Real Life vs Politics

If you were asked to describe your ideal boss, what would you say? Have you ever worked for your ideal boss?

I did. I had a boss once who pushed me on, who supported my efforts to push past my self-imposed limits, who respected me as a person and as his employee, who trusted me to always act in the best interests of the program; who knew my values and respected them even if his were different, and respected me even more for respecting him. If I ran into an ethical conflict, he supported my decisions, again, even if they weren’t the same ones he’d make. He was the one I’d always turn to for moral guidance, and I always felt he valued me and held me in high regard. That regard was returned in kind. I wasn’t the only one that felt so highly of him. The feeling was shared by thousands of people he had touched over the years.

That is about as close as I can come to defining a good leader. It is what I expect to see in leadership at any level, whether it be a manager of a small corner store, a worldwide corporation – or an elected official. But, as soon as the word “politics” enters into the equation, that all flies right out the window.

In fact, the majority of politicians I’ve met behave like psychopaths more than leaders. They can talk the talk and walk the walk in one second, then turn in an instant to slash and bash, game and blame and demoralize and deflate whatever it is that trips their trigger at that given moment.

When things go haywire, when it all comes tumbling down around them, those politicians never consider that they are the source, the creator, of all the destruction, damage, chaos and turmoil. Their shining moments come when they succeed at deflecting all blame with plausible deniability. In the end, that is the true earmark of a “good politician.” There are no values or morals, no sense of right and wrong, no sense of responsibility. There’s no room for lofty ideals such as those. There’s only room for self-righteousness, self-idealization and self-interest.

People are sick of the circus. The media becomes a circus with only these political clowns to write about. The deep chasm of division between the people and the government is fortified by distrust, delusion, grandeur, pompousness, aggrandizement and endless bantering and posturing. And these clowns know all about what is called “St. Vitus’ Dance,” the whipping up of a crowd into a frenzy, pushing people en mas to do what they would never, ever consider doing as an individual. It is the one thing that they are truly good at.

This is not leadership! This is blasphemy!

It is time to tear down the old to make room for the new. Make it so.