April 17, 2026
I just don’t get it sometimes. You see the way people act and you really have to wonder…what are/were they thinking? Let me just preface all of this with a simple fact: No matter how much you believe you’ve hidden yourself, you haven’t. And whatever it is, it can/will be found out if people are interested enough. Incredibly, especially in financial shenanigans, people somehow think they’ll skate.
Bad behaviors are piling up so rapidly, I just can’t cover them all. Tiger, Swalwell, Noem, Gonzales…the hits just keep on coming. Given the wide political (Noem vs Swalwell) and personal spectrum (billionaire athlete to some no name making a pipe bomb), it is incorrect to conclude that certain groups are inherently flawed. They are all and they all aren’t.
Thus, I’m thinking more about what compels people to act in such a reckless manner. We’re not speaking of someone who stumbles, pays the price, has remorse, makes amends and moves on and does not repeat. If you condemned those ‘one timer’s it might be more a question of who didn’t than who did. America is a country that has always believed in second chances. But equally, doesn’t really embrace third, fourth, fifth chances.
I read a commentary which said the perp being discussed is a “narcissistic sociopath.” I looked it up. Claude:
Narcissistic traits include an inflated sense of self-importance, a deep need for admiration, lack of empathy, and a tendency to exploit others while believing they are special or superior.
Sociopathic traits include a persistent disregard for rules and the rights of others, manipulativeness, deceitfulness, impulsivity, and a lack of remorse or guilt for harmful behavior.
My gentle readers who are Left leaning will fill in “Donald Trump” and those on the Right, “Bill Clinton.” Equal Presidential treatment, I guess.
I am moved to comment that politicians as a class do fall generally into the need for admiration but their cynicism leads them to exploit (lie) to others in part because they believe they are superior. Sociopathy is rare, but it certainly rings true in many cases you and I read about. Clearly, the two mixed together are a toxic mix, most especially among elected officials.
Part of the problem, I think, is the advent of polling. Back in the day, without polling, you would develop your positions, your views on what needed to be done, and then you went to the public and asked for the vote. You didn’t stick your finger in the air to gauge wind direction and then tell people what they wanted to hear.
Lincoln had his beliefs, knew his election would most probably rupture the country, that wide swaths of people didn’t agree, and some, violently. But he had character, gumption, and he went to the electorate and asked for the vote. He thereby became immortal.
Compare to today. Someone does a poll that says Affordability! is the big deal and pols, many of whom probably can’t decipher a checking account, suddenly become the champions of Affordability (Some no doubt will have to look up the definition first…). It’s craven but we get a lot of that. “Tell me what you need and I’m with you!” And then they move on to the next straw in the wind, depending on the polling or what Hannity or MS Now says or whatever.
These are by and large people I think stuck in a kind of narcissism. Just watch them in front of their adoring crowds. They beam and wave and throw kisses…just reveling in the love. In many cases (Left and Right), there are not a lot of brain cells at work, but what is operating is a sense of how to sell themselves in a cynical wrapper.
Somewhere the line between positive self-esteem and narcissism lies. But we don’t have an owner’s manual, and those who cross it don’t realize they have.
The sociopathic side is rare but exists. Best estimates are that 1% to 4% of adults are sociopathic, don’t know if you leverage that when writing about politicians.
I think Bernie Sanders is a terribly misguided person, a foe of democracy and capitalism which have both made this country great. I can’t think of an elected official with whom I disagree more. But I do believe he is sincere in his views and isn’t sticking his finger in the air every week. So, I can easily respect him for that. That is a contrast.
I’ve always believed true leaders, lead. They take their constituents to places they didn’t know existed or didn’t know they should move toward. FDR an example of that. Had he not led this country into WW2, we can contemplate the world today after 80 years of Axis Power hegemony. Nazis would have no doubt flooded Argentina, eventually, and we’d be staring at them across the water in this Hemisphere. Worth contemplating.
I’ve seen throughout my career, too many managers, Presidents, CEO’s and senior partners to not have pretty much observed the whole pantheon of leadership. From those who cynically mailed it in (and eventually would fail) to those with incredible focus on detail and success. All kinds. The great ones are rare, the good ones and very good ones in more abundance. Truly bad ones do get weeded out fairly quickly, in my experience…but some take an agonizingly long time to get out.
My ask for myself is when I’m about to pull the handle in the voting booth, it is to be sure I’ve not been charmed into a personality and a smile. Rather that the candidate has exhibited true leadership and is willing to take an unpopular point of view, is not pandering to his/her base.
Easier said than done, I think? But doable!
Thoughts, questions, or reflections? I’d love to hear them. You can reach me anytime at anthony@workingprofit.com
