Date: August 10, 2005 2:26:21 AM PDT
Subject: [Spy News] Phonies on the Family
Phonies on the Family
By S. T. Karnick Published 08/08/2005
Recent press reports have noted that Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver
Terrell Owens is dissatisfied with the way the team's management has treated
him. Owens stated that he would not play for the Eagles this year, and
demanded a trade. The team is refusing to move him, which meant that if
Owens stuck to his guns (which he didn't), he would not have gotten paid the
several million dollars he was contracted to receive for the season.
The specifics of the argument are the least interesting thing about it-we're
all too used to seeing bloated team owners and greedy players argue over
money and alleged failures to show sufficient respect for each other.
What is interesting is that Owens claims he is doing this for his family.
"The most important thing is my family," he said.
This assertion has become so common and familiar among public figures as to
become something like punctuation, a mere indicator of seriousness without
any real content.
I won't back down on this matter, it suggests, and not because I'm a
pompous, selfish donkey, but on the contrary, because I am so selfless that
I will forego my own interests in order to avoid letting down my family. The
invocation of family says: Even though my actions indicate otherwise, I'm
not a fool, nor a scoundrel; I'm selfless and devoted to others.
Patriotism used to be the last refuge of a scoundrel, as Samuel Johnson
said-until phony patriots destroyed the positive connotations of the term.
Today, family is the scoundrel's first, last, and paramount refuge.
One hears this refrain continually in the media. A politician who has fallen
far behind in the opinion polls decides not to run for reelection and
announces he's doing so "to spend more time with my family," with wife and
children standing at his side and looking simultaneously dutiful, honored,
puzzled, and bored.
When Congressman Gary Condit was under fire for having an affair with an
intern, Chandra Levy, who had mysteriously disappeared, it was allegedly
just one affair among many on his part. He resigned to spend more time with
his family, he said.
Enron CEO Jeff Skilling quit his position because-you guessed it-he wanted
to spend more time with his family. Apparently those 100-hour work weeks
became less intoxicating when his firm was under fire for accounting
scandals and careening toward bankruptcy.
When George Tenet resigned from the CIA, the reason he gave was not that the
agency was in the soup for poor monitoring of terrorist activity before
Sept. 11, 2001, and intelligence failures regarding alleged Iraqi progress
toward developing weapons of mass destruction. No, it was-all together,
now-so that he could spend more time with his family.
Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong recently retired from
bicycle racing in order to, yup, spend more time with his family. Reporters
did not bother to press him to explain how divorcing the mother of his
children to marry a rock star reflects his commitment to family.
Of course, no one ever asks these persons to explain precisely what caused
them to change their mind about the benefits of ignoring one's family.
Similarly, reporters failed to ask Owens how his family would benefit from
the loss of several million dollars of income. We don't ask, because we have
come to see these statements as purely phony.
If no one takes these protestations seriously, however, why make them?
The reason, of course, is to save face and avoid having to take
responsibility for one's decisions. In the case of the failed CEO, it's
easier to pretend there is a positive reason for quitting, instead of
admitting that he was a horrendous manager. The politician can pretend he's
a nice guy instead of a sleazeball. The athlete can present himself as a
devoted protector instead of a conceited hothead.
The strategy succeeds because we are cowed into submission in the charade,
lest we appear insufficiently devoted to family ourselves.
But there are social consequences to the pretenses we undertake. Those who
take refuge in false claims to family loyalty do far more than just serve
their own interests -- they undermine ours, by demonstrating that success
comes from ignoring one's family, and that the really big wheels run home
only after disaster strikes.
The message is clear: If you want to make it big, ignore your family, and if
you make a mess of your life, they'll be there when you need them.
Of course, some readers may think this article rather sloppily argued and
awkwardly expressed. To them I can only say, don't criticize me: I wrote it
very quickly -- so I could spend more time with my family.
S. T. Karnick is an Associate Fellow of the Sagamore Institute for Policy
Research, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Editor of The Reform Club
blog.
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