When the general resigned back in November, I thought of drawing him as a polished brass figure with a big tarnished forehead, but never got around to it. Now, following his public apology (link), here it is. I have no opinion on his proper place in history although there obviously are at lot of positives. I do have strong negative opinions about those black-or-white people who shout out what we should think. Like pre-affair shouts anointing him as the next Grant, Patton and Eisenhower all rolled into one. Now, there are the post-affair howls from the “General BetrayUs” folks telling us they knew all along that he was a two-faced blankity-blank-blank.
The pool of great or even good leadership is shrinking – creating a vacuum into which more and more faux, non-leaders or even predators fill the void. In a normal leadership pool, only a few of them would do these things. The rate of poor leadership seems to be increasing epidemically. I think I know why. It parallels the myopia (nearsightedness) epidemic which began in the 1940s. It all starts at birth in any modern US hospital. …
I certainly agree with your vacuum assessment. I was interested in reading your theory explaining why this vacuum has occurred. Unfortunately, the concluding sentences seem to have be dropped from the comment. Or maybe the theory just went over my head. Anyway, have you read the book, This Town, by The New York Times’ correspondent, Mark Leibovich? He does a pretty good job revealing how the symbiotic relationships among the news media, Wall Street and the Washington politicians have created a cesspool in which “insiders” become rich simply by playing together.