The Sad Story of Rob Ford

Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. You don't fail overnight. Instead, failure is a few errors in judgement, repeated every day. - Jim Rohn

It appears as if the tumultuous political life of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is about to come to a spectacular end.

It seems to bring glee to many because he is a man in power and a brash, outspoken, audacious  individual – oftentimes so much so that he exceeds what we tolerate as acceptable in our so-called civilized world.  If he were just another guy on the street no one would care or would care much less.

In fact, if he were just another guy on the street, we might actually pity him. 

On the flip side, if we were him we would have lots of reasons to explain our behavior – perfectly valid reasons that we consider to be excuses when heard in someone else’s explanation.

There is, however, an important element of his downfall that we need to understand lest we succumb to a similar fate.

The events of recent months in his Life cannot be attributed to a single, catastrophic choice.

They are the culmination of many small choices over his entire Lifetime.  Most of the small choices probably seemed pretty innocent at the time but as they collect together like the many snowflakes in an avalanche, eventually they gain enough momentum that a cataclysmic end is inevitable.

No raindrop believes it is responsible for the flood.

As I view Rob Ford’s story, it reminds me that we are all a collection of our Life experiences and our choices.

Because of his Life experiences and choices, he has placed himself and his family at risk on a number of levels.

Are we such masters of our own Universe that we have skilfully evaded every bad influence and result in our own Life or should we consider ourselves equally as lucky as intelligent?

Do we choose to lambast him because he has more power than many of us and it’s a chance to strike at “the powerful”?

Do we choose to fry him for reasons of subconscious subterfuge about some piece of our own history buried in our closet, providing us with an opportunity to establish superiority over our own mistakes?

Are we able to answer these questions honestly?

Mr. Ford deserves to be punished if found guilty.  We cannot absolve crime or wrongdoing simply because “it wasn’t my fault – it was the fault of my Life experiences”.

But before we choose to throw too many stones, let us wait for the person without sin, error or mistake in their own Life to step up to throw the first one.

Are you that person?

Are you sure?

How do you know?

In service and servanthood,

Harry

Addendum – The Media

As I notice representatives of the CBC, The Star, The Sun and other media organizations reading this blog this morning and I watch the bloodthirsty media delight in having something scandalous to report, I wonder if the media would tone down their bloodthirsty nature if we played a little game of “expose the dirt on specific media individuals”.

Maybe then we  could rebuild the media after the mutually assured destruction of the less worthy media elements has vaporized those who discover that to live by the media sword is to die by the media sword.

And maybe then we can return to a sense of civility in reporting.

Maybe … but highly unlikely since the media feeds our insatiable need for “blood” going back to and probably preceding the era of the Roman gladiators.  We would simply have more people whose fall from grace gives us something to gloat over.

When Race Paralyzes the Justice System

When my son was five years old, he was badly beaten on a school bus while being driven to school in New Jersey.  On the school bus were him and three other youths who held him down and beat and clawed him savagely (leaving facial scars that took years to go away).  This event took place in the front seat right behind the driver who did nothing to stop the altercation.

I was outraged that the event took place and that the school bus driver and the school were doing nothing about it and so I contacted the school administration to inquire as to why.

“It’s simple”, I was told.  “If it is discovered that the three antagonists are African American, it will be assumed that we are trying to make it a racial issue and that is one hot potato that we don’t want to touch.”

My reply was that up until that moment, the race of the attackers was unknown to me and remained the furthest thing from my mind.  I wanted to know why my son could be assaulted by three known assailants and nobody be punished for it.

No matter who I spoke to at any level of the school or justice system, the response was always the same.

“We don’t want this to become a racial issue”

About five years later, my son had an important personal item taken from him at school and when I asked the administrator about it, she informed me that they knew who had taken it.

“Ah”, I thought, delighted and assuming that this meant the item would be recovered.

“We can’t pursue it”, I was informed.  “While we know the suspect has a track record of stealing from others, we have never pressed charges for fear of making the thefts a racial incident.”

I saw a familiar theme being expressed, using the same words, by different people.

