three- and one-half years. The definition of “gaslighting,” is changing the narrative so that the public can no longer recognize reality. Most of us are confused and frightened by the existing power and accountability vacuum in a dangerous world.
Throughout my career in business, I’ve heard every excuse whenever there was a problem. I always knew who my leaders were. They were the ones who confidently took responsibility instead of heading for cover. If the leader doesn’t display confidence and accountability, people in his or her orbit adopt those same negative traits. Democrats nationally are collectively deflecting blame for disastrous policy choices. It’s contagious.
Chicago Mayor Johnson is my favorite responsibility denier. The mayor makes excuses for gangs of looters, budget issues, and public safety. Of all the people he might choose to blame for his failed policies, he chooses the Republicans. There hasn’t been a Republican mayor in Chicago for 100 YEARS! He then personally blamed Richard Nixon who hasn’t held any office for 50 YEARS! The dog ate my homework is a more credible excuse. Johnson is the posterchild for a leader as victim. He has been given the privilege to run one of the most important cities in the world, he abdicates any form of leadership. Early on in his term he complained being mayor was time consuming and he needed to spend more time doing personal pursuits. He begged the press to empathize. Sadly, of all the lame leaders in the nation, he deserves the trophy. One of my favorite motivators, John Wooden once said, “You are not a failure until you start blaming others for your mistakes.”
In this era of gaslighting, we forget the simple things we need for leadership in business, our country, our towns and cities, and our families. Namely, problem solving, confidence and most important, personal accountability.
Anne Mulcahy, former Chairman and CEO of Xerox, an example of an enlightened leader, was asked by Fortune Magazine what was the best advice she had ever received in business. She said it occurred at a breakfast meeting to which she had invited a group of business leaders. One of them, a self-made, streetwise guy, came up to Mulcahy and said:
“When everything gets really complicated and you feel overwhelmed, think about it this way. You gotta do three things. First get the cow out of the ditch. Second, find out how the cow got into the ditch. Third, make sure you do whatever it takes so the cow doesn’t go into the ditch again.”
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Jimmy Banakis is a life-long restaurateur. He was an honorary batboy for the White Sox in 1964. He attended Oak Park River Forest High School, Nebraska Wesleyan University, and Chicago-Kent Law School. He claims the kitchen is the room he’s most comfortable in anywhere in the world. He published an extremely limited-edition family cookbook. He’s a father and grandfather, and lives in Downers Grove Il.
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