Can a politician be a bad person but a good leader? Can an individual balance personally bad acts with public acts of good? I go 'round and 'round on this issue. I haven't yet found the answer.
With Bill Clinton, I admit I still find him a bit creepy old perv . . . while also continuing to be rather fond of pointing out some of the good things he did do. Although, I will own up to thinking that perhaps Clinton was more of an opportunistic animal than I would have previously admitted. The whole refusal to declare Rwanda a genocide? BAD PRESIDENT! BAD!
W . . . I haven't really decided if he really was as evil as Uncle Dick. I think he wasn't terribly smart and he was easily swayed. I think a lot of people died needlessly because of his agendas. . . whether they were his in reality or those he was led to believe were worthy. He was quite the jerk as a young man. Ego and sense of entitlement way out of proportion with his actual abilities. But, it appears that he was a good, and faithful, father and husband. (I guess this is more an example of a poor leader but redeemed person.)
The debate renewed in my house yesterday while watching coverage of the latest Kennedy funeral. Ted Kennedy was a champion of causes I believe in. My favorite remembrance of him this past week was a story about someone telling him he should support a bill that would deny welfare benefits to mothers who gave birth out of wedlock. Kennedy was told that if he didn't support the bill, he'd likely lose his next election campaign. Kennedy said that he wasn't going to get re-elected on the backs of poor children. He said that he didn't need the job, but those children needed food. Nice, right?
But, he is responsible for the death of another person. He hasn't always conducted himself in a way that even he was terribly proud of.
I know, every single one of us has something in our lives we'd rather not have to explain on Larry King or have splashed on all the magazine covers at the grocery store check out lane. But, I can't help but think that if you are pursuing a very public life . . . through "fame" or politics. . . perhaps you ought to be a bit more aware that everyone has a camera and no one turns down their fifteen minutes. Especially when it's about someone else.
1 comment:
That's a very good point. I guess people can be less than perfect and yet be good at their jobs. It's just most of us don't have our bad deeds plastered all over TV. Not sure how I feel about it though - it's hard to back someone who does well in their jobs but makes awful decisions in their personal life. I dunno ... complex.
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