ALTHOUGH...:

The Sickness of the West: The collapse in global leadership (Paul Johnson, 02.25.10, Forbes Magazine)

Seldom in modern history has the lack of trust, now verging on contempt, been so deep, universal and comprehensive.

At the very top we have a sad bunch of flawed mediocrities.

--President Barack Obama. To quote Benjamin Disraeli, "A sophisticated rhetorician, inebriated with the exuberance of his own verbosity." If only he would talk less, and think more.

--Chancellor Angela Merkel. A well-meaning hausfrau with the steely will of a dishcloth.

--President Nicolas Sarkozy. An operator who is clever at everything except what matters most.

--Prime Minister Gordon Brown. A machine politician whose own machinery is visibly breaking down.

--Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. A splendid advertisement for Viagra, a man whose antics would have afforded us much amusement in a time of normal prosperity.

...you can count the good--nevermind great--leaders of France, Italy and Germany on one hand. And that would be Mordechai Brown's right, not either of Antonio Alfonseca's.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 25, 2010 8:08 PM