Of Leadership

The lame-duck notion is taking a beating these days. In foreign policy, President Reagan is displaying leadership of a high order. Nobody expects him to run again. But wouldn’t it be something if he did? (After all, the venerable Deng Xiaoping has just begun to talk about retiring next year, when he will be 82.) Only the small matter of repealing the Twenty-Second Amendment stands in Reagan’s way.

In contrast, President Aquino dithers. Let me add straightaway that she is a novice in the art of high politics, in comparison with Reagan or Deng. What bothers me most about her is that she has given little sign, so far, of understanding the main problem she faces. She appeals to the Communists to lay down their arms, on the grounds that she and they were fighting the same enemy in the corruption and arbitrary rule of the Marcos team. So, the argument runs, let’s join forces to build a happier republic.

BC

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Brian Crozier

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The lame-duck notion is taking a beating these days. In foreign policy, President Reagan is displaying leadership of a high order. Nobody expects him to run again. But wouldn’t it be something if he did? (After all, the venerable Deng Xiaoping has just begun to talk about retiring next year, when he will be 82.) Only the small matter of repealing the Twenty-Second Amendment stands in Reagan’s way.

In contrast, President Aquino dithers. Let me add straightaway that she is a novice in the art of high politics, in comparison with Reagan or Deng. What bothers me most about her is that she has given little sign, so far, of understanding the main problem she faces. She appeals to the Communists to lay down their arms, on the grounds that she and they were fighting the same enemy in the corruption and arbitrary rule of the Marcos team. So, the argument runs, let’s join forces to build a happier republic.