Lord Acton was right, unfortunately. But there is more to his quote:
'Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men'.
Melville speaks a bit more descriptively on the matter. From page 246 of my copy of Moby Dick:
"Now, as you well know, it is not seldom the case in this conventional world of ours - watery or otherwise; that when a person placed in command over his fellow-men finds one of them to be very significantly his superior in general pride of manhood, straightway against that man he conceives an unconquerable dislike and bitterness; and if he have a chance he will pull down and pulverize that subaltern's tower, and make a little heap of dust of it."
I am wondering if there are republicans (the democrats being obvious) out there that have been pulverized by W, Rove and Co and left in their wake as they elevated themselves to the throne of our current Theocracy. If so, who might they be and what would we learn from their stories?
3 comments:
I love that saying...
However it's more likely that when in absolute power, your bound to step on toes. And since the media is watching you constantly, they tend to spin anything and everything against you...
So when you have to sacrifice one person to save millions, the nation see's you as a murderer of one man...
Gee...
Check out what a power happy Democrat is doing at my blog in California.
I think they are all corrupt in one way or another.
I will not disagree with your stance on your blog, but you shouldn't blame everything on the Bush Adminstration.
Rove's World
Politics ain't beanbag. The question is, Are there some limits that should not be transgressed, either when seeking power or after having achieved it? For Rove, historically, in the campaigns he has managed, the answer is No, there are no limits. There's Lawyer's World; when the facts are on your side, argue the facts; when the law is on your side, argue the law; and when neither is on your side, argue the man. Where Rove oversteps is when there's nothing wrong with the man, the man has no significant character flaw, Rove makes them up. Rove engages in character assassination, spreading lies about an opponent that can't readily be refuted. Typical Rove, an opponent (this really happened) who started a foundation to support children was accused in a whispering campaign of being a pedophile. The public always assumes that where's there's smoke there's fire. The damage is done, and there's no way to undo it. Win, win, for Rove. But the price is paid by the public in a good man deciding not to continue in public service. That is what makes character assassination over the line, and Rove on the wrong side of it.
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