Skip to main content

Machiavellian behavior

Last Sunday the AP dropped a bomb (of sorts) by somehow/someway unearthing a "confidential memo" Trump lawyers sent last year(!) to special councel Mueller claiming that fired FBI Director James Comey was "Machiavellian" and “unbounded by law and regulation.” They also claim that Comey is "dishonest" implying that he shouldn't be taken seriously as a potential witness in the ongoing (over a year now) investigation that Mueller is sheepherding. The KOTCB blog has gone over and over the Comey dishonesty and unbounded nature of the investigations he ordered and (presumedly) oversaw during the 2016 presidential campaign season. Is he dishonest? Yes, he is so deeply dishonest that he doesn't even know he's dishonest and NOTHING will ever change his mind or even open it to the possibility that he was in the wrong. So he got fired. Any FBI Director is (or aught to be) "unbounded" because the very nature of the job is to go after the absolute worst and most dangerous people in our society so laws and regulations that constrain the action of everyone else can be - must be - ignored or evaded to capture the bad guy who has been using those same laws and regulations to his/her advantage and, having mastered them, has risen to a level of depravity that puts said criminal on the FBI's radar. This complaint - that Comey was unbounded by law and regulation - seems inadequate to my ears because what I see is a man who adheres to laws and regulations far too rigorously to catch criminals and, in so doing, actually gives the villains licence to commit their crimes. Watching him on TV or reading his comments in print turns my stomach because he's so obviously NOT UP TO THE TASK of directing the most bad assed law enforcement agency in America. The guy is weak and "nice" and trying to do the right thing - he looks like he should be the comptroller at Citibank - and that is NOT what I want running the FBI. Which brings me to Renaissance Italy and the observation that since that time every political person of any stripe is Machiavellian and the problem with Comey is that he's not Machiavellian enough. I want the FBI Director to be a stone cold killer who will ruthlessly persecute the bad using every tool in his bag of tricks and some that haven't even been invented yet. Someone who frightens The Devil and pleases God in the administration of justice with a burning sword of righteousness.  People write books about the Machiavellian approach to buying a business suit but can't appreciate the value of this approach in catching the thief. As the AP points out in their closing paragraph:

"Though the inspector general’s office faulted Comey for some of his decisions, it did not find that his actions in the case were motivated by political bias."

Then what, pray tell, DID motivate Comey's actions? What the hell was he doing and why? Don't bother asking him - I've seen enough coverage of Comey to tell you that he has no idea why he did the things he did. His subordinates - the people he assigned to do the job (whatever that was) can't explain it either.

 On Thursday - a few days after the AP story broke - FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok was on The Hill making his case as to why he deserves to keep his new job in the FBI Human Resources Department. Some observers claim he smoked the Congressional Committee while others claim he was evil and unhinged - Thomas Wictor sees a deeper story. For me it was the first time I'd ever seen Strzok speak and I was simply amazed that this guy had worked his way up the chain to lead any kind of investigation about anything. How in God's name can this be the guy going up against Vlad Putin and the Russians? Peter Strzok would get eaten by The Bear like Leo D. in The Revenant and he also was supposed to go up against HRC to get to the truth of her email server - it's a joke, this worm isn't going to do anything to anybody - that's why he's now working in HR. But he was Comey's right hand guy and to understand that we turn to Harvard Business Review and their informative research on "Who Empathizes with Machiavellian or Narcissistic Leaders?" Focusing on the “dark triad” of narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy the researchers found that "similar personalities — even negative ones — attract each other, and can facilitate effective working relationships."

So why might a leader-follower personality match help to buffer the negative impact of a leader’s dark traits on the quality of their work relationship? This might simply be because followers with personality traits similar to their leader can empathize and better understand their leader’s behavior. Instead of the arrogance, self-absorption, and self-loving of a narcissist being perceived negatively, followers who are similarly narcissistic might better relate to these characteristics and be more accepting of them, therefore having less of an impact on relationship quality and perceived leadership effectiveness. Likewise, the cunning and manipulating ways of a leader with a Machiavellian personality might be appreciated by their follower counterparts. This might result in collaborative efforts to succeed at their own joint goals.


