In a healthy democracy the Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, North Carolina Lt. Governor, Mark Robinson, and Representatives Clay Higgins (R-LA), Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) would have all resigned from office this week.
Over the last seven days major scandals have rocked leaders on both sides of the political isle. On the Democratic side, the Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams was indicted for bribery, fraud and soliciting illegal foreign campaign contributions after he allegedly took bribes from Turkish foreign nationals.
Meanwhile, across the aisle, North Carolina’s Lt. Governor, Mark Robinson continues to be embroiled in controversy after his racist, sexist and antisemitic posts on a porn site were discovered, leading to mass resignations from both his campaign and government staff. Following Robinson’s disgraceful example, Representative Clay Higgins apparently thought it was a good idea to tweet vile, xenophobic comments on X (Twitter) that were so grotesque he was actually shamed by his colleagues into deleting them. Representative Anthony D’Esposito began the week by denying hiring both his lover and his fiancée’s daughter as office staff, and then, after being forced to admit that he did hire them, refusing to acknowledge that he had done anything wrong. Finally, Representative Matt Gaetz announced in a letter that he would no longer cooperate with the House Committee on Ethics which has been investigating him for multiple violations — including some that could ultimately rise to the level of state and/or federal crimes.
One of the core principles of our legal system is defined by the phrase “innocent until proven guilty.” However, this absolutely vital pillar of criminal law does not, and should not apply to our political system. No one has a right to serve as Mayor or Governor or a Representative in Congress — elected positions are a public trust, privileges that “we the people” bestow upon those who have earned our vote and our continued confidence.
To be clear, I’m not suggesting that the mere insinuation of any wrongdoing should automatically require a de facto resignation from public office — but when illegal, immoral or unethical behavior is blatantly obvious, when accusations rise to the level of probable cause justifying federal criminal indictments, or when they inspire mass resignations of your staff, or occur so publicly that the facts are not in dispute and they merit universal condemnation — it’s time for you to go.
Leadership isn’t just about doing the right thing — it’s also about taking responsibility and being accountable for your actions when you do something wrong. It’s about respecting the voters who trusted you to do your job ethically in the first place. It’s about understanding that a guilty verdict is not required for an elected official to put the office they hold or the best interests of their constituents ahead of their personal political ambition.
Regrettably, this week’s headlines proved that we don’t currently live in a healthy democracy. Each of these scandals should have already resulted in resignations — but they didn’t and they won’t. In fact, the truth is that NONE of these elected officials is likely going to resign any time soon — and the reason can be summed up in two words: Donald Trump.
Consider the underlying allegations for each of these scandals:
Corruption, bribery and foreign election interference.
Racist, sexist, antisemitic, homophobic and xenophobic remarks made on a porn site and a social media platform.
The hiring of unqualified family and friends whose salaries were paid for by the taxpayers.
Refusing to cooperate and attacking the investigators charged with looking into alleged criminal behavior.
Incredibly Donald Trump has been justifiably accused of a variant of ALL of these disturbing acts — and more — yet he remains the Republican nominee for President of the United States. However, because he has not yet been held accountable for ANY of his despicable behaviors, his political survival playbook has taught a generation of politicians that abhorrent actions don’t necessarily demand consequences. Why should we expect anyone in politics to do the right thing and resign because of one particular scandal if Donald Trump can teach them all how to survive multiple criminal charges?
Trump’s normalization of unacceptable behavior has desensitized the country to everything from corruption, foreign election interference, dangerous rhetoric, nepotism, fraud, sexual assault and even theft of top secret documents. Simultaneously he has lowered the bar for what passes as acceptable by continually attacking our legal, justice, and political systems.
