been the conceptual problem that most americans struggle with all along. what you are hearing here is an administration that is struggling to get its message back together. partly on how the mission in afghanistan is going to work and also partly on that key date of july 2011 is that the beginning of a withdrawal? maybe the beginning of a withdrawal? is it only a checkpoint along the way? they re not there yet. let s turn to our second topic. the nbc news/ wall street journal poll. this one set all the wrong records for the president. highest disapproval rating of the presidency. more interestingly, those leadership qualities where the president had always pulled strong. even through the health care debate, all of it. we start to see big drops. pull it up. obama s quality versus inauguration, down in leadership, honest and straight forwardness, firm and decisive, able to handle a crisis. ruth marcus, can you draw betwe
history. but in my lifetime, i can t remember a pope being so politically direct on what the social responsibility is to wealthy nations. that was my read on it. what was yours? it s good to be here on the reverend ed show on this eve of thanksgiving. and i just have to say, hearing michele bachmann say that we should follow china s lead on food stamps? i ve always wanted to ask her why she wants to take her lead on social policy from a communist dictatorship. but that s not our subject today. i think that the pope is, in fact, very consistent with a long run of catholic social thought that goes all the way back to leo xiii. but this pope has given it more power, more candor. and just a straight forwardness. and i think that comes from the fact that he s a pope from the south. he is from argentina.