Delusional Leaders

What is it about power that turns once sane people delusional?

It starts with the way things are going for our President at the moment. Take a bill that the people don't like. Even the people of his own party are divided on it. It could be cap and trade, it could be jobs, it could be health care reform. It gets stalled but the President wants it no matter what. Suddenly it's all about him. He summons his party members to closed door sessions to do what ever is necessary to get their vote. It doesn't matter if they vote with him and it ends their careers because their constituents don't want it. It's all about him. It's success or it's failure will determine the outcome of his Presidency. He tells them so. That's delusional.

Secretary of State Powell had a spell of it leading up to the war in Iraq. He was skeptical about the evidence at hand regarding the existence of weapons of mass destruction. Yet he went before the United Nations and sold them a bill of goods of which he himself was not sure. Delusional.

It's worrisome to see people in leadership positions become victims of delusion. Iran's Ahmadinejad has mastered it. Remember awhile back the flap over his pronouncement that the holocaust never happened? Now he's claiming 9/11 was a carefully staged fabrication. That's going to new heights!

What happens to these leaders when they get lost in their delusions? They lose their people. The Iranian people know 9/11 is fact just as the know the holocaust is fact. We also know how they feel about Ahmadinejad!

Knowing what we do about Ahmadinejad's delusional bent, how can we even begin to believe him when he says he wants nuclear energy strictly for peaceful purposes. If we buy into that we're all delusional!

It's dangerous territory. When the people learn that their leaders are functioning in a different dimension, they lose faith. Here we are fortunate. We can vote them out of office. Unlike Iran, among others, who brutally suppress any opposition.

Power. It's an intoxicating possession. When entire governments get caught up in the euphoria of it, it becomes dangerous. "It" is not all about those who hold it. "It" is all about we who watch those who hold it. If abused we react. Whether it's positive or negative all depends upon whether or not the person who has it holds it well. It's so easy to get drunk.

Those drunk with power who think they can govern are, indeed, delusional.