Originally posted by straffo
you find rumsfield comment about "Old Europe" civil and smart ?
Rumsfield is the president now?
Fact is the higher you go in a nations hieararchy, the higher the demands on the leader with regards to diplomacy, tact and tone. Heads of state can change their nations policy in 30 seconds if they want, that comes with the job. With this position comes enormous responsibility not to f*ck up.
Thus a President cannot say the same things a minister might say, because if the minister f*cks up, the president step in and reprimand him.
If we go even lower in the hierarchy we find underlings to the minister who can screw up even more without anybody really caring, everyone will just expect the minister to lecture his underling on good and bad behavior.
Somewhere on the bottom of this hierarchy, you'll find people like me and you. We can say pretty much whatever we want, since no one really cares anyway. "Oh no, Steve in Sweden called us spineless cowards, what shall we do"-is not something discussed in the halls of power in Paris right now.
BUT WHEN A HEAD OF STATE F*CKS UP....
When a head of state f*cks up Straffo, it reflects on the entire nation because no one can reprimand him, and everyone assumes, quite rightly, that he speaks with the voice of his people.
Even you can understand this simple truth. Even though it might hurt.