Do you have any regrets or mistakes you’ve made in your personal life? How about as a parent? Hopefully, everyone answered yes to both of those questions. It means you are human and aware of your actions.
Many within the left-leaning media across the country and in Georgia have demonstrated they aren’t and are in fact model beings. After weeks attacking his past struggles with mental health, several media outlets reported on some “earth-shattering” Herschel Walker news in the days leading up to Father’s Day. His children from previous relationships had not been publicly disclosed. With the media vultures and Twitter mobs of the left, who can blame him? The left would have you believe that his offense of non-disclosure was nearly criminal. It’s not. It was human. His relationships with his children and their mothers are between them. If anyone disagrees, then I hope we also see a discussion regarding George Floyd’s decades long criminal history while a fleet of cranes are lowering statues of him into place around the country or while the paint is drying on the latest mural.
In order to mitigate the mobs’ ire on Twitter for that last sentence, let me share a few words from lefty lore as an olive branch. Even though it’s from the post-Sorkin era of The West Wing, a memorable scene from the season six finale is well suited to the present moment. During his convention speech, Democratic candidate Matt Santos unexpectedly defends one of his rivals for failing to disclose his wife’s mental illness.
“Now there has been a great deal made about Governor Baker’s decision not to disclose his wife’s minor medical condition. Many people believe that he should have. But I don’t believe Governor Baker failed to disclose it because he was ashamed or embarrassed. I think he didn’t disclose it because we’re the hypocrites, not the Bakers; because we’re all broken, every single one of us, and yet we pretend that we’re not. We all live lives of imperfection and yet we cling to this fantasy that there’s this perfect life and that our leaders should embody it. But if we expect our leaders to live on some higher moral plane than the rest of us, well we’re just asking to be deceived.”
The last sentence could not be more accurate.
Herschel Walker shouldn’t be ashamed or embarrassed of his past struggles with mental health or the fact that he kept his private life private. Those who believe that leaders must embody a perfect life set themselves up for deception. Politicians will tell you what you want to hear, and it’ll be the easiest lie they ever tell, and you’ll never find them admitting mistakes.
I hope Walker continues talking about his past struggles and the mistakes he’s made in life. We all struggle. It’s refreshing to have a candidate that knows what it’s like. Especially since a generation of Georgians are struggling with mental health issues and trying to navigate life with challenges unlike any faced in the past.