Tarnished, Varnished, Vanished...Reputations

Years in the making, gone in 60 seconds: Not only during these past pandemic months but throughout history we have witnessed previously stellar reputations go up in smoke at almost a moments notice, in a 'New York Minute' (just ask Eliot Spitzer, Anthony Weiner et al.), almost always due to some ill-advised act ('acts of commission'), although examples of gross negligence (including 'acts of omission') also get equal coverage here. Take the early weeks and months of the COVID coverage, for example, where we heard many world leaders and experts say and do what turned out to be pretty ridiculous things, at least in retrospect. Some leaders, we felt, acted too aggressively and/or hastily, whereas others too laggardly. The former may have cost us contact, opportunity, and economic woes, whereas the latter in some cases resulted in calamity, the actual loss of life. Both categories bruised the reputations of some of the reputable leaders, who eventually recovered, whereas others were forced to resign in disgrace, and yet others quietly distanced themselves from the scandal, controversy at hand, sometimes becoming obsolete in the process.

Tweetering on the edge: Effective leaders and those with stellar reps have gotten there in no small part due to being effective communicators, through spoken and/or written words, which frequently transfers, generalizes to effective use of even truncated language (e.g. texting) and social media. But, as Clint Eastwood as Harry Callahan in "Magnum Force" (1973) cautioned us, "A man's gotta' know his limitations". So does a woman. In the former case, just ask our most recent former president, whose name became synonymous with Twitter, but who Twitter in turn tried to make anonymous. This same former president granted clemency from a longer prison term to a former mayor from around these parts who is now in the midst of a makeover (soon to be putting "Reverend" in front of his name, "KK" for short), who discovered the hard way that texts he sent to a female 'colleague' may have only taken seconds to send, could have long lasting undesired effect. Then there's the case of Chrissy Teigen's fall from grace: "The rise and fall of Chrissy Teigen shows how drastically Twitter changed in 10 years...Chrissy Teigen the former queen of Twitter, has gotten into a lot of trouble lately on the very platform she once ruled..." (Vox, 6-14-21).

Waging, Staging...a comeback: "Look at what I have been up to...lately!" Hinging on our collective short term memories (STM for 'short'), those who have fallen from grace or, at least out of favor, find various means and avenues of return as a new, polished, varnished version of themselves. Sometimes this even involves a literal makeover (perhaps after visiting a CMA, short for Certified Makeup Artist), certainly by spiffing up their resume, to add some layers, camouflage over the old roles and people with which they were previously associated. Staying just beneath the radar or, in the psychology of perception, just outside our "just noticeable difference" (JND for short) level of sensitivity, just outside our awareness...then suddenly, here they are again...as in "They're back!" (Poltergeist II) Transformed (?) At least in appearance, perhaps from a distance...gracefully...

"I'm sorry..." Not! Well, not always. Not upon scrutiny of their apologies. In order to offer up an effective, otherwise sincere apology, one has to both recognize and admit to some type of wrongdoing, neglect, or malfeasance. Instead, what we have gotten used to in modern times, from those who are in the midst of a fall from grace, is something like, "Sorry I made you feel that way...", almost implying a shortcoming on our part. Pretty clever, effective actually, as a diversion of sorts. Then there's the now famous equivocation, "...it depends on what the meaning of is is"...All of which is covered in a chapter of Randy Pausch's book "The Last Lecture" entitled "A Bad Apology is Worse than No Apology". That is, if the person issuing such a statement reflecting compunction actually means to be genuine. Because there are those, while obviously disingenuous, can actually have the effect on some listeners to show charity, even feel a bit sorry for the issuer. Finally and very contemporaneously, we have some words from Justin Bieber, on behalf of those seeking redemption, trying to get back into our good graces:                                

"...You know I don't do too well with apologies...                                                                                          ...Cause I just need one more shot at forgiveness...                                                                                        ...So let me, oh let me redeem, oh redeem, oh myself tonight                                                                        ...Cause I just need one more shot at second chances"                    "Sorry" -  2015, relevant before/after

Shiny, solid, unblemished: What I hope your reputation is at this moment in time, in the areas of life you are striving for, and may you keep it that way, bearing in mind all those who have preceded you, learning from their successes, shortcomings, foibles...may it all save us  from ourselves. and may you otherwise avoid the wrath of...

Distinction Extinction...Obs-delete: The Cancel Culture!