What is the President's job?
Head of state - which means that his task comes down to ministering to the emotional and symbolic needs of the country. during great moments of great sorrow and stress - given that there are now more disasters than victories.
The assistant secretaries and the deputy assistant secretaries actually run the govt through the interagency groups and special interagency groups - and these are the figures who control the principals in the later principals' committees.
Presidency is symbolic, while the permanent beaucracy (plus the White House Palace Guard) make up a kind of collective prime minister who actually makes decisions and runs the govt.
On 9/11, the government was being run by Richard Clarke of the permanent beaucracy, who coincidentally also made the call on it being al Qaeda before anyone knew anything.
Your thoughts?
