There is the old question…If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? I would like to expand this point and rephrase it visa vies today’s American culture and society…If a person does something stupid and no one is paying attention, is it stupid at all? We all realize that we have done a lot of dumb things in our lives that we carry as an embarrassment or as regret; but for most us…it is a fairly private thing because nobody beyond our personal friends or family cares about it. It is quite a different case when a celebrity or well-known individual screws up; it is front page news.
I
have heard many times the saying…The
higher up the ladder you climb, the more your ass shows. This is the harsh reality that comes with
fame. What constitutes a foolish and
silly mistake for a lesser known can turn into a monumental, life changing
moment for a person who is in the spotlight.
Those totally and understandable human faux pas moments that we see from
Donald Trump, AOC, J.D. Vance, Bernie Sanders, Sydney Sweeney, Stephen A.
Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Lebron James, and so many others…can potentially be
career makers or career breakers. But
for folks like you and me, they are simply momentary and inconsequential
reflections of the human animal that we are.
Don’t
get me wrong here…non-celebrity status is not carte blanche to do anything you
like and escape accountability; none of
us should get a free pass for asinine behavior. But the reality is that most of us employ, either consciously or unconsciously, a double
standard when it comes to judgment of common behavioral and oral mistakes. For ourselves, it is simply the occurrence of
a momentary lapse of reason (thank you
Pink Floyd). But for those musical,
movie, political, internet stars that live their lives under the microscope…willingly so, I might add…the tolerance
for error is much, much smaller.
Is this wrong? Should the shining stars among us be held to
a higher standard than what applies to the dim bulbs? I would venture to say yes…to a certain degree. A
conscious, thoughtful, and deliberate choice is made by a person when they
pursue fame and notoriety. As the old
saying goes…If you can’t stand the heat,
stay out of the kitchen. So when
that certain politician does something crazy or says something outrageous, it
is rather lame to explain it away by saying…I
am only human. Yes…it is certainly
true that you are only human; but you hold yourself out to be something
more. The arrogance and conceit that so
naturally comes…for most, if not all…to
those who seek recognition and fortune is a calculated risk, and rightfully
carries unnaturally intense scrutiny as the cost of doing business.
When
an elected official suffers a medical problem, or goes through a divorce, or
has a child get into trouble with the law; when an entertainer forgets they are
good at singing or acting, but proceeds to irresponsibly put forth screeds of
political and moral wisdom in an unsolicited fashion; when a minister or
preacher is caught dead to rights with their hand in the till or on the ass of
a parishioner…these are oftentimes fatal occurrences or mistakes. Are they simply human failings? Sure
they are. Are they forgivable given
the station of the one committing the act or caught up in the circumstances? Maybe not
so much so.
The
really good ones…the ones that somehow
manage to maintain a modicum of their humility and basic human quality while
being constantly told they are something special…they can get through these
episodes. They somehow manage to
express…in a clearly open and honest
manner…regret and apologies for their bad actions or unfortunate incidences.
These rare and naturally-sincere
individuals are blessed with a personality and manner that grants them a legitimate
pass not available to most others. There
are also some among us who are adroit, shifty, and unfortunately able to fool
most of us into believing they are
among the authentic variety when they are actually among the Machiavellian
variety. These are the truly dangerous ones.
There
is a limit to how many times this real
person escape mechanism can work; but it is usually good for a few rounds
anyway. The width and depth of an
episode certainly comes into play in this dynamic. But for most of us, when that certain person
who has openly pursued a life within the spotlight and all the power and riches
that flow from it…when that person messes up and then tries to explain it away
in some type of pathetic poor little me
fashion…the comeuppance and downfall can be quite deservedly devastating. We all enjoy far too often the game of
casting judgment on others while failing to turn the camera back upon ourselves.
All
in all, I suppose this is how it should be.
Heaven knows that the human animal is an imperfect creature and we all
carry our own personal foibles and weaknesses.
We will never have a saint for president, senator, governor, or
sheriff. Politics and the law will never
be perfect; they are sometimes messy business.
We simply have to be very careful when we pick from those among us to
serve in these positions of power, authority, and influence. And as much as we can, we need to perhaps be
more forgiving when the famous ones screw up and readily acknowledge their
mistakes in an open and honest fashion.
As for the others who carry the attitude that their shit don’t stink and
a different standard applies to their actions or lives…they need to be voted
out of office, we can stop watching their shows or movies, and we don’t have to
listen to their music. It hurts
sometimes because the best ones at what they do are often the worst ones at what they say. Such is life. It is a judgment that each of us makes on a
daily basis and it makes the world go around.
- - - - - -
Foreign
Policy…
https://amgreatness.com/2026/09/25/how-un-ambassador-waltz-is-making-the-un-great-again/
https://americanmind.org/salvo/bosnia-and-herzegovinia-what-is-the-american-peoples-interest/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-groundwork-potential-action-cuba-trump/
https://amgreatness.com/2026/10/02/america-first-means-standing-with-israel/
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/we-happen-to-be-winning-the-war-in-iran/
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/10/irgc-endorses-dems.php
https://www.nationalreview.com/2026/09/encouraging-signs-from-the-strait-of-hormuz/
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/iran-war-us-negotiations-strait-of-hormuz-oil/
Education…Education…Education…
https://amgreatness.com/2026/09/29/ai-in-our-schools-its-use-and-abuse/
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/professors-union-endorses-far-left-candidate/
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/education/education-freedom-tax-credit
Technology
and AI…
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/trump-ohio-jon-husted-vivek-ramaswamy/2026/10/04/id/1271613/
https://amgreatness.com/2026/09/25/ai-doomers-dont-want-to-stop-ai-they-want-to-control-it/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ai-data-centers-changing-us-farmland-backlash/
Politics
and the Mid-Term Elections…
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/09/national-security-you-cant-be-serious.php
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/good-news-for-republicans-in-minnesota/
https://amgreatness.com/2026/09/27/varieties-of-trump-derangement-syndrome/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/midterm-poll-battleground-tracker-democrats-house-advantage/
In search of that rare moderate
Democrat: https://amgreatness.com/2026/10/03/election-2028-democrats-best-chance-is-josh-shapiro/
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/10/quote-of-the-day-138.php
https://amgreatness.com/2026/10/04/the-terrible-twos/
Crime
and Justice…
https://www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/two-articles-on-suncor-v-boulder-county/
https://reason.com/2026/10/01/2-supreme-court-cases-to-watch-this-month/
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/09/doj-fights-back.php
The
Economy and Trade…
https://reason.com/2026/10/01/the-national-debt-has-exploded-the-reckoning-is-still-coming/
https://reason.com/2026/09/29/whatever-happened-to-trumps-housing-affordability-executive-order/
https://amgreatness.com/2026/09/30/save-the-cows-sink-the-ships/
Immigration
and the Future of America…
https://americanmind.org/salvo/the-trump-effect-on-immigration-is-real/
