I’ve always wondered what makes some people think that the blatantly idiotic things they do in life won’t, some day, come back to bite them in their butts. Acts of stupidity, as we are well aware of, are not always the exclusive realm of those with fewer brain cells; seemingly intelligent people are as apt to err in judgment as their lesser-brained brethren. These are the folk that have me puzzled, particularly those in positions of power.
You have the politicians and religious personalities who think their sexual dalliances will conveniently remain in the shadows forever; take Bill Clinton, Sen. Larry Craig, Pastor Ted Haggard, and a host of other public figures, who have been caught, figuratively and literally, with their pants down. Then you have people like Barack Obama who thinks a 20 year affiliation with an anti-American, racist Church will somehow remain unexposed along with his questionable affiliations with Antoin Rezko and William Ayers. Add corrupt politicians like Rep. William Jennings Jefferson (who was indicted on 16 charges of corruption), who obviously thought he could get away with taking bribes without any political or personal repercussions. And then you have people like Todd Davis, CEO of Lifelock, an ID prevention company, and idiot extraordinaire, who challenged criminals to steal his identity for 2 years, as proof that the service was worth the $10.00 per month fee. He even made it easy for them by publishing his social security number in a number of commercial TV ads, and guess what? They took him up on his offer. At least 87 times, and one happened to succeed:
Attorney David Paris said he found records of other people applying for or receiving driver’s licenses at least 20 times using Davis’ Social Security number, though some of the applications may have been rejected because data in them didn’t match what the Social Security Administration had on file.
So now people are suing him, and rightfully so.
So you have a group of smart individuals, from politicians to CEOs, doing truly stupid things in varying degrees of significance, and you have to wonder why? What possessed them to do what they did? Perhaps they aren’t as bright as one would imagine, after all, or they are arrogant enough to believe that because they happen to be in positions of power they are somehow more blessed and therefore infallible or, worse yet, entitled to their questionable acts of idiocy? Or do they believe the American people are so stupid or morally vacuous (and, sadly, too many are) to think that immoral or downright stupid behaviour is forgivable or matters not?
If so, they deserve what they get.
