Loyalty above Principle or Principle above Loyalty
Most political rants are best left in the "Glad I got that out of my system folder" but occasionally I write one that refuses to stay in the folder. That does not men it is correct or even important, it merely means I could not properly diffuse my emotional fervor in just the writing process. Those I allow to simmer in the "GIGTOOMSF" for a few days. This one has simmered for a while and perhaps burst into a smoldering ember which demands I offer it to the digital restroom wall for consideration by innocent visitors to this library? For the record, I have never actually written graffiti on a wall before, but I do admit that I have copied some to my ever present 3x5 Pocket Cards. Bobby Tony
Loyalty above Principle or Principle above Loyalty
My thoughts
There has been a lot of talk lately about loyalty. It used to be considered a good trait to have in a friend or co-worker. One of the earliest lessons, I learned in my industrial sales life was that most of my customers were in fact customers and not friends. Their loyalty was toward their company and not my outstanding personality or me. I know some of you will find that easy to believe, but for a self-diagnosed narcissist it was a revelation.
Over the years, I expanded this concept to include friends, acquaintances, bartenders, people I pass on the street, or pretty much anyone still alive today. It is interesting to me that a good many of my "friends" were more loyal to their own well being than they were to me. I am sure we have all seen or experienced several examples of this misplaced loyalty.
Here is an example:
If you have a friend that you know is cheating on his wife, you have to decide who you are loyal to. That in a large part depends on whether he or his wife were your friends first. You could just try to keep your mouth shut and try not to get involved. One thing is for sure. If he (you can replace the gender interchangeably) is caught your silence will turn out to be a mistake. On the other hand, if you are actively participating as well, when he (or She) gets caught, you can be guaranteed that he (or She) will throw you under the bus when the chips are down to save their own a$$.
I do not know if Trump asked James Comey to be loyal to him, but I do know that you should assume a person is loyal to themselves before you ask them to be loyal to you. You may have heard the phrase "there is no honor among thieves", or men who get caught, or politicians in the other party, or the used car salesman, or the broker who gets paid on each sale, or the boss who is under pressure to increase productivity. In short one should not look for loyalty to a person but loyalty to a set of mutual principles.
Even someone with strong principles will wander off course under extreme duress. So you can assume that people will be LOYAL to themselves first. Occasionally there will be a surprise but, it will be a pleasant one. If you blindly believe in personal loyalty, most of your surprises will not be pleasant.
Now to the question: "Can I expect you to be loyal to me?" Only a fool would ask that question in business or government (perhaps more rare in government). I think you could call President Trump many things, but being a fool is not one of the things that come to my mind. If the reports are true and the question was asked and the answer was "I can only tell you I will be loyal to the Truth," seems like a after the fact self-serving attempt to justify one's self.
As I have said, I have no idea what was said by whom or to whom. I do know that I still think that James Comey was in a quandary. He knew information that perhaps could be prosecuted (Hillary's Emails scandal), he took the extra ordinary steps to explain to the public what he knew. That in itself was a firing offense because he went outside his authority. The fact that he was not fired by President Obama, indicates to me that politics was involved. I can't begin to get into Comey's mind or motives, but it seems to me he was in the ultimate Catch 22 ("A situation in which a desired outcome or solution is impossible to attain because of a set of inherently illogical rules or conditions.")
I cannot help but wonder if he would have made the same decision if he knew any facts about Donald Trump colluding with the Russians before the election. It really does not make any difference what I think because I do not have all the facts and maybe no one ever will.
President Trump is not used to having his every statement parsed and examined like politicians who debate what the meaning of "is is". He is not a lawyer. Perhaps he should be more circumspect in his choice of words and realize that everything he thinks need not be expressed in a tweet or off the cuff remark. However, that is in a large part why he was elected, therefore in the larger context of governing, he is a novice politician trying to do just what he promised: i.e. "DRAIN THE SWAMP."I also note that President Trump cannot depend on the "LOYALTY" of any Republicans as they are all in "CYA" election mode.I am all in favor of releasing everything that the government has on everything and everybody with names and all. Based on my observation of the inept ?Intelligence Community?, I doubt they have anything that the Russians and the New York Times and Washington Post don't already have. We the citizens seem to be the only ones in the dark.
I fear Rigid Ideologues more than some enemies, here are a few examples:
- The recently converted Christian takes the admonitions of certain scriptures literally and decides it is permissible to bomb an abortion clinic.
