"The Founding Fathers were Community Organizers!"

The other day as I was reading through google reader, I found my way to an article that quoted actress Laura Linney at some awards ceremony saying, "The Founding Fathers were community organizers." That struck me as ridiculous and completely unhistorical. When I mentioned this later to my son he defended Linney's statement, which of course forced me to think more about why I thought what I did. As we argued we talked about the definition of "community organizer." I granted that the men who led this country to independence lived in communities and they organized things, but they did not "organize" the community. "Community organizer" is a term that really does have its own meaning, as defined by Saul Alinsky. I said the Founding Fathers were elected by the people of their communities to represent the community at the Continental Congress. They certainly organized the Congress, but they led the fledgling nation. My son declared that organizers are leaders, but I disagreed. Leaders and organizers are not necessarily the same people. And then tonight, the Anchoress has touched on my point:

This re-inforced two things for me about Obama; he does not know how to govern, only how to campaign, and maybe he really doesn’t want this job. I know I’m not alone in suspecting that he never thought his ‘08 run would land him any higher than the veep slot. Perhaps he feels like it’s safer on the campaign trail, with an adoring press working for him, than in Washington - where he is expected to actually lead his party.

There is a fundamental difference between being able to organize something - the community, your family, Congress - and being able to lead. Leading means getting in front, going first, deciding what needs to be done. At Quantico Marine Base during officer training they aren't looking for the man who can organize his men, they are looking for the man who, being presented with a problem, can decide how to fix it, can motivate his men to do it, can take action that resolves the problem. In a herd of horses the lead mare does just that: she leads, decides where to go, and the herd follows because most have allowed her that position.

As I continue on my backlog of reading I have found this:

I have been pondering this awhile, but there is something about Barack Obama that seems more like a Press Secretary than a President. He comes across as a pleasant and articulate team player, the kind of guy who would walk into a policy room or a political war room and say, "Okay guys, what are we thinking here?" Once he has mastered the message, he is a great communicator. But he has never had an original thought. That is a plus in a Press Secretary, I suppose. It is a real danger in a President.