The Authoritarians

The Authoritarians – A very interesting ebook by Bob Altemeyer. It is about why people follow leaders, even ones who are cruel tyrannical liars. Although, the book is a sociological study, it is written in clear, easy to understand terms. It broadened my understanding a great deal. I highly recommend you check it out. It is free.

Promise Kept?

Found this post (dated July 02, 2007) on weblog, Marc Perkel Rantz :

Bush Kept his Promise

Letter to the Editor

On September 30th 2003 Bush told reporters in Chicago, “If there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated the law, the person will be taken care of…” Today Bush made good on his promise and took care of Scooter Libby by commuting his sentence. Unfortunately there is only one remedy for a president who commutes the sentence of someone who lied to cover of for his own crimes and that’s impeachment. But the Republicans are standing in the way and allowing Bush to continue to be lawless.

Indeed.

I had been listening to National Public Radio the other day. They were discussing Bush’s commuting Libby’s sentence. Why would he do it? Especially when, according to the pundits, he may suffer even more political fallout. One possible reason is that “You help out your buddies”.

Even more disturbing to me, is the seeming collaboration by pundits to talk only of political ramifications of our leaders’ actions. “Does this help them, or does this hurt them” discussions that never really delve into WHY something would hurt a politician’s rating. I realize that to do so, would require them to speak of the criminality of the politicians’ actions. They would have to actually say the words. Instead, they speak of our perceptions. “How does the public perceive this…”, never actually describing the reality.

The reality is that Bush commuted the sentence of someone who violated our laws. I want to know why. I want to know why we let him get away with it.