Last night I was watching Bill Moyers’ Journal on PBS. Before I go into the thoughts I had from watching the show, I want to offer a clarification for all my entries.

I do not hate George Bush or Dick Cheney. I am not opposed to them because they call themselves or are associated with being Republicans, Conservatives or Christians. I am opposed to them because of their performance and the damage they are doing to the nature of the offices they hold. If the shoe was on the other foot and this was a Democratic President and Vice President with the same shoddy record of abuse and mismanagement, I would be equally quick to make the same criticisms.

One of the lessons you learn from managing in corporate America today (and especially if you manage salespeople) is to accept people for who they are personally and to gauge their effectiveness by the results they bring to your enterprise. The fact that people who work for you don’t necessarily think the same way you do, approach a problem the way you do or share your ethnicity, background or politics is immaterial. The question you ask is--are they performing in a way that makes me money and treats my customers well without breaking the established rules of conduct for my particular company? As a fellow manager once put it, “I will treat them all the same, but I will not treat them equally.” In other words, those who display superior performance can expect more latitude than those who do not. Similarly, when you have people who cannot perform in a job despite their best efforts their lack of results does not mean they are evil people. Their lack of performance means they are not suited for that job. They should be seeking another job they can perform in and you should be seeking someone who is suited for the job.

There is another perspective I want to offer, too. One of the many reasons we have the best Army in the world is the way we train that Army. Its officers recognize that their time in the big green machine is limited. Much like a professional athlete who will be replaced once someone else comes along at their position who is bigger, stronger and faster, military officers realize they only occupy their positions for a short time in the grand scheme of things. In combat units, training is done so that the mission will go forward and succeed, even if a key leader is killed or wounded. One of the hallmarks of an outstanding officer is how they can train their unit to function within a system instead of waiting to be told what to do. The preservation of the health of the institution and its values is more important than the health and values of the individual officer. That’s what is meant by selfless service. Paradoxically, the more the leader focuses on health and well being of the institution’s people, the more likely the institution is to thrive.

Bill Moyers’ Journal program of Friday, July 13, 2007 captured very well the reasons for my dissatisfaction with George Bush and Dick Cheney. Their performance is poor and the damage they are doing to the institution represented by their elected offices is far reaching and long term. The lack of respect they demonstrate for their positions is appalling. Here is the link. http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07132007/profile.html Watch it and judge for yourself. I’ll focus on just one thought from the program.

Those who are supporters of George Bush feel he is doing fine. Those supporters have no problem, for example, with Bush’s breaking the law by authorizing warrantless wiretaps and ignoring the legal requirements of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court. The actions of George Bush are fine with them because they trust George Bush’s actions as President. For those with that belief, I offer a question. If Hillary Clinton is elected President in the next election and uses the precedent established by George Bush to do warrantless wiretaps, will you still be with OK with the procedure?

If your answer is no for Hillary Clinton, yet you were OK with it when George Bush did it, then you are inconsistent in your judgment of performance. Consistency means all Presidents must comply with the law, because we are ruled by the rule of law and not of men. Our founders created a document to ward off imperial monarchs and those who would transition the executive offices into a monarchy.

So it is that one of the arguments in the program last night was that George Bush and Dick Cheney must be impeached so that our next President and Vice President, whoever that may be, will not have the precedent of  being able to operate outside the rule of law.

Watch the program for yourself. You be the judge.