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Originally Posted by Sen-Bluecollar";p="
I take the risk of sounding like a bleeding-heart liberal or some such, but it has recently begun to dawn on me, (i mean, how late am i), that some of the world's greatest influences had the greatest flaws. I mean the Clinton scandal ruined Clinton's rep, but it didn't erase his accomplishments. Alfred Nobel sacrificed the lives of many of the poor with his dynamite factories. (they were known for the occasional explosion, and because of the areas in which they were located the "insignificant" lives of the "insignificant" poverty were taken.Only when he realized what people really thought of him did he, by some stoke of genius create the Nobel prize, which then covered up his previous indiscretions.) Martin Luther King's a great man, a fine man, was a cheater. Lots of guys fool around, but the fact that his wife stood by him no matter what should have gave him a clue. Vladimir of the Ottoman empire gave us Dracula, but he was a terrible guy too begin with, but the point is that he was a very powerful guy who abused his power and besmirched his name. Their are countless names of many other people, Shakespear, King Henry V, King Luis of France, Chinggis Khan, Kubilai's grand children, plenty of Kings, countless emperor's, conquerors, people with power, even those without power but hold considerable prestige.
This post is just a reflection. Many of you already know these things, they are history and therefore insignificant, but really thinking on this doesn't really give hope for a peaceful future. There is always that someone who will do whatever it takes to gain power or authority or both or anything. People who will go to extremes and stop at nothing to cover up their dirty secrets. It makes me wonder if every great guy is only passionate about change only to cover up some dirty secret or to make everyone forget the bad. Or is it that every genuine good guy who does something bad will always have that bad paraded about their name or vise versa. It just makes me wonder. Who really does care?
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You lost me when you included Clinton with the world's greatest leaders.
These people are all flawed just like the rest of us. That doesn't mean they can't do great things. Most people who start in any endeavor do it for some selfish reasons.Some don't have the foresight to see problems ahead and some don't care.Some great men like Nikola Tesla, who had over 700 patents when he died, sold his rights on alternating current to Westinghouse and barely gets any mention at all in the company of great inventors. Men like Charles Goodyear,who invented vulcanized rubber, never saw a dime from his invention which was used many years later to make millions. He died a poor man. Martin Luther King did great things even though he was tempted by the lust in his heart.Much like Jimmy Swaggert who could not resist temptation. All of us fall short in one way or another. Be careful who your heroes are. Welcome to the human race. Some good and a lot bad.( the bad we call liberals)
Temptation and greed are powerful forces.
P.S.:
TERRORISTS ARE A PRODUCT OF THE POLITICAL,ECONOMIC, AND CULTURAL FAILURES OF THE UNDER DEVELOPED COUNTRIES.