While very frustrated about this, those incidents and others in the NJ school system faded into obscurity in my mind as the years went by.

Until this week.

Fox News shared a video this week of three African American boys viciously beating a white boy in Florida, producing two black eyes and a broken arm for the victim.  The victim was allegedly beaten for reporting to school authorities that the three assailants had attempted to sell marijuana to him earlier.

As I watched the video, a thought came to mind.

Remember when Trayvon Martin’s death produced cries of racism and injustice from Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton under the guise of racial justice?

Remember when Hollywood folks demanded racial justice on behalf of Trayvon Martin?

Even the President had something to say about it.

Despite all of those people who routinely demand “equality for all regardless of race”, it is funny that we don’t hear a word from any of them or anyone else for that matter regarding this incident, especially from people who so vehemently demand racial justice in “other” situations.

It reminds me of the concern that I noted in my blog Zimmerman–Martin–The Hidden Issue.

I wonder if a lot of people who demand racial justice don’t actually want racial justice.

Maybe the underlying reason for their actions is because they are racists themselves, only feeling affronted when the race they prefer is the one being attacked.

Or maybe, as I noted in my other blog, they see the opportunity that whipping up racism presents to further their own personal, professional or political agenda.

I also wonder if forced to admit one or the other as the reason for their actions, which one they would prefer to be associated with.

Racial justice in America only comes when we do not accept any form of injustice, regardless of skin color.

Otherwise, can people like Mr. Sharpton, Mr. Jackson and others really claim that they are trying to ensure that we are “one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all “ when they cherry pick whose right to liberty and justice is worthy of defending?

I don’t think so.

What do you think?

In service and servanthood,

Harry

PS Whenever someone is appointed to a post of significance, do you ever notice that oftentimes, we focus less on their credentials and more on whether they are African American, Latino or white, male or female, gay or straight, Christian or otherwise, etc.?

As long as we continue to focus on labels like these or others, then we will never be “one nation, under God” nor will we ever achieve true equality for all.  Focusing on and amplifying labels minimizes the truth that we are all human beings, united and bound together with a need to collaborate on this little rock journeying through the Universe.  We will all thrive or suffer together, based on the choices that we make.

Addendum – August 11, 2013

This mural was recently unveiled in the Florida State Capitol (click on the image for the story behind it).

It is revisionist, showing a Zimmerman-like person shooting a Martin-like person in the back of the head, it is divisive, it is hateful and it borrows the image of Dr. Martin Luther King to suggest that justice remains an issue with this case.

Promoting racial division or suggesting racial injustice creates problems for everyone and there is no winner in such situations.

Mr. Sharpton and Mr. Jackson continue to remain quiet about material such as this although their silence speaks volumes about what they believe in and what they promote.

One other note: It is my understanding that Dr. King was anti-violence.  I wonder what his family thinks of this mural.

The Automatic Mouth–As Dangerous As Automatic Weapons

Watching the Trayvon Martin case develop, it is easy to see how so many challenges have developed in America and around the world.

Many Americans, before even knowing the facts of the case, are demanding that charges be filed against the alleged assailant while holding emotional memorials across the country for the alleged innocent victim.

The challenge is that they are doing this without having any facts, allowing emotion, rhetoric and a few public figures to fuel their anger.  They are demanding that the keepers of due process jail the shooter otherwise they will take matters into their own hands.  Of course, we can’t deny the race card that has been played also … sadly.

These people have already imposed an emotional conviction before waiting for all the facts.

As they get overwhelmed by their emotion, they forget one of the key pillars of American society, the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, has been buried under a mountain of venomous emotion.  It almost seems as if such a pillar is not a right but a matter of convenience, to be determined valid or invalid based on each person’s own beliefs of a given situation.

Even President Obama stirred the pot, saying that if he had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.

I wonder how many of these people would feel if someone important to them was the alleged assailant.

In my many years as a strategy advisor, I have observed that the people who don’t like facts, the people who find that obtaining facts is too inconvenient or the people who discover that facts prevent them from carrying out their agenda are easy to pick out.

