Minor and Transient Rays of Light and Humor in Imperial Hubris

When imperial hubris reaches the point where officials overstep bounds and get themselves into hot water, provoking a controversy, it is cause for non-Christian but understandably human merriment on our side of the chasm separating us from them. So it is with amusement that we see 47 Republican senators writing a boneheaded letter addressed to “the Leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran”. The insulting letter presumes to instruct Iran on certain constitutional niceties of which its leaders are assumed to be ignorant. The senators think that intruding on a sensitive executive negotiation at a late stage is not one of these niceties. It’s only a shame that some Democrats didn’t sign on so that the message of senatorial hubris would be seen as a general characteristic of senators and not a partisan affair.

Another ray of light revolves around the e-mail scandal of Hillary Clinton. This is a very slight ray but a ray nonetheless. It’s slight because of the double standards applied to lower-level government officials who pay hefty fines, go to jail and lose their jobs and those in high office who get off with a wrist slap. They are “too big to jail”. Petraeus got off easy, John Deutch got off, Alberto Gonzales got off, and Sandy Berger got off easy. Still, it’s a source of joy to see Clinton’s hubris radiating into trouble for her.

Then there is warmonger Robert Menendez. I cannot say that I feel real sorry to hear that the Justice Department is investigating him for an alleged quid pro quo for a campaign donor. If every such instance of every member of Congress were investigated, they’d be in the hundreds and thousands. Does hubris play a part? You bet. In their minds, the law applies to someone else.

It affords amusement to read that men like Lindsey Graham who have almost no chance of becoming president think so much of themselves that they run for president. This is said to be a ploy to gain exposure so that Graham positions himself as a top choice for Secretary of Defense or State. No matter, hubris is at work.

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