Any previous candidate with Trump’s resume would have been banished from political life long ago. But because Trump has successfully lowered the bar to expert limbo levels he has been able to take advantage of the public’s growing desensitization to what were previously disqualifying headlines. Even worse, people like Eric Adams, Mark Robinson, Clay Higgins, Matt Gaetz and Anthony D’Esposito have been watching and learning. They are taking the most effective pages from Trump’s playbook and running them verbatim. Now everyone thinks they can survive any scandal simply because none of their behavior is as egregious as Donald Trump’s is in aggregate.
Sadly, this is leading to a race to the bottom of the leadership barrel in America — and if voters don’t demand better, things will only get worse.
In this era of heightened partisanship, it’s crucial for citizens to demand accountability from ALL their leaders on both sides of the aisle and to demand honesty and integrity from everyone in a position of public trust.
Sound like pie in the sky? I assure you that it is not. We all have a chance to do exactly that — up and down the ballot — in November.
Until then, here are this week’s Best and Worst Leaders Lists, as always numbered only for your convenience.
And finally, thank you all for Reading, Subscribing, Sharing, Liking, Commenting, and Tipping! I really appreciate all of your support!!
This Week’s Best Leaders:
Volodymyr Zelenskyy — Continuing to defend democracy in the face of Russian aggression, meeting with Biden, Harris and Trump who he fact checked in real time.
President Biden — Gave his final UN General Assembly speech where he reminded world leaders that doing the right thing for your country and not maintaining power is the ultimate goal.
Alexandria Ocassio Cortez — Was the first NY Pol to call on Mayor Adam’s to resign.
Retired Gen. Stanley McCrystal — Endorsed and publicly announced that he voted for VP Harris on the basis of Character.
Special Prosecutor Jack Smith — Filed an updated 180 page brief in his case against Donald Trump continuing his effort to seek his day in Court.
First Responders — All of the first responders who are working tirelessly to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
The IDF — Carried out missions that eliminated multiple terrorists including the Leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Khalil Yassin.
Nebraska State Sen. Mike McDonnell — Broke with his party to kill a last minute effort to change the states electoral apportionment that would have made the state “winner take all.”
Dame Maggie Smith — RIP.
Former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake — Endorsed VP Harris saying, “I think Republicans believe in the rule of law in particular, and it's difficult to support a candidate who, having lost an election, tries to use the powers of the presidency to overturn that election.
This Week’s Worst Leaders:
Donald Trump — Repeatedly lied, defended Putin in his meeting with Zelenskyy, sent fake photoshopped pictures of Kamala Harris with Diddy’s face superimposed on Montel Williams body, grifted coins and watches, told rally goers that VP Harris was born mentally impaired.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams — Indicted on corruption, bribery and fraud charges.
Senator Lindsey Graham — Publicly called for Nebraska to change its election rules before Election Day for purely partisan reasons.
NC Lt. Governor Mark Robinson — Continuing his campaign amid an escalating scandal of his own making.
Singer Janet Jackson — Promoted lies about Vice President Harris, refused to apologize and fired her publicist who apologized on her behalf.
The Missouri Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court — Declined to halt Tuesday’s execution of a death row inmate even the prosecutors say may well have been innocent.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan — Anti-Israeli Comments at the UN.
Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts — Project 2025 author, reportedly told neighbors he killed a dog with a shovel.
Rep. Clay Higgins — Tweeted, “These Haitians are wild. Eating pets, vudu, nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters… but damned if they don’t feel all sophisticated now, filing charges against our President and VP. All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th.”
Rep. Anthony D’Esposito — Hired both his lover and his fiancée’s daughter, lied about it and then refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing.
The State of Missouri — Executed Marcellus Williams despite the prosecutor now believing he may well be innocent.
The Oakland A’s — Leaving Oakland.
The State of North Carolina — Removed 747,000 people from their voter rolls including anyone who moved in state or had not voted in the last two federal elections. Determined that digital student ID’s cannot be used as Voter ID potentially further disenfranchising students.
Speaker Mike Johnson — Refused to guarantee that he would certify the results of the upcoming presidential election.