Economist Endorses Kerry

The Economist magazine proves in its recent editorial endorsing Kerry that even IT is susceptible to media-pushed B.S. It's not exactly a ringing endorsement, and they even refer to Kerry's alleged inability to make up his mind. You know, no endorsement of either candidate that I have read refers at all to the idea that it's really the cabinet who sorts out all the details and submits them to the President.

If you want a good book on how the executive branch should operate, I recommend In Retrospect, by Robert McNamara, secretary of defense under Kennedy and Johnson. Most of the book relates to the Vietnam war, but the way that Cabinet members interact with each other and with the President is what makes it quite interesting. Also, we have a war going on right now that I happen to believe was just shoved down the American people's throat, with a minimum of discourse. What America most needs now is a leader who is able to take large quantities of information and choose the best course of action. The way our executive branch is set up now, it's all the cabinet members coordinating efforts with a pre-established course of action already in mind.

Oh, and if you're too lazy to read McNamara's book, at least check out the documentary he narrates, called The Fog of War. Many, many lessons about war and decision-making to be learned.