The world of politics is complicated and therefore I rarely discuss them at great length. The subject often leaves me bewildered as its members seem like little more than children, divided into two teams, for a game of kick ball on the school playground.
And so you won’t often find me editorializing over the subject. After all it’s a subject without heart and inspiration – something I long for in a good post.
But it can be hard to ignore the headlines and admittedly the recent scandals surrounding New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie. American’s do love their scandals don’t they?
While I’m not a fan of Governor Christie, I’m not here to rehash the implications being thrown at him. We all make our choices in life and it’s up to us to be honest and truthful about them. I do hope for the credibility of our government and state he is doing just that.
What I do want to speak to however is why this is such a newsworthy story. Why are so many people so ready to attack the Governor of New Jersey?
I think Thomas Jefferson said it best: “Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold.”
Chris Christie is not a “warm and fuzzy” kind of guy. He’s aggressive, arrogant and argumentative – causing many of his opponents to label him “a bully”. He’s imposing in both his appearance and his demeanor – portraying that of an invincible man who’s not easily swayed by those who do not support the same character traits that he does.
It’s these “character traits” I believe that have garnered him the most attention over the last few weeks.
When someone believes they are larger than life with an impenetrable shield of armor, people keep a watching eye – waiting for the day when vulnerabilities arise. Suddenly the dominance and power you once commanded has been eradicated – reduced to nothing more than a common ordinary citizen.
While some might like Christie’s “all powerful” attitude, I myself have always wondered about his true abilities as a leader. As John Quincy Adams once said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
But leadership is not about fear and intimidation – it’s not about ego and getting your way as Christie might have you believe. And while many might follow because of those reasons, when one’s shield of armor finally begins to crumble and you’re exposed as little more than “human”, you better believe those followers will make it headline news.
Craig-
I read your each of the posts I receive from you and don’t often comment. My bad. Today I want to. To reassure you that even when you step ‘out there’ as a writer and say things you ‘don’t normally say’, you are making us think. And that, too, changes lives for the better. Thanks for that.
yikes! where was the edit button when I needed it? lol ‘your each’. so sorry.