Even in the best of circumstances, we will always know, know of, live with, or work with people who are truly mean, ugly, and dishonest. There will always be, regrettably, a small part of the universe of our fellow human beings who are naturally sociopathic, who delight in hurting others, or who have no conscience. Naturally mean and evil people are found in all aspects of society, but IMHO nowhere can they be more obvious than in the workplace or in formal organizations of which we are a part.
More on the flip..
I retired a few years ago as a marketing executive in one of the largest corporations in the world. I was blessed to supervise, work for, or work with some of the finest and most talented men and women in the business community. Most of us really did give a damn about the collective welfare of our co-workers and the Company...but there were a few rare exceptions as can be the case in any organization.
I worked for two such exceptions at different times in my long career. Both men were long-time managers who had achieved high level positions through intimidation and bluster, not uncommon tactics in the 60's, 70's and 80's. These two men who I shall refer to as Mike and Mickey, had much in common even though they did not know each other. Mike and Mickey were both drunks, both racially bigoted and blatantly homophobic, both misogynistic "skirt chasers" who touted their marital infidelities as a badge of honor, and both badly abused employees. Mike and Mickey were mean, vicious, and hateful people. For years I used to shake my head in wonder that such people like Mike and Mickey, who were so intrinsically evil, could survive for so long in any type of organizational environment. Once I shared this astonishment about the survivability of Mike and Mickey with my first boss, an extraordinary ex-Marine who rose to a very senior position in the Company, and a person I stayed in touch with throughout my career. I will never forget what he told me: "it may not happen today or it may not happen tomorrow, but they will eventually get their just desserts and it won't be pretty".
He was right. Mike and Mickey eventually got fired for behavioral issues, and Mike even lost most of his pension when fired following an attempted sexual assault of a female employee while he was intoxicated.
The fate of Mike and Mickey came back to me today in a jolt as I read an article that former Georgia Senator, and a personal hero of mine, Max Cleland wrote in the Huffington Post today. Max was sharing the unpleasant memories of his 2002 Senate campaign in which he was defeated by Saxby Chambliss in one of the meanest, nastiest campaigns ever conducted in modern America. Here's what Max had to say about Saxby Chambliss:
I believe that justice can sometimes be delayed, but it can never be denied. I served my country to the best of my ability and I hope to serve it again. And like Jim Martin, I will serve with character, dignity and grace.
Something I can not say about the man I pray he replaces
The entire article can be found here.
There are many politicians who disgust me and whom I dislike with an intensity, but no politician reminds me more of Mike and Mickey than Saxby Chambliss. Chambliss may not be a drunk or a mysogenist, but he is an intrinsically mean, nasty person with no conscience or integrity. He viciously portrayed a true American hero as a terrorist and he is repeating the same type of gutter campaign now in his race against Jim Martin for Georgia's Senate seat. He has blatantly lied by stating that Jim Martin was fired as director of Georgia's Deparment of Human Resources and has even managed to top the viciousness of his attacks on Max by falsely accusing Jim Martin of harming children.
Max, justice can indeed sometimes be delayed. It's up to all of us to ensure that it's not delayed any further than November 4th. Chambliss needs to get his just desserts, and let's hope it won't be pretty. You can avenge Max Cleland by helping out Jim Martin here!
Jim Martin, like Max, has character, dignity and grace. His opponent does not.