[November 1, 2024] If there is one obvious, unchanging, massive rule in leadership, it’s loyalty to your people. And being loyal as a leader means you don’t insult or in any way denigrate your people, whether they deserve it or not. A couple of days ago, in a public address, President Joe Biden spectacularly failed America as its most powerful leader when he said that Trump’s “supporters are garbage.”
I am not saying “spectacularly failed” as hyperbole but as a clear statement of fact. The worst thing anyone can do is to show they are disloyal because that is the same as betrayal. And of all the “sins” humans most hate – whether in popular fiction or love stories or the Bible – is disloyalty or betrayal. The fastest way to show such disdain for your people is to disrespect them in front of the world, so don’t insult them.
Read Dante’s book titled “Inferno” for a peek inside his thought process, and you’ll quickly get a picture of the deep and ancient thinking about loyalty, duty, betrayal, murder, and the sins of human nature. What stands out is that betrayal was the most deplorable, even more evil than taking a life. Betrayal is a breaking of the fundamental nature of human relationships, trust. Remove trust, and humans are no better than wild animals on the hunt.
We all learned the well-known children’s rhyme: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me.” It’s designed to help us be more resilient in the face of name-calling. But it is also an admission that it can harm us emotionally because our trust in others is being tested. Bullies are fond of the name-calling technique because it is powerful and it works.
We are told that Biden was responding to what many thought was an insulting joke by a comedian at a Donald J. Trump rally. When any leader calls his people a disgusting name – he said we were “garbage” – for any reason, then we will struggle to trust that person until they show proper, reasonable, believable, and purposeful contrition. Biden later clarified his comments by saying he was not referring to Trump supporters. He was referring to them, and he screwed up with his denial/clarification.
I’m not surprised at all. I’ve always said that Biden does not have the right character to be a successful president. He proved me right. Sadly, his dementia may have played a part. The disease has progressed rapidly, essentially making him incapable of governing. Someone or some small group of unelected people are running the country; that is not what Americans signed up for when they voted.
At first, I didn’t think much would be made of Biden’s missteps and few would be convinced to vote for Trump because of it. I was wrong. Shortly after Biden’s “misspeak,” Donald Trump did a photo op in a Garbage Truck and wore a reflective vest. He was trolling Biden and Harris, and it was funny.
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Please read my books:
Only if you fail as a leader.
👍 Yep, that’s right. 👍
But, by this time we would think that junior leaders would have figured this out. There is, truly, a real lack of any leader training for most jobs. Other than a few words about “good customer service “, we find little about how to handle and motivate employees. This is part of the reason for such high turnover in many occupations. Thank you, Mr. Savage.
I suggest that we all take a good look at today’s post by Gen. S. “ Leadership Comparison: Harris vs. Trump”
https://www.theleadermaker.com/leadership-comparison-harris-vs-trump/ (Nov. 3)
This post gets to the heart of leadership and while it doesn’t address insulting your people, it does layout the key traits of leadership. Read it and post a comment. I predict this is going to be a popular post.
“ When any leader calls his people a disgusting name – he said we were “garbage” – for any reason, then we will struggle to trust that person until they show proper, reasonable, believable, and purposeful contrition.” — Gen. Doug Satterfield. Well said, sir!
Gen. Satterfield is reemphasizing an age-old point that a leader never insults his own people as a group. That leads to mass punishment, and when linked to a streak of authoritarianism—like we have today under Biden—we risk political prosecution. And that is happening right now in America, and yet the Democratic Party operatives can’t see it.
They are blind to their own fascist methods yet accuse others of it. Psychologists call this projection.
Bingo.
Wow … you sure hit that one on the head.
There is zero excuses for Biden’s “garbage” comment. Zero. Those who are either justifying or agreeing with the comment are not serious and can be rightly called sycophants.
Read this article by Roger Simon for some insight on this topic. “ Am I a Nazi, Garbage, or Nazi Garbage?”
https://americanrefugees.substack.com/p/am-i-a-nazi-garbage-or-nazi-garbage
My first reaction when I heard Joe Biden was calling Donald Trump supporters “garbage” is that he (Biden) wanted to sabotage, consciously or unconsciously, Kamala Harris’ campaign. I could be wrong, but, as the Zen Buddhists say, “First thought, best thought.”
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Like I always say, “Stupid is as stupid does.”
You got me there, Forrest. 😂😂😂😂😂
Let’s keep in mind that Trump punches up at the media, political big wigs and opponents and the democrats always punch down at parents at PTA meetings and church goers.
I read Dante’s “Inferno” back in High School. Looks like it is time for me to get a copy and read the entire trilogy again.
COMMON SENSE. Apparently not.
POWERFUL… “ I’m not surprised at all. I’ve always said that Biden does not have the right character to be a successful president. He proved me right. Sadly, his dementia may have played a part. The disease has progressed rapidly, essentially making him incapable of governing. Someone or some small group of unelected people are running the country; that is not what Americans signed up for when they voted.” — Gen. Doug Satterfield. This is a critical point not to be overlooked or understated. Gen. Satterfield has been right about this for a long time. Yep! 🙏 God Bless Gen. Satterfield. 🙏
Looks like I’m “garbage” now, at least according to Joe Biden. Gen. Satterfield was right all along when he said that Biden lacked the character to be President.
Missy, welcome aboard and I appreciate you picking up on my belief that Joe Biden lacks what it takes to be a good leader.
Did anyone see the Julia Roberts political ad that tells women to lie to their husbands and vote for Kamala? That’s the Democrat Party in a nutshell … lie… lie… lie. Dishonesty is at the core of their values. Vote for honesty and integrity. Vote for Donald Trump. 🇺🇸 Vote like a real American 🇺🇸
Bingo !
American Girl, you are spot-on with your look into the Dark Heart of Democrats who have fully adopted the communist idea of “The ends justify the means.” so to lie is moral and good in their think I D because it gets their stealth candidate voted in. Then they laugh at us for being had. Jokes on us. AG, thank you.
Thank you all for encouraging us to vote for the truth. And never take insults from politicians laying downpn. Vote their butts out of office.
You got that right.
Hi Boy Sue. Yessir, this is an important issue but most Americans can’t see it due to the dumbing p-down of the American education system. I recommend that we buy extra copies of Gen. Satterfield’s book “55 Rules for a Good Life” and give them away to high schoolers. And ask them to read it. Easy reading. But tough lessons.