Presidential imagination...

[xchangagirl]

Hey :fishys...I need some opinions.

Monday night is my Spanish Conversation final, and it should be pretty easy. Anyway, part of the final is a two person debate. We have our assigned topics, and what side we are on, but we won't find out who our partners are until that night (so we can't practice/memorize), and it will be more of a spontaneous coversation.

I have to debate why a president should be imaginative (vs. practical). So far I have a couple points:

:starsWe need a leader who can think for him/herself, and come up with more original ideas.

:starsLately, all the imagination seems to be contained within the minds of the terrorists. Think about it. Terrorists are pretty damn clever, and they are definitely not stupid. The ideas they have are terrible, but we have to admit they are incredibly creative. Imagine if all that creativity and brainpower was put to a better use, such as running a country.

:starsI'm not saying terrorists should be ruling any countries, just that leaders should be able to think like one. They would be better able to prevent certain acts from happening that way.

If anyone has any ideas, I'd be happy to hear them!

:loveJessica:love

[Marigold]

Jessica
I love imagination but I'm an artist. I don't know if Presidents really care about having one...or even do...
When you say imagination, do you also mean intuition?
To me, both are closely linked.
I think imagination is extremely important. Facts alone, won't move people. People are swayed by emotion...even when they think they are operating from pure intellect alone, emotion is underlying all.
Therefore, I think a President w/imagination and intuition would be very persuasive about getting his/her ideas across...communicating well, which is part of what causes changes to "take".
A President with imagination will know how to most deeply connect with people.
A President with imagination will be able to look at issues that seem cut and dried, tried and true, locked in cement...and be able to come up with totally new ways of approaching these issues.
And a President with imagination will be willing to take some important, carefully constructed risks.
Not just go along with the status quo...speaking bodly but acting without vision.
A President who knows how to use their imagination will also see the world with fresh eyes. It won't all be rote for him/her.

[Amsters]

I'll go at this one another way....a few quotes...

"You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil who is standing center stage advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. "

"Leon, somewhere in Libya right now, a janitor's working the night shift at Libyan Intelligence headquarters. He's going about doing his job... because he has no idea, in about an hour he's going to die in a massive explosion. He's just going about his job, because he has no idea that about an hour ago I gave an order to have him killed. You've just seen me do the least presidential thing I do. "

both are from the American President...

both describe situation highly similar to situations we currently face, but both speak with words that are degrees more expressive. some of it can obviously be chalked up to the fact that they're from a fictional story with fictional characters, so the scriptwriter can make it as poignant and dramatic as he/she wants. but part of it is linked to the creativity of the writer, I believe.

if creativity was valued more highly from political leaders, I don't think we'd get speeches that sound like they're from a movie...but we might have leaders that look at the world in a less black/white way, that are willing to dig into the issues below the surface level, and that don't simplify their speeches down to an "axis of evil."

but maybe I'm just a little cynical with the current leadership.... :winky