- The reformed smoker or alcoholic on a crusade to stop drinking and smoking refuses to allow anyone else to smoke or drink.
- Any person who is so convinced that he is right that he leaves no room for any other opinion and justifies his actions for a larger cause.
- An elected official who is not content with just changing the names of streets named for Confederate icons, but feels it is necessary to erase any trace of history in the public square. (Just for clarity, I do not think any government funds should be spent on statues or monuments to anyone, that should be funded by private donations and supported by the private economy).
I neither endorse or renounce any of these selections. Below are some random reference quotes for your consideration:
He has that lean and hungry look
CAESAR: (aside to ANTONY) Let me have men about me that are fat,Sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights. Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look.He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous.
ANTONY: (aside to CAESAR) Fear him not, Caesar. He's not dangerous. He is a noble Roman and well given. Act 2, Scene 1, Page 8
Delusional Disorder
Symptoms
The primary feature of delusional disorder is the presence of one or more delusions that persist for at least one month. These delusions can be considered bizarre if they are clearly not possible and peers within the same culture cannot understand them. Alternatively, non-bizarre delusions reflect situations that occur in real life, but are not actually happening in the life of the person with the delusion.
People with delusional disorder typically function well aside from their delusion(s) and do not exhibit obviously odd or bizarre behavior. If the individual is to be diagnosed with delusional disorder, any manic or major depressive episode he or she has suffered must be brief in duration relative to the delusional periods. Additionally, the delusions must not be attributable to the effects of a substance or other medical condition.
Anger and violent behavior may be present if someone is experiencing persecutory, jealous, or erotomanic delusions. In general, people with delusional disorder are not able to accept that their delusions are irrational or inaccurate, even if they are able to recognize that other people would describe their delusions this way.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/delusional-disorder
Paranoia
A delusional mental condition that is so paranoid they have no grasp on reality.
What are the Signs of Paranoia?
Symptoms of paranoia and delusional disorders include intense and irrational mistrust or suspicion, which can bring on sense of fear, anger, and betrayal. Some identifiable beliefs and behaviors of individuals with symptoms of paranoia include mistrust, hyperventilate, difficulty with forgiveness, defensive attitude in response to imagined criticism, preoccupation with hidden motives, fear of being deceived or taken advantage of, inability to relax, or are argumentative.
http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/paranoia-and-delusional-disorders
Most people keep dogs as pets, but there are plenty of other uses for dogs trained for various functions within the human society. The Press sees itself as the WATCHDOG for the public.
What happens when your WATCHDOG contracts Rabies
Human cases of the virus are extremely rare in the United States, but if it’s not treated before symptoms appear, it’s deadly. Rabies has the highest mortality rate -- 99.9% -- of any disease on earth. The key is to get treated right away if you think you’ve been exposed to an animal that has rabies.
There is no treatment or cure for rabies once symptoms appear. Since rabies presents a serious public health threat, dogs who are suspected of having the virus are most often euthanized. http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/rabies-dogs#2-7
That only leaves you with one course of action, because it is the only factual information this soliloquy has established.:
"What are you going to do about the lying, cheating friend of yours?"
Oh! maybe one more reference which I call the Comey Doctrine until additional facts are revealed:
Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case. Prosecutors necessarily weigh a number of factors before bringing charges. There are obvious considerations, like the strength of the evidence, especially regarding intent. Responsible decisions also consider the context of a person’s actions, and how similar situations have been handled in the past. James Comey July 5, 2016
https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/statement-by-fbi-director-james-b-comey-on-the-investigation-of-secretary-hillary-clinton2019s-use-of-a-personal-e-mail-system
Comments
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Great analogy, Bobby Tony, on an issue that not only Millennials will mostly not fathom, but many pathetic so-called journalists will never muster the inquisitive intelligence to fathom as well.
Nixon was not a bad guy, and was a decent to good president in many respects if viewed in an unbiased eye. As an amateur historian and someone who was well aware during Watergate and all of Nixon's days in higher office, I am very much right to conclude that the man was as mistreated and the corrupt and feckless Hussein Obama was lauded by the great groaning swell of Stupids that have far too much intellectual control in these silly times. |
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Most of the millennials will not remember the press hounding Richard Nixon long before Watergate. The Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee was a close confidant of the First Philander in Chief John Kennedy, long before Kennedy was elected president. Nixon had an intense dislike for the press based on his previous treatment when Vice President over his campaign fund financing, which was common practice in the 1950's. To be sure Richard Nixon was a brilliant tactician but with a deeply flawed personality that did not fare well in the new arena of TV politics.
