[November 12, 2014] People say stupid things and that is to be expected. Who hasn’t said something they regret? When leaders say things that are “stupid”; morally wrong, disrespectful, or intellectually irrelevant, they need to immediately make things right. Today, I’m only showing some of the more failures since they stand out so much. Some are entertaining, some are embarrassing. These are examples of those stupid things said by leaders that would have been best served by not saying anything at allNote.
The following are the failures:
- Jonathan Gruber, MIT Economist who helped write the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), gave the reasoning why the act was able to pass through Congress. “Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage,” said Gruber. “And basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical for the thing to pass.”1 These comments were actually made on October 17, 2013 but were just discovered. Leaders who hold contempt and disrespect for people rarely achieve much in the way of real leadership and showing vision. Employing such a person, as the U.S. Congress has done, shows poor judgment. The fact that his comments were not immediately dismissed by those same members of Congress shows that they agree with him.
- Ellen Barkin, Hollywood actress and pro-abortion advocate leader, told us on Twitter some of her thoughts on when life begins. “News flash…a fetus cannot talk,” Barkin tweeted. “It is not a person. Not even a baby, not even an infant. Nope. Sorry.”2 She is telling us that fetuses, babies, and infants are not people. The immorality of such a position is obvious; even more, the logical slippery slope of this argument is telling.
- Betsy Hodges, Mayor of Minneapolis, commented on the Washington Redskins’ football team name. “I have a message to the Washington team: The clock is ticking on your name … it is more than an insult. It’s hate.”3 The Minneapolis Vikings team were playing the Washington Redskins at the time. There is a good lesson here for leaders. First, the best leaders do not embroil themselves into controversies that are both highly emotional and in their lane of responsibility. Second, the name “Redskins” refers to positive traits of the American Indian: bravery, aggressiveness, and sturdiness. To say this is “hate” is truly a fantasy and so obvious to the mainstream observer that it makes her look intellectually small.
- Julie Roe, NCAA Vice President of Enforcement, in an email (recently discovered) referred to the NCAA’s authority to sanction Penn State University over the child molestation scandal involving a one-time assistant football coach. She wrote, “We could try to assert jurisdiction on this issue and may be successful but it’d be a stretch.” Roe went on to characterize the NCAA’s approach to Penn State as “a bluff.”4 It is unprincipled and unethical to “bluff” members of any organization of which you are a part to pay a penalty when on uncertain ground. The NCAA is now tainted with overreach on their authority, trustworthiness, and credibility.
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[Note] Recall that my intent is to write enough about the issue at hand to have the reader see that this person failed or succeeded in meeting basic leader traits. All information occurred within the last week (exceptions noted). Below are references to the above senior leader quotes.
[2] http://www.wnd.com/2014/11/ellen-barkin-infants-are-not-people/?cat_orig=health
[3] http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/281223101.html