PrintAugust 17, 2009
On being ruled by fanatics
"At a dinner to celebrate Bill Clinton's first presidential victory [Rahm Emanuel] began to reel off the names of those who had 'crossed' him. He grabbed a steak knife and began plunging it into the table shouting "Dead! Dead! Dead!" after each name."When he was done the table looked like a lunar landscape," a witness relates. "It was like something out of The Godfather. But that's Rahm for you." Times of LondonFanatics have their uses. I want my brain surgeon, if I need one, to be fanatically dedicated to his craft. I'm happy if my airplane pilot loves his job with total dedication. And sports "fans" were called that because they are fanatically dedicated to their teams. Go for it, sports fans! When it comes to politicians I feel a lot more dubious about fanaticism. Zealots always have blind spots. I don't mind total dedication in monks or in US Marines. But leaders are supposed to be mature, wise, and thoughtful. They are...(Read Full Article)
