Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Heroes
Wretchard (Richard Fernandez) in a post entitled " Only the Good Die Young " embedded a clip of the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill. Of all the men in recent history, he can arguably be considered responsible for saving the world through his leadership in WW II. (He died old, almost 90)
It strikes me that we won't see a Churchill or much of any other heroic type of leader anymore. We would have condemned him long before he became Prime Minister for his personality, his abrasiveness, his smoking, his appearance. We are obsessed with appearances now--and look what we elected as a leader--an incompetent classic narcissist. Anyone that shows competency is hounded by the press and pilloried in any way possible, even to the creation of lies. The Republicans have a whole group of competent people vying for the candidacy for President, but all of them except Romney, a pretty-boy, Obama-lite politician, are constantly subjected to insult, dismissal, and contempt.
We have no idea anymore of what a hero is, what he/she looks like, or what she/he acts like. We want perfection or nothing, being unable to prioritize our needs and desires in a leader, and as a consequence being unable to compromise effectively.
It is no wonder the barbarians are at the gates.
It strikes me that we won't see a Churchill or much of any other heroic type of leader anymore. We would have condemned him long before he became Prime Minister for his personality, his abrasiveness, his smoking, his appearance. We are obsessed with appearances now--and look what we elected as a leader--an incompetent classic narcissist. Anyone that shows competency is hounded by the press and pilloried in any way possible, even to the creation of lies. The Republicans have a whole group of competent people vying for the candidacy for President, but all of them except Romney, a pretty-boy, Obama-lite politician, are constantly subjected to insult, dismissal, and contempt.
We have no idea anymore of what a hero is, what he/she looks like, or what she/he acts like. We want perfection or nothing, being unable to prioritize our needs and desires in a leader, and as a consequence being unable to compromise effectively.
It is no wonder the barbarians are at the gates.
// posted by Bill @ 9:44 AM 
