[October 29, 2015] Occasionally here in my leadership blog, I recognize someone who shows moral courage in the face of strong criticism. Many will not even recognize the name James Comey but for those who don’t him, Comey is the Director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and as a high official involved in law enforcement it is incumbent upon him to publically discuss such issues.
One would think that senior leaders in the United States will speak plainly and openly about any issue affecting the general population and set straight any misunderstandings regardless of the consequences. We call that professionalism and it involves moving beyond political correctness and stating the facts as they are known. That used to be the case but today we find such courage rare and thus why I’m recognizing James Comey.
Two key examples will illustrate his moral courage. First, in 2006 as the U.S. Deputy Attorney General he threatened to quit the Bush administration over a National Security Agency domestic wiretapping dispute. This resulted in key changes being made to the U.S. surveillance program. Second, just a few days ago he made two speeches where he stated his belief that the nation’s rising crime rate is, in part, due to the growing scrutiny and criticism of cops. He says this emboldens criminals and causes law enforcement to retreat.1
This latter example is in direct contradiction to U.S. President Obama’s claim that rising crime is a result of too many guns on the streets and bad, racist cops and thus members of the White House have criticized him. President Obama has embraced the Black Lives Matter movement and Al Sharpton. Even the New York Times editorial board wrote that Comey’s remarks were “incendiary” and that “there is no data” backing those comments.2
James Comey is a good example of a senior leader with moral courage. He deserves our respect and admiration. Typically we would not see this and the reason most people believe we have a crisis in leadership in this country.
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- http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/27/us/politics/white-house-disagrees-with-fbi-chief-on-scrutiny-as-a-cause-of-crime.html?ref=topics&_r=0
- http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/28/opinion/effects-of-greater-scrutiny-of-police.html?ref=topics