Not only are they easy to pick out, oftentimes they are also the most dangerous.

They are the ones who can’t discuss or debate issues calmly.  When they realize that facts and data are going against them, they resort to attempts of intimidation, shouting down their opponent or making the attack personal since that is all they have left to “debate” with.

And people allow it, bow to it and fall for it all the time.

When the Martin case was first developing, I made an observation to some people that we should allow due process to fill in our gaps of knowledge and understanding before making a judgement.

I was surprised how many people disagreed (some with venomous, hateful language), that as far as they were concerned, this was a clear-cut case of a racially-motivated killing and that there was nothing to discuss.  Justice must be served, they cry.

Fascinating – they weren’t there, they don’t know either person personally and based on a few tidbits of information, they have committed themselves 100% emotionally to instinctively knowing, judging and convicting someone while shouting down anyone who might suggest that complete knowledge of the event might be useful.

Curiously, they demand that Trayvon Martin’s voice be “allowed to be heard” while at the same time, they shout down everyone else’s.

Now other details appear to be emerging.

I classify these details as “alleged” …. details about Trayvon’s alleged gang connections, alleged small-time drug dealing, alleged suggestions of violence potential and the difference between the original picture issued (clean cut and innocent from 3 years ago) versus a recent picture with tattoos, gold teeth and such.

His suspension from school was as a result of drug possession on school grounds and “behavioral” issues.

Even the original photos of the two people involved suggest that the alleged shooter seemed much more physically intimidating, when in fact, Trayvon Martin was an in-shape, 6’3” young man while the alleged shooter was an overweight 5’9” individual.

If, and I say if, these details are true, then perhaps a different picture would present itself as to what may have happened that night.

But until then, it is important that we have calm, that we not be influenced by hate-laced comments and that we not assume we know the answers before people have had a chance to gather all the facts.

Because as long as we shoot our mouth off before we have armed our minds with knowledge, data and facts (trusting experts to gather this together), our world becomes one ruled by intimidators and bullies and not one guided by the best information at hand.

I hear lots of talk about reducing bulling in the schoolyard and in the workplace.

Let’s lead by example, showing future generations that we really believe that brute-force intimidation in society-at-large is not the way.

After all, if truth and facts don’t matter anymore, let’s bring back the Crusades, the Inquisition, witch hunts and everything else where emotion and influence matter more than truth.  We can jail the scientists and other information seekers while we’re at it since their data and facts are inconvenient also.

We might as well dismantle our school system as well and instead, train children in the art of shouting, bullying, intimidation and discrediting.  Throw out the books of knowledge – we don’t need them anymore.

We should just allow the world to be guided by those who shout the loudest and the longest.

Sound ridiculous?

I don’t think so - it’s what we’re demonstrating in cases like the Martin case.

Passion is important but it is far more valuable when enabled and combined with knowledge instead of ignorance.

In service and servanthood,

Harry

PS After I posted this, the news reported that Spike Lee had posted the home address of the alleged shooter.  This is shameful behavior on many counts – the alleged shooter is a private citizen, he has not been formally charged or convicted AND he has a price on his head by some vigilantes.

Here’s the best (or worst) part.

Lee posted the wrong address, identifying the home address of someone unrelated to the matter, potentially putting the resident there in mortal danger at the hands of vigilantes.

This is what happens when hate and a desire to put passion before facts dominates someone’s thoughts - the risk of innocent people getting hurt increases significantly, complicating things instead of providing an opportunity to get to the bottom of a matter.

The Power of Misdirection

Many of us have been amazed by magicians over the years who do things that seemingly defy the laws that govern the universe.  Of course most of us know that the brunt of their talent lies in the art of misdirection, where our attention is focused on one thing in order to distract our attention from another.

Unfortunately, many people are using the sad case of the Trayvon Martin death to perform their own act of misdirection.

