I once wrote a poem making fun of the King of Sweden. Of course because it was a poem, the king never really appeared—only ideas about the king materialized. Political fictions are often sentimental and doubly destructive because of it. For most of America’s history the President of the United States has been a cruel and ugly man. When the prez isn’t sufficiently cruel and ugly the people get restless. They know what to expect. Decent presidents tend not to fare well: Woodrow Wilson; Jimmy Carter; Gerald Ford come to mind. Try looking up “kind American presidents” via Google. You’ll discover that a California schoolgirl has genealogically linked all US presidents as descendants of King John of Britain. (King John was the bad guy in Robin Hood, FYI).
The notable thing about American domestic politicking is that we hate decency in our commander in chief. Give back the Panama Canal, we hate you. Talk about a “kinder, gentler nation” and we lampoon you. Fight for health care and we’ll never give up vicious slanders. None of this of course is new in America. What is new is the increasing respect the press corps has for the implicit idea that being an asshole is a proper, indeed necessary credential for leadership. I assure you the press didn’t always think that way. In fact the press actually rooted for decency in 1933, applauding Franklin Roosevelt’s efforts to save the country. Today the press would say he’s a traitor to his class, or worse.
True management, whether in government or higher education requires moral principles but you wouldn’t know it by the slavish abeyance of the press to the idea that cruelty, greed, and contempt are requirements for leadership.
BTW: even King John wouldn’t get elected today. He signed the magna carta.
Planet of the Blind 