A United States Representative sends lewd pictures of himself to six females, and then brazenly lies to the press and his peers about his actions. An Arizona State senator has a public brawl with his girl friend in the middle of a public road and tells police he cannot be arrested because he is a sitting senator. A Pinal County supervisor disrespects his constituents by describing his constituents’ questions and statements as “moronic.”
What is the common thread in the behavior of these politicians? Hubris: an unbridled arrogance, an excess of ambition and pride. Another common thread is a total detachment from the reality of the electorate who elected these people into office, only to discover these politicians are not representative of the electorate but are self-representative.
Are politicians arrogant before they are elected to office or do they become arrogant as a result of being elected into office? How does political arrogance begin? Is political arrogance a façade covering up a lack of self confidence? Why are politicians more prone to lack of humility and lack of civility? These are the people who should be looking out for us. Instead, they seem to be looking out for themselves.
We see the same arrogance at the federal and state levels, only to a much worse degree. It is not ordinary political arrogance, it is more, as described in the opening paragraph. It is a general break-down of our ethics, where immoral acts are condoned as long as the act does not violate some statute, where politicians use their positions of power to indulge and cheat. It is a corrupt philosophy of “the ends justifies the means.”
Surely, we “the People” can do a better job of selecting our representatives.
The jury’s still out on Bundgaard. I reviewed the police report, and it does NOT say that he requested immunity – merely that he stated he was a state senator. The police officer would have noted if he specifically requested immunity. Instead, the decision not to hold him was made downtown by police brass.
Bundgaard most likely identified himself as a senator to indicate that there was going to be media attention and that the cops should make sure everything was done “by the book.” If so, he failed to drive that message home, because the police report and subsequent actions by the police was a joke. Indeed, many of Bundgaard’s actions afterwards make no sense unless he assumed the police report was going to vindicate him.
I really don’t know if Bundgaard is guilty or innocent. I do know that the police report on the matter was a mess, an unprofessional, rushed, incomplete slop-job that does not befit a professional police force. Critical things were left out, obvious questions not answered, leads not followed. I’m also troubled that the most damaging witness against Bundgaard did not come forward to police until a week after the incident.
However, if we need an example of arrogance in politics, may I submit Phoenix Mayor Phill Gordon, who certainly meets the criteria. I am not talking about his recent childish tantrum against Sal DiCicio. I’m talking about the way he treats average, unknown people.
Long time readers of Sonoran Alliance know I am no friend of Sheriff Joesph Arpaio But I have rarely been as angry at a politician as I was when I heard Gordon blasting a certain unit of the MCSO for their conduct in an investigation on a radio show. The commander of that unit then called into the radio show, and succinctly and professionally pointed out to the mayor that he had his facts wrong about the incident; he then offered to produce the communication logs that would show the mayor had made a mistake. In a scene that just screamed “typical arrogant politician”, Gordon then proceeded to blast the unit commander (not one of Arpaio’s upper management guys, just a “rank-n-file” type) for “wasting taxpayer dollars by calling into the radio during business hours.:
I’m sorry, Mayor Gordon, you arrogant ass, I don’t care if a person is on the government payroll or not, if you go on the radio and question their competence and professionalism publicly, that person has the right to defend themselves in the same forum that you bring the charges. And we don’t need stuffed shirts who worship themselves feigning outrage (That’s you, Phil) because you thought you were picking on someone who couldn’t defend themselves, and when you’re proven flat-out wrong you switch gears and attack the person for having the audacity to defend themselves against a blowhard political figure (That’s you, Phil).
Sorry to go off on a tangent, but I am utterly astounded that an article about arrogance in elected officials can leave out the Phoenix prize-winner for that stereotype – our own mayor, Phil Gordon.
Oh, and to address the article more directly, I think it’s a mix – there are some people drawn to politics because they are arrogant and crave power, and there are others who eventually just get used to all the ass-kissing as they gain more political power and assume it’s normal.
Bungaard is a poor excuse of a man to even be in a fight with a woman. A real gentleman would simply have walked away. I read the PD report and saw the photos. Bingo, she has injuries. That’s domestic violence. Bungaard did not need to be a Weiner. He simply is a hot dog of a politician. The only think I’m sorry about is that I am unable to be a female Republican in his district so I can run against him in 2012′s primary. Probably next best is Jack Harper taking the seat back. Jack may be a lot things, but he’s not a woman beater.
Actually, we can’t do better. Politicians are no better than the sum total of the rest of us. They have our ambitions, our faults, and the represent “us” surprisingly well.
If they were worse than us, we’d not reelect them. If they were better than us, they’d not get elected in the first place.
Repeal the 17th Amendment and you might get some quality people in office.
Instead of We the People electing senators, it should be women beaters like Bundgaard?
How would having politicians electing politicians reduce hubris?
How about the Legislatures Chief of Staff with an extreme DUI? I dont know that private sector executives get away with that, but someone with that much power should know better. I know that people make mistakes, but he is working in a high profile, fast-moving environment in Govt. He should not have those kind of distractions and anybody else would have been fired. Low level govt employees are held to the standard that they may need to drive a state vehicle for work purposes and if they get dui, they get canned. Not to mention that working for 100k in govt these days is a unique privledge and I am sure there are hundreds of people that are lined up to take that job that have never had those kind of criminal problems. I am very disappointed.
It is all about power and the lack of it in our personal lives or ‘feelings’ which can simply stem from not getting what we wanted from our parents or siblings, so we learn to manipulate to get it from others and the more we learn that, the more likely we are to wind up in the eye of the public and in some ‘powerful’ job. At that point we think we are invincible a la Blago.
My book is coming out in the fall The Miracle of Self-power…it is truly the only kind we have for life. All other power is temporary.