on the fiddle

I like this metaphor, used to describe the emerging Obama style of government - a mix of his inspirational rhetoric with highly competent, experienced Washington insiders who know how to get things done:

“This is the violin model: Hold power with the left hand, and play the music with your right,” David J. Rothkopf, a former Clinton official.

Comments

[peter]

So, Obama is no Maoist:

"Learn to "play the piano". In playing the piano, all ten fingers are in motion; it will not do to move some fingers only and not others. However, if all ten fingers press down at once, there is no melody. To produce good music, the ten fingers should move rhythmically and in co-ordination. A Party committee should keep a firm grasp on its central task and at the same time, around the central task, it should unfold the work in other fields. At present, we have to take care of many fields; we must look after the work in all the areas, armed units and departments, and not give all our attention to a few problems, to the exclusion of others. Wherever there is a problem, we must put our finger on it, and this is a method we must master. Some play the piano well and some badly, and there is a great difference in the melodies they produce. Members of Party committees must learn to "play the piano" well."

Mao Tse-Tung [1949]: Methods of Work of Party Committees, Selected Works, Vol. IV, p. 379.