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Part 62: Under Siege:
August 4, 2003:
This is about what I call the bureaucrat under siege mentality. "Don't tell nobody nothin'." It is also about my communication with and lack of response from Michigan's Governor Granholm and other Celebrities. I am becoming somewhat disappointed with our governor.
This began with my essay Part 58 in which I discussed school financing in Michigan. To write that essay I had to find information about school financing. I asked for help with my search from the Michigan Department of Education and the superintendents of two school districts. I got one response from the Flint school district. For sure, that was sufficient, but I was dismayed with the lack of response from the others. I was particularly angry about the state's department of education. That is the classic bureaucrat under siege solution to requests. "Don't tell nobody nuthin' unless you are forced to."
To register my dismay, I tried something I often try with celebrities though it has always failed. I attempted to communicate with Granholm. On the state's website I found the place to do that. There was an online form in which I expressed my disappointment. I also pasted my essay Part 58 into the form. Then I submitted the whole thing. It had no effect whatsoever. There has been no response, not even from a Granholm flunky.
Granholm has the advantage, whether she is or not, of coming over as a humanist simply because she is a woman. Usually, when a man attempts to come over as humanist he comes over as a wimp instead. Now it is becoming more and more clear that she may not be a humanist. In fact, she may not even be a competent administrator. It is clear that she has not changed the bureaucratic culture of the state house. She is surrounded by the same kind of dumb-dumbs who surrounded Fat John. They are the incompetent BS artists who used to shield Fat John from reality. Now they seem to be doing the same thing to Granholm.
This is not just a government thing. It is a serious problem for all people who, for whatever reason, become famous or notorious. These are VIPs who may be celebrities, politicians, or bureaucrats. Because they are or appear to be important, people will attempt to communicate with them. So, they quickly end up with way more input than they can handle by themselves. They must have help to deal with the growing volume of input.
The normal solution is to hire some kind of executive secretary. Regardless of what they call the person, their function is to handle the logistical details of the celebrities life. Once in place, they will, of course, acquire their own staff as the volume of business increases. Sooner or later these people will increase their power and span of control. They will take over and become the public face of the celebrity.
Then a more insidious change comes about. These people will stop thinking of the celebrity as their employer. They will begin to think of the person as their personal property. They will form a perimeter and become a reflective shield around their meal ticket. they will begin to tell the VIP only what will not disturb them. It will reach the point where no one, even with useful help or information will be able to communicate with them. Then the schmoozing will begin. Instead of letting through useful people and information they will let though the ones who pay for the best lunches or send the most expensive gifts. This expensive stuff will not go to the VIP. It will go to the people who control access to the VIP.
As I said, my attempts to communicate with big shots have never been successful. I have no gifts to give and the very notion of schmoozing makes me want to puke. I have never sent a missive to any VIP, be it William Clay Ford, Bill Clinton, or The Governor of Michigan, and received a reply directly from them. Often, as with Granholm, there is no reply at all. At best, I get back a pappy reflection of what I sent from some stooge or power broker.
We may sympathize with the celebrity in this case and say, what can they do? I think they can prevent this kind of take over if they give it some thought. If a VIP really wants to prevent the subordinate's take over of their public face, they must make periodic personal checks. They must occasionally go down to the mail room and read the stuff address to them. Then they must wait and see which of it gets through. They must also get online and check their own e-mail.
Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the VIPs never do this, so they end up being isolated and protected from reality. It is true they cannot deal with the steady stream of input, but the can make occasional checks. If they do not take an occasional few minutes to do it, it is not because they are too busy, it is because they are too dumb or too lazy.
If they want to see the real input they must not look in their inbox but in the wastebaskets of their underlings. In their inbox, they will only find things that will not annoy them. For a VIP, that should be the first clue that you have been taken over. If you are not being annoyed at all, you are probably being protected and misrepresented. You flunky is protecting his or her meal ticket. All secretaries or executive assistants will eventually acquire that MO. They become, for all practical purposes, the public image of their boss. the VIP disappears from public view except for arranged staged public appearances. That may be what is happening to Granholm.
For sure, I do hold politicians to a very high standard, especially
in their treatment of their constituents. Some may say that's
unfair because they are just human beings. That just doesn't wash.
These people use all kinds of political trickery and deceit to
bull their way into office. The pretense is they are superior
people and qualified to lead. They are more qualified that anyone
else. Let's cut out the bull! All I do is hold them to the standards
of behavior and performance they have implicitly claimed. In fact,
they are not superior people, but they should at least try to
act the part.
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