It is interesting that many who heard the 1960 Nixon / Kennedy debate on the radio thought Nixon won but most who saw it on TV thought Kennedy won. Roger Ailes came into Nixon's spotlight in 1967, as a 27-year-old Executive Producer of the syndicated Mike Douglas show, when he tried to convince a still skeptical Nixon that Television was not a gimmick but a real influence on the public. Thus the quote re the "People are lazy" quote in the comment below. Having never been in the political arena, I can nevertheless understand the blood sport that politics seems to breed. The Democrats have long known that, but many Republicans suffer from the "Rodney King Syndrome." Then along comes Donald Trump and everyone thinks this it is something new. If I were still a drinking man I would ask for a double-shot of Vodka in my Kool Aid. |
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Kool Aid it is.
In the memorials, it was mentioned that Roger Ailes 'was not there to build a channel as retort to Left, but to report all the news that was left out'. For me, as one who has been the butt of the biased Liberal /Crony Media, I well appreciate the truth within this anecdotal comment. |
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Roger did not invent the technique he just appropriated the Liberal bluster an applied it to his conservative views and found a vast audience that was not being served by the established media. A marketing coup if ever there was one.
Politico had an article by Jeff Greenfield, liberal commentator that amply describes the attraction of Ailes, Fox News and MSNBC. "How did Roger Ailes achieve such devotion? At root, it flowed from one key fact: He approached his task not as a journalist, but as a political warrior. Perhaps the best way to think about what Roger Ailes built is to recall a comment by a liberal US Senator some years back who found great comfort in watching the liberal rants of Keith Olberman, then on MSNBC. Why, I asked, after hours on Capitol Hill, would you watch an hour of political rhetoric?" Because, came the answer, “it’s like sinking into a nice warm bath.” www.politico.com Have a nice cool glass of Kool aid, anyone? |
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I can see that.
Mr. Ailes was a visionary in more ways than one. People don't read much, and, subsequently, their writing is often atrocious, and very uninspired. I have read much in my life, but I have read few books in the last two decades. At least I have an excuse; reading agendas and then minutes took much time, and BCN requires much reading, and always will. Fortunately, I choose to do little reading on Facebook. |
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With the death of Roger Ailes, founder of Fox News and perhaps the second most hated man by the Liberal Media, I noticed a quote from one of the news sources, which illuminates the problem with getting all your information from television (either left or right). I suspect that Rahm Emmanuel learned many lessons from Roger and thus my fear of Rigid Ideologues or Lazy Moderates.
"As an aide to President Richard Nixon in 1970, he prepared a 300-page memo titled, A Plan for Putting the GOP on TV News." "Today television news is watched more often than people read newspapers, than people listen to the radio, than people read or gather any other form of communication," the memo read. "The reason: People are lazy. With television, you just sit -- watch -- listen. The thinking is done for you 1970." |
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Very well put B.T.
After serving for 18 years with about 20 different county commissioners, let me make this abundantly clear: Less that 10% of these commissioners understood the true precepts of the constitution. About another 20% had digested just enough of the document to be dangerous, and the remaining 70% did not have a clue what they swore to when they were installed into office. I would estimate that this could, sadly, well represent the public that elected them. One need look any further to the idiot Democrats now rising to call for Impeachment of a recently elected Republican president when there is no crime, nor has the nation been damaged in any real way. |
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Apologies for the long reply:
I agree that James Comey was in a difficult position because he possessed knowledge that he felt the public should know, but he was bound by the constraints of an ongoing investigation. (Catch 22) and his duty as a citizen. I cannot wait to read his book. It is sad that most of this information comes after the point that we the public would find it useful. I think one of the points I was trying to make was that our elected, appointed and hired officials should have a loyalty to the principles of our constitution and not the loyalty to people or an ideology that is not consistent with the constitution. The campaign process allows candidates to explain their positions and expand their vision of the path they plan to take. Their objective should be clear. We have too much nuance from both sides because of their need to gather a majority of votes. Perhaps the cure is illustrated by the article recently posted by Publius Huldah. beaufortcountynow.com |
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Good analogy B.T., but, I think the larger issue at hand is that Comey was in a difficult made far worse by the triumvirate of corruption: Hussein Obama, L. Hillary and Loretta Lynch.
Speaking of Obstruction of Justice, these three were in control that real justice would go lacking, and Comey was simply a diligent, dutiful pawn. |
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Beautiful.