Machiavellian
Strzok might want to think about this when hiring new employees for the FBI but at this point I don't think his decisions, good or bad, will have much impact on the nation. There are other federal agencies who can take over their important work and bring criminals to justice so why bother taking the time to reform a den that's full of people like Peter Strzok? Just take away their power and responsibility and give it to some other group - let the FBI push paper around and wonder what happened to the former glory of their storied bureau. For instance ICE has 20,000 employees and a division called Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) which "investigates a range of issues that threaten the national security of the United States such as human rights violations, human smuggling, art theft, human trafficking, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, document and benefit fraud, the manufacturing and sale of counterfeit immigration and identity documents, transnational gangs, financial crimes including money laundering and bulk cash smuggling, trade-based money laundering (including trade finance and Kimberley Process investigations), computer crimes, including the production and transportation of child pornography via the Internet, import/export enforcement, trafficking of counterfeit pharmaceuticals and other merchandise, and international Cultural Property and Antiquities crimes." You know, the kind of thing the FBI used to investigate but doesn't anymore. ICE has a new Director named Ronald Vitiello and all you need to do is look at him to understand why the Democrats are now demanded that ICE get abolished.  

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson

She was "sexy", but "too much hard work." I'm a regular Fox & Friends viewer (mostly in protest of the other insipid morning programs like Today and Good Morning America) so over the years I've gotten to know Gretchen Carlson pretty well. Stuck between Steve and Brian she always seemed a prudish scold with an irritating, self-righteous demeanor that I simply put up with because I figured some people in the Fox audience actually liked her persona. It was obvious that Steve and Brian did not, but they were stuck with her like so many talking heads and had to make the best of it - which they did. Besides, she was no worse than any of the other women on morning show TV - I mean, you're only going to find a certain kind of person to do this kind of work and that kind of person is the Gretchen Carlson kind. Then, one day, she was gone and replaced by Elisabeth Hasselbeck and the F&F ratings began to climb, and climb and climb - in two months view

Psycho Killer, qu'est-ce?

I came into this wicked world in the early 1960's and as a result I have born witness to America's 50 Years of Failure which includes the modern age of mass shootings by psychotic men who "go off" on a given day, for no reason at all (except "guns"), and kill scads of innocent bystanders. Back in August of 2019 a KOTCB blog post titled " Reciprocity City " explored a young  gunman  named Patrick Crusius  who drove 9 hours through the west Texas flatlands to shoot up El Paso, TX The KOTCB has commented on many of these shootings, bombings and knifings over the years -  The roots of the Boston Marathon Bombing ,  the Emanuel AME Church shooting ,  Syed Rizvan Farook and his bride Tashfeen Malik ,  Ft. Lauderdale Airport shooting ,  Nick Cruz lovesick Parkland shooting ,  the Iranian, PETA activist, Vegan Bodybuilder, YouTuber's attack on Google  and now this very oddly timed and placed "lone wolf" attack on Walmart shoppers. This list

A Apolitical Blues

Well my telephone was ringing, and they told me it was chairman Mao. You got to tell him anything 'cause I just don't want to talk to him now. According to the brilliant troubadour Lowell George the Apolitical Blues are " the meanest blues of all" and who am I to disagree with this soul man now after all these years of living by his maxim.  I first heard the song bursting from the 1972 vinyl of Little Feat's Alt-Rock-Country masterpiece "Sailin' Shoes" in the second story bedroom of my friend John's older brother Edie who, being about 3 years our senior, was instructing us on the importance of good music. This was circa 1975 and a formative time for my musical taste and overall aesthetic which, for better or worse, infuses every aspect of my existence including the KOTCB blog so a debt is owed this unforgettable "older brother" now that  he has shuffled off this mortal coil  and left us with smoky memories. A born rebel with the heart o