You look at some leaders and ascribe to them superhuman qualities. You marvel at their ability to do what they do, to motivate themselves day after day to deal with huge and complex issues, to navigate their way through the quagmire of partisan politics and global expectations to produce tangible results or at the least a sense of hope and optimism for the future.
There’s the crippling workload; the speeches, the committees, the meetings, the skill and nuances of diplomacy required to extract results from seemingly hopeless situations. There’s the unrelenting glare of the world’s media honed on them as go about their business, as they address world leaders, chair summits, give press conferences, do interviews or take part in live debates.
You see them do all this and think about the qualities they must possess. The composure, the poise, the work ethic, the confidence, the eloquence, the nervelessness. You know you could never do what they do, the mere thought is preposterous.
These people, people such as Obama possess such presence and charisma, such miraculous ability to lead and comfort people with the knowledge that whatever problems we face are eminently surmountable as long as he is at the helm. They have your admiration because you cannot for one moment imagine yourself in their shoes.
And then you look at Brian Cowen and you see what way things would pan out if by some bizarre mix up you yourself became prime minister of the country. You look at him and instantly recognize all the failings and shortcomings that you know you would be guilty of. The lack of motivation, the negative body language, the absence of any guile, confidence, enthusiasm or commitment. You look at him in the Dail and you think of days at work when you could not take your eyes off the clock such was your all consuming desire to get out of there and have a few pints on the way home. When it didn’t really matter how half assed you were doing your work as long as you kept out of the boss’s way and got paid every month.
The Obamas of this world belong to a parallel reality, one where real application and ability can produce real results for billions of people. Our reality contains Brian Cowen, midlander, nod’s as good as a wink, one of our own. He’s one of us all right; fuckin’ hopeless. And livin’ for the weekend.
