OpEd: The problem with leadership today.

Listening to NPR the other day I was struck by a report I heard regarding the sign “Mission Accomplished” that was made to hang on the deck of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln when President Bush made his carrier landing one-hour out of San Diego. The fact that the sign hung as a backdrop meant little or nothing to me, but the blame game that followed disgusted, and disgusts me. Apparently this sign was attributed to military personnel on the carrier in their zeal to celebrate the U.S. victory in Iraq. After confirming that the sign was, in fact, not made or posted by any military personnel but by a White House advance PR team, President Bush attributed it to an overzealous White House staffer. Upon further questioning, the White House went on to attribute the “idea” to military personnel.

It seems to me that this type of behavior is symptomatic of society today. Rather than own up to their mistakes – and make efforts to correct them – this White House has taken to attributing any and all errors to other people or agencies and doing little, if anything, to correct their blatant, bordering on illegal, actions. ‘It wasn’t the White House that mislead the American public about Iraqi threats prior to the war, it was the CIA.’

This countries leadership, at once claiming the need for moral and ethical behavior from the populous, has shown an extremely poor if not dismal example – from Dennis Kozlowski and Bernard Ebbers, to Martha Stewart and Sam Waksal, to Jack Welch and Nick Grasso – of serving the public interest beyond the contrived PR photo op.

Morality and ethics are not merit badges you pin on your chest as you strive to make the proverbial eagle scout of life. There is a situation referred to by sociologists called “the tragedy of the commons,” in which too many free-riders [non-contributors] have a way of ruining societal good, or in our case the good of society, for everyone. While one may argue that the above leaders are contributing to the economy. This argument is deeply flawed as they also degrade the society that supports that economy. Once the populous accepts the axiom that “you have to look out for yourself,” then the common bonds and freedoms that make this country great are truly lost. If one has to pay for civility then no one benefits, least of all the wealthy that will have to pay an ever larger burden, while the society-at-large simply suffer.

This country needs real men, and women, building a society that everyone can live in; not simpering sycophants – smiling impassively in front of the cameras while lying, cheating, and, or stealing – claiming “morality and common good.”