Mom and Dad were of the generation that expected their children to hew to certain standards of conduct. When we didn’t, we were called on the carpet. (I won’t embarrass myself by recounting some of those incidents!)
But when thinking about being accountable, one event comes to mind when I was sixteen and trying to become a better basketball player. My prowess was less than stellar, and although an above average defender, my offensive skills were probably less than average. It was the first game of the season in 1958, and our team worked hard in the first half of that game, and went into the locker room with a small lead, and we players were feeling pretty good about our efforts.
That is — until our coach really let us have it. We were called out for our errors, both as a team and as individuals. We were pathetic, in his eyes, and with colorful language that most of us did not hear on a regular basis, really let us have it. In the second half, when one of us made a mistake, we found ourselves sitting on the bench. In other words, we were made to see that we were accountable for our actions. By the way, we were in such a state of shock at the rather profane halftime speech, we went out and lost the game.
True leadership does demand accountability from those who are led. In American history, perhaps the one person who demonstrated the ability to follow through in this was Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln would have been the first person to admit that he did not really know a lot about warfare and battlefield tactics. So, as Commander-in-Chief, he selected men to do the leading in the fight against the Confederacy. Things did not go well. His first selection, Winfield Scott, one of the heroes of the Mexican War, was too old and too fat (he had to be helped into the saddle when going riding). So, Lincoln “fired” him. Next came George McClelland, the “little Napoleon”, beloved by his troops. He whipped the soldiers into shape, and they made a good show on parade. But McClelland was too cautious, so Lincoln fired him. Others who did not measure up suffered the same fate. Ambrose Burnside, whose blunders at Fredericksburg are legendary, six times attacking a well-defended and dug in foe, was sacked, as was “Fightin'” Joe Hooker. George Meade, although the winner at Gettysburg, could not bring the South to heel, so he, too, had to go. McClelland got another chance, but his indecision at Antietam made Lincoln fire him for the second time. Only when U. S. Grant was appointed the head of the Army of the Potomac did Lincoln find someone who, when told Grant should be dismissed, simply claimed, “he fights”.
Somewhere along the line, recent Presidents have forgotten that good leadership means holding people to account and demands that some heads must roll. In the not too distant past, some glaring examples can be found. Under President Obama, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) targeted conservative groups by denying them tax-exempt status, to which they were entitled under our tax code. The person in charge of this part of the IRS, Lois Lerner, refused to even testify before Congress, claiming the protection of the Fifth Amendment. Eventually the IRS admitted the wrongdoing, and began correcting the problem. So Lerner was fired, right? Nope — she was allowed to retire with a six-figure retirement, courtesy of the taxpayers of the nation, including those she attempted to keep from exercising their rights.
No one can forget the scandals at the Veterans Administration (VA). Records were altered to hide the fact that veterans seeking medical treatment were forced to endure long waits, some for months and years and many dying before they got the treatment they needed. This was a practice in several of the VA hospitals, with the scandal coming to light in the Phoenix, Arizona, facility. How many of these administrators were fired? If you guessed a number south of one, you are correct.
Another infamous happening was the attack on the U. S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012, that resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including the ambassador to that nation. Investigation revealed that repeated requests for more security were ignored or denied by the State Department. In addition, those responsible lied about the genesis of the attacks, both to the victims’ families and the American people. Surely someone would suffer termination from their job because of this. But no — the person most responsible was rewarded for her work with the nomination of a major political party for the Presidency! (She lost.)
After the 2008 election, it was revealed that members of the New Black Panther Party physically intimidated voters in Philadelphia. This action was even caught on camera. But then Attorney-General, Eric Holder, would not prosecute those who did this, and his boss (Obama) would keep Holder in office for most of his Presidency. No accountability there, it seems.
The same scenario played out in the Fast and Furious debacle. This had to do with the tracking of weapons allowed to be purchased, supposedly done to track the cartels of Mexico who used them in their attacks. What happened was that those overseeing this operation lost track of the guns, one of which was used in the murder of a Border Patrol officer. Who lost their job over this mess? No one.
So it was a refreshing breeze blowing through Washington when a President finally, like Lincoln, demanded accountability from those in his administration. When Michael Flynn misled Vice-President Mike Pence about a conversation Flynn had with a Russian official, President Trump fired him. When Acting Attorney General Sally Yates refused to enforce an executive order from the President, she got the axe. James Comey, director of the FBI, was fired for cause, which even Assistant Attorney General Rod Rosenstein agreed was merited.
Now we come to the most recent events that demand someone be held accountable. Killings at a Florida high school were horrific, with 17 killed and another 15 wounded. Information has been revealed that local and federal officials failed to do their duty, which would have prevented the killer from even having a weapon to use. School officials should have been more aggressive in their handling of the young man, for it seems as if no effective intervention was mounted. Fellow students had been aware of the potential for violence in the killer, and his name came quickly from many of them when the shooting commenced.
But worse was the performance of the Broward County Sheriff’s office, from the Sheriff, Scott Israel, and some of his officers. An armed deputy, assigned to the school and on site, refused to enter the school and confront the shooter. Three others reportedly arrived, and shielded themselves behind their vehicles while the carnage continued. When these events came to light, Israel claimed he had exercised “amazing leadership” of his department, and in a CNN townhall a week later, he placed blame on the NRA, and refused to admit any shortcoming. Calls for his resignation were angrily denied.
The Sheriff’s office in Broward County was called to the shooter’s home 23 times, the number admitted to by the Sheriff himself. Other reports indicate the number to be 39 time or 45 times in order to deal with a violent young man. Yet nothing was done to follow up on the calls or reports. No one has been disciplined for such failures.
Perhaps the most egregious failure was by the FBI. In September, an entry on You Tube even featured the killer’s name, with the threat of violence, even shooting in a school — yet nothing was done. On January 5, another “tip” came in, lengthy and in detail, also indicated that this young man was an immediate danger to others. In the light of this, the FBI director, Christopher Wray, admitted his bureau has failed.
Yet — in all this, who has been fired? The deputy assigned to the school was not let go, he resigned. No local or federal official has been relieved of their duties because of their failures. How long will it be before we realize that, contrary to the sentiments of many of the surviving students and the mainstream media, the NRA did not cause or were not complicit in this massacre. Be honest — place the blame where it belongs. That would mean to blame the shooter and those who failed to prevent him from entering the school on Valentine’s Day. In addition to honesty, demand accountability!