Welcome to Issue #7 of THE LEADERBOARD! Thank you all for reading, subscribing, sharing, and for all your incredibly useful feedback! It really is humbling and hugely appreciated!
Before we get started, a quick reminder: Thursday is the first Presidential Debate of 2024 so be on the lookout for at least two Special Editions of the LEADERBOARD this week where you will find both my pre-debate predictions and post-debate thoughts and analysis. It should be an interesting week ahead!
Now, without further delay, here is this week’s LEADERBOARD.
We begin with some sad news, the passing of Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays, one of the most exciting all-around players in the history of the sport. The “Say Hay Kid” was a two-time MVP, 24-time All-Star, 12-time Gold Glove Award winner, and a recipient of America’s highest honor — The Presidential Medal of Freedom. We throw around the term “Greatest of All Time” far too often these days, but Willie Mays certainly belongs squarely in that conversation.
Joining Willie on this week’s LEADERBOARD from the baseball world is fellow Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, who gave a must-see three minute history lesson to baseball fans. His message was a sober reminder that retelling our history isn’t always a painless stroll down memory lane — in fact — for many trailblazers it is a difficult path to navigate.
Staying in the world of sports, kudos to soccer star Kylian Mbappé who called on his supporters in France to vote against France’s extreme far right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen. He said, “I’m calling (on you) to vote against extremists that want to divide the country. I want to be proud to wear this shirt, I don't want to represent a country that doesn't represent my values." If standing up for what you believe in at the risk of losing a significant portion of your fan base doesn’t define leadership, I’m not sure what does…
But maybe it’s the Edmonton Oilers who have shown incredible grit and tenacity by climbing out of a 3-0 series deficit against the Florida Panthers to force a decisive game 7 on Monday night in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Leaving the sports world, we head to the classroom where congratulations are in order for 105 year old Virginia "Ginger" Hislop who earned a master's degree in education from Stanford University. Along with everything else she accomplished, I’m pretty sure Ginger just completely redefined the term “Graduating Senior!”
Finally, in the world of politics Whistleblower Eugene Vindman won his primary election in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District on Tuesday, proving that when voters have the opportunity to reward leaders who demonstrate they have the courage of their convictions, they usually do exactly that.
Unfortunately, unlike Willie Mays, Ms. Hislop, or Mr. Vindman there were far too many “leaders” who completely failed us this week, including Pastor Robert Morris, the leader of a Texas megachurch who had previously served as a spiritual adviser to former President Donald Trump. He confessed to a “moral failure” after a woman accused him of repeatedly molesting her as a child. As bad as that is, (and it’s absolutely awful) at least he had the common decency to resign from his position. Unfortunately Representative Matt Gaetz who is now formally under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for allegedly having engaged in sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, and obstructing justice hasn’t as of yet had the common sense to similarly resign in disgrace.
Of course it’s possible he hasn’t resigned yet because he is expecting a massive campaign contribution from the likes of Timothy Mellon, the banking heir who reportedly donated $50 million to a super PAC supporting Donald Trump the day after the former president was convicted of 34 felonies, according to newly released FEC filings. Folks, if you are wondering why the list of failed leaders is so long every week, I think part of the problem is the incentive structure that comes from those who regularly and handsomely reward terrible leadership.
Meanwhile in other disheartening election news, voters in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District are tragically bound to reward bad behavior no matter who they choose. The state’s primary elections were held on Tuesday, but the race in the 5th district is still too close to call between Freedom House Chair and ultra far right conservative Congressman Bob Good (whose leadership during his public service has been anything but) and his Trump endorsed primary opponent, Republican State Senator John McGuire. How bad is this choice from a leadership perspective? Former Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger described the election this way: It’s like choosing between having dysentery or the flu. Yikes!
Meanwhile at the Supreme Court this week Justice Clarence Thomas distinguished himself as the only member of the Court willing to conclude that domestic abuser’s Second Amendment rights should not be infringed. Thankfully all eight of his colleagues had at least a little more common sense — leaving the current ban on abusers possessing firearms in place.
And finally we transition from the Second Amendment to the First, as Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed into law an obviously unconstitutional requirement that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom in the state. Besides this new law being a blatant violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution and obliterating any meaningful separation between church and state, even the formal bill signing ceremony itself was marred with a tragic failure of leadership. Incredibly, while the Governor was signing the bill into law a young girl standing behind him literally fainted. The Governor didn’t notice or offer any assistance.
I did a bit of research and according to the latest data Louisiana currently ranks 50th in Healthcare and 47th in Education among the 50 states. To be clear, I’m certainly not saying these rankings are entirely Gov. Landry’s fault, but after this week I’m convinced that his particular brand of “leadership” hasn’t helped matters much.
And yet, on the other end of the First Amendment spectrum we find the Davis School District in Utah where the Bible has been removed from all their elementary and middle school libraries. This happened after an enterprising parent utilized a relatively new law that permits the removal of "pornographic" books from the schools libraries.
This bit of legislative karma stems from the Utah Legislature passing HB374 back in 2022, a bill that conservative lawmakers touted at the time as a way to weed out content found to be “pornographic” from K-12 libraries and classrooms. In this case the parent who objected to the Bible argued that it contained topics such as incest, bestiality, genital mutilation, and infanticide — making it “pornographic” under the definition prescribed by the new Utah law.
So, to summarize: In Louisiana the Ten Commandments must be displayed in every classroom in the state while in a school district in Utah the Bible has been banned from every elementary and middle school library. Friends, I think I can safely say it’s been a very tough week for supporters of the First Amendment.
Here’s an idea: let’s find a common sense, middle ground where religion is kept out of our public school classrooms but the Bible is allowed on the shelf at the library. And while we are at it, maybe we should print a few more copies of the Constitution and donate them to the Governor of Louisiana, Members of the Utah Legislature and Members of the Davis School Board so they all have a copy?
And with that, here are this week’s lists, as always in no particular order but numbered for your convenience.
This Weeks Best Leaders
Soccer Superstar Kylian Mbappé
Sen. Josh Hawley
Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays
Whistleblower Eugene Vindman
Stanford University Graduate Virginia "Ginger" Hislop
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore
Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson.
The Edmonton Oilers
Melinda French Gates
Grimace (LGM!)
This Weeks Worst Leaders
Pastor Robert Morris
Donald Trump
Rep. Matt Gaetz
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun
Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good and Virginia State Sen. John McGuire
Justice Clarence Thomas
The State of Louisiana and it’s Governor Jeff Landry
Vladimir Putin and Kim Jung Un
The Davis School District (Utah)
Singer Justin Timberlake
Judge Aileen Cannon
Steve Bannon
UK politician Nigel Farage