Schroedinger explained a central paradox of quantum mechanics with an analogy of a cat inside a box and a situation that boils down to the idea that anything you do to detect whether the cat is alive or dead, kills it. So you can’t ever know whether it is alive or dead because any attempt to find out, makes it dead.
Business school students and entrepreneurs find a similar paradox in business. Profits are a result of a well run business. If you focus on running your business better, increased profits usually follow. If you focus on increasing your profits, they disappear. This is why, contrary to what every business student thinks as a child, business plan’s don’t start out with the objective of “make money”.
Our political class has not figured this out yet. When things happen there is a reality of what happened. At the end of the day there is going to be a public perception of this reality. The idea of “spin” is born of a desire to manage the public perception of this reality.
The political class has gotten so focused now on spinning the public perception of reality that they have completely lost sight of the actual reality in the first place. They now make all of their decisions on the basis of the impact it will have on the public perception of reality and, like the physicist who has to see whether the cat is alive or dead, or the business leader who is willing to do anything under the sun to increase profits, they are ending up doing exactly the things that they shouldn’t be doing and they end up damaging public perception instead of managing it.
The Sherrod case at the USDA puts this into stark relief. When Fox News started pushing the made up story that the White House was incompetent because they harbored a racist, the White House immediately became incompetent by demanding, with no due diligence, with no investigation, with no questions, that this person resign. They were so desperate to manage the perception of their competence that they actually had her pull her car off the road she was driving on so she could text message them her resignation.
Our entire system of governmental checks and balances exists to protect balance the rights of individuals with the demands of mobs. But there was no balance at all here. The mob said they would be considered incompetent if they didn’t fire this woman so they fired her immediately! Immediately! This was an incompetent thing to do, and as the incompetence became clear just as immediately when the mob’s information turned out to be patently false.
Now how do they look? They look incompetent, which is exactly what they did not want to look! But had they actually been competent, they would have come out of this situation looking competent, because they would have been competent!
This is by no means a unique situation for this administration. This same dynamic has plagued the Obama administration since the campaign. They have consistently and persistently reacted to charges of incompetence by becoming incompetent instead of ignoring the charges and focusing on actually being competent!
It isn’t even unique to this administration. Both Hillary Clinton’s and John McCain’s entire presidential campaigns were so focused on how the public perceived them that they abandoned all reality of what they were… and ended up being perceived as people who would abandon all reality of who they were to manipulate public perception!
And this isn’t unique… to any of them at this point. This problem has completely swamped the entire Republican party, and great huge portions of the Democratic party are infected too.
Politicians desperately need to learn that the only way to appear competent is to be competent!
Filed under: Opinion
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What I find to mystifying and infuriating is that competence was well within their grasp and would have led to a substantial political victory. I give the following alternate scenario:
Press Release from Vilsack’s office: The Secretary is well aware of the video purporting to show that one of our employees acted inappropriately. We are also aware that the source is a well known liar who has used doctored video in the past to falsely smear good people. However, just because a liar says something doesn’t mean its a lie, so we have temporarily reassigned Ms. Sherrod. As of noon today, her only duties are to assist with our investigation of her speech at the NAACP and the actions she referenced in that speech. Needless to say, her future with the department, good or bad, strongly depends on the outcome of that investigation. Meanwhile, her duties will be fulfilled by her assistant.
Press Release from Vilsack’s office: The Secretary is pleased to announce the results of the Departments investigation into Ms Sherrod. It should be noted that less than 24 hours has elapsed since this incident was first aired. The Secretary is not at all surprised to announce that this was yet another lie by Mr. Breitbart, which Fox News seems to have fallen for hook, line and sinker. Our conclusions: 1) The incident referred to in the speech took place 24 years ago when Ms. Sherrod was working for a private, not a governmental agency. 2) As is clear to anyone who has made the slightest effort to check the facts, Ms. Sherrod was describing a momentary lapse of judgment, quickly, and to her credit, overcome by good sense and decency. We commend both her actions 24 years ago to correct her hesitation as well as her choice today to use that incident as a reminder that each of us must strive to do the right thing. Well done. 3) No one was actually harmed by her momentary lapse, and indeed, the farmer in question credits Ms. Sherrod with saving his farm. Finally, I am pleased to report that the President has inquired about this incident and has asked to meet personally with Ms. Sherrod to discuss her role in saving the farms of families, both black and white, in her community for many years.
Press Release from Vilsack’s office: I am pleased to report the results of the President’s meeting with Ms. Sherrod. As most of you know by now, Ms. Sherrod is known for her advocacy for poor farmers and for telling the truth. In their meeting, Ms. Sherrod took the opportunity to remind the President that America’s small farmers continue to suffer the results of economic collapse which occurred near the end of the prior administration’s term. Those closest to the ground often suffer the most, and, its important to note, the family farmer doesn’t qualify for unemployment, even when falling farm prices drive them to destitution. Therefore, we are taking this opportunity, and the good example Ms. Sherrod provides to do the following: 1) Ms. Sherrod has been promoted to a regional post where we are sure she will continue to do well. 2) We are redirecting existing funds to change the balance of agricultural support payments to favor smaller farms over those operated by international agricultural conglomerates. Those corporations are important to our food security and we will continue to offer assistance where needed, but the balance has shifted too far in their favor over the last thirty years and today, when so many small farmers are hurting, its time for a change in focus.
There, was that so hard?
I forgot one.
Press Release from DNC: The DNC is pleased to announce that a private donor has provided seed money for the Shirley Sherrod Legal Fund. Ms. Sherrod has expressed an interest in pursuing such legal remedies as may exist regarding the recent lies spread about her in the media. As she has spent her life helping poor families in rural Georgia, she does not have the means necessary to seek justice on her own. An anonymous benefactor has resolved that problem by agreeing to fund her case, wherever it may lead. Any other donors who may wish to support this worthy cause are encouraged to visit http://www.dnc/subpoenas_are_your_friend.com
Awesome. Exactly. That is what SHOULD have happened here, if the administration wasn’t so terrified of every single thing that Fox News says about it.
Here’s a recommendation. Toss Rahm Emanuel out and replace him with Alan Grayson. I bet THEN we would get some GOVERNING done.