A lot of politicians, including the President, have stepped in and made this case one of national importance.  A lot of people are calling for national protests, some even able to describe blow-for-blow what happened on the night in question which is pretty amazing given the lack of witnesses. Due-process in America, which says “innocent until proven guilty” seems to have fallen by the wayside and been replaced by a national “conviction-based-on-emotion” process.

Sadly, people like Reverend Jesse Jackson use this opportunity to pull out the race card, saying things like “Blacks are under attack.  Our disparities are great.  Targeting, arresting, convicting blacks and ultimately killing us is big business."

These are dangerous words that fuel hate. If you want evidence of what type of hate this fuels, note this:

A handful of members from the New Black Panther Party rallied in Sanford on Saturday and offered a $10,000 reward for Zimmerman's "capture."

"It's time for us, as black men, to take justice in our own hands. If you won't give us justice, we will have to take justice," said Florida organizer Mikhail Muhammad. "An eye for an eye. A life for a life."

The President made it the ultimate case of national importance saying that if he had a son, he probably would have been just like Trayvon.

Such words introduce unnecessary complexity into an already tension-filled situation.

There appears to be hundreds of millions of legal experts in America all of a sudden who know how this case should be handled.  I wish I could say I was one of them but I am not.

Did the police handle this event properly?  I don’t know.  As is often the case with the Internet, truth is almost impossible to see in the fog of exaggeration and intentionally-incorrect information.

The person  being considered the “criminal” made a 911 call and allegedly has suffered injuries as well and so without witnesses, it is difficult to say if this was a cold-blooded, racist-driven killing or an act of self defense.

Meanwhile, groups like the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence indicate that as many as 100,000 people in the US are shot or killed every year with a million having been killed by guns in the US since the assassination of Martin Luther King.

And yet, and no offense to the memory of the young man who was killed, the nation has become gripped with this case.

Which, for the President, is the perfect situation.

For as long as the nation is distracted by this case, fewer people are looking in his direction and wondering how we will maintain job growth, how we will address the nation’s still-growing national debt, how we will address our energy self-sufficiency needs, how Europe’s still-unsolved debt concerns affect us or what our military role on the global stage should be moving forward.

I’m not suggesting for one minute that the death of this young man is something the President delights in.  I’m sure that the President is as shocked and saddened as any of us when another young person is cut down before having a chance to live their dreams.

However, the hate-laced rhetoric that fills the media “air-waves” is not helping us get to the truth in this case nor is it helping us stay on track when it comes to solving the larger challenges in the land.

Nor do I see the President, as the leader of America, calling for calm so we can get to the answers.  This is where the importance of strong leadership manifests - to keep us on track in times of challenge instead of allowing the flames of hatred or fear to be fanned.

And so if you’re a leader with a mixed record of solving America’s problems, sad stories such as this one are the perfect misdirection - a distraction from what needs to be solved in America.

Unfortunately, as long as people are screaming at each other, threatening each other and not listening to one another, the opportunity to heal the land and make it stronger is lost.

Instead of fanning the flames of hatred and racism, which Reverend Jackson is doing and the President is accidentally (hopefully accidentally) supporting, we need calm dialog, exchange with purpose and collaboration towards a better America

But is America capable of this anymore?

I’m not sure I know the answer.

Do we have the leadership to guide us toward that better America, where deaths like Trayvon Martin’s don’t happen or people don’t get skewered before process is served?

I’m not sure I know the answer to that either. 

But what I see in our leadership today offers little comfort.

In service and servanthood,

Harry

PS

Food for thought:

In recent months, the media has been reporting that the President might have difficulty carrying the African American vote as a significant portion of African Americans had become disenchanted with the President’s results-to-date.

Now think of this.

On an earlier blog, I noted a disturbing quote by Hermann Göring that I will quote here:

At the Nuremberg trials, Göring made this observation:

Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.

When I think of the African American vote and I think of Reverend Jackson’s comment “Blacks are under attack”, I can’t help but think of Göring’s quote.

Sometimes, the more evil action is not to have committed a crime or even to support / endorse the crime but to take advantage of the crime for one’s own purposes.

It is also the most subtle of evils.

But that is conspiracy talk.

Isn’t it?