The State of Leadership
My current chain of thought begins here, with an article on the incredible rise of Stephen Colbert. As a big fan of both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, you can imagine it grabbed my interest. The article focuses on the popularity of the show, and mentioned the "cult following" that Stephen has achieved. The specific line that got my attention is, "He was invited to give the keynote speech at a dinner for the president...that earned him a crazed mob of lunatic followers who await his every command. (Which is ironic, not least to Colbert, since his show is essentially a satire of the kinds of people who have crazed mobs of lunatic followers who await their every command.)" This point is very true. It is also very frightening, for all of America. It tells us something about our own leaders. Namely, we have no faith in them.
To doubt the current power of Stephen Colbert would be a bad move. His show itself pokes fun at the large (and devoted) group that follows him and his every whim. His fans have gotten a sports team named after him, they almost got a Hungarian bridge named after him, and they tried to change the truth about elephants merely because he told them to. Stephen commands, they obey.
What this tells us is not necessarily about Stephen so much as it is about the people he imitates. The Colbert Report plays the "O'Reilly Factor" role perfectly, with Stephen at the helm. He produces falsities and inconsistencies by the dozen, and his character shows no signs of being a person to put in charge of anything. And the people love it. They worship Stephen, leaving the people who actually do make the decisions on the sidelines. They do what Stephen tells them, but for the most part completely ignore what the actual politicians want. Part of this is because of the incredible accuracy with which Stephen has pigeonholed his victims. There was a time when "truthiness" was just a funny made up word. To quote Stephen, "we thought we were just being farcical." Well, he was wrong. And he was right. It appears that our government has gotten so predictable that a comedian trying to over exaggerate on purpose still manages to hit politics right on the dot.
And all this farce has led to even less trust in our leaders than before. I doubt any of the viewers of The Daily Show or The Colbert Report really believe anything a politician says anymore. But at the same time, we have the Colbert Force following orders to the letter from a man they know is just joking. Or do they?
All this says something about the state of leadership in America. Namely, that it sucks. A comedian is garnering a more loyal following than virtually all members of our government. I don't think it's just because it's funny, either. The Colbert Report has had two effects that could lead to this. First, like I already mentioned, it lowers the status of our actual leaders. But also, it has elevated Stephen Colbert to a trustworthy status. You can trust his sense of humor. You know he won't back away or change his mind, qualities leaders should have. This makes him appear more of a leader than the actual leaders themselves.
It could be taken that I am implying that we should follow our government more strictly, that we should not let our judgment be clouded by people like Colbert. This is not the case. I believe that we should always question our government. But what I'm saying is that when you have a time where Stephen Colbert has become a greater leader than those who get paid to lead, it's time to get new leaders.
And at this point, it seems like just about anyone could do it. No one trusts the government. The only people that do it seems like (to me, anyways) either know next to nothing about it or have something to get out of it that they probably shouldn't. With a situation like this, does it really take that much to step into the spotlight? Is it really that hard to look good when you are being compared to people seen as lying, biased, corrupt, and generally useless? Apparently so, because I haven't seen anyone step in yet.
As someone who doesn't support our President, I occasionally get asked why. My first answer is always, "Because he is a horrible leader." I don't comment on his economic policy, I don't attack his Christian ideals, and I don't immediately bring up Iraq. It's the fact that he lacks the personality, the projection, the esteem, the image, and most importantly, the respect that is becoming of a proper leader. He tries to be like a father to this country, despite acting like a drunken idiot version of one. That's no leader. And frankly, things in America won't improve until we get someone who is.
To doubt the current power of Stephen Colbert would be a bad move. His show itself pokes fun at the large (and devoted) group that follows him and his every whim. His fans have gotten a sports team named after him, they almost got a Hungarian bridge named after him, and they tried to change the truth about elephants merely because he told them to. Stephen commands, they obey.
What this tells us is not necessarily about Stephen so much as it is about the people he imitates. The Colbert Report plays the "O'Reilly Factor" role perfectly, with Stephen at the helm. He produces falsities and inconsistencies by the dozen, and his character shows no signs of being a person to put in charge of anything. And the people love it. They worship Stephen, leaving the people who actually do make the decisions on the sidelines. They do what Stephen tells them, but for the most part completely ignore what the actual politicians want. Part of this is because of the incredible accuracy with which Stephen has pigeonholed his victims. There was a time when "truthiness" was just a funny made up word. To quote Stephen, "we thought we were just being farcical." Well, he was wrong. And he was right. It appears that our government has gotten so predictable that a comedian trying to over exaggerate on purpose still manages to hit politics right on the dot.
And all this farce has led to even less trust in our leaders than before. I doubt any of the viewers of The Daily Show or The Colbert Report really believe anything a politician says anymore. But at the same time, we have the Colbert Force following orders to the letter from a man they know is just joking. Or do they?
All this says something about the state of leadership in America. Namely, that it sucks. A comedian is garnering a more loyal following than virtually all members of our government. I don't think it's just because it's funny, either. The Colbert Report has had two effects that could lead to this. First, like I already mentioned, it lowers the status of our actual leaders. But also, it has elevated Stephen Colbert to a trustworthy status. You can trust his sense of humor. You know he won't back away or change his mind, qualities leaders should have. This makes him appear more of a leader than the actual leaders themselves.
It could be taken that I am implying that we should follow our government more strictly, that we should not let our judgment be clouded by people like Colbert. This is not the case. I believe that we should always question our government. But what I'm saying is that when you have a time where Stephen Colbert has become a greater leader than those who get paid to lead, it's time to get new leaders.
And at this point, it seems like just about anyone could do it. No one trusts the government. The only people that do it seems like (to me, anyways) either know next to nothing about it or have something to get out of it that they probably shouldn't. With a situation like this, does it really take that much to step into the spotlight? Is it really that hard to look good when you are being compared to people seen as lying, biased, corrupt, and generally useless? Apparently so, because I haven't seen anyone step in yet.
As someone who doesn't support our President, I occasionally get asked why. My first answer is always, "Because he is a horrible leader." I don't comment on his economic policy, I don't attack his Christian ideals, and I don't immediately bring up Iraq. It's the fact that he lacks the personality, the projection, the esteem, the image, and most importantly, the respect that is becoming of a proper leader. He tries to be like a father to this country, despite acting like a drunken idiot version of one. That's no leader. And frankly, things in America won't improve until we get someone who is.
posted by Derek at 6:39 PM
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