“The jungle is dark but full of diamonds, Willy. One must go in to fetch a diamond out.”
I’ve been thinking about that line from Arthur Miller’s masterpiece, Death of a Salesman, as I watch prominent men risk prison or disgrace to enrich themselves.
Look at the news.
Sen. Bob Menendez, former Chair of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is indicted for acting as a foreign agent to benefit Egypt.
Manuel Rocha, a former Ambassador to Cuba, will plead guilty to charges he conspired to act as an agent of Cuba.
Two years ago, former Marine Corps General John Allen resigned from his post as president of Brookings Institution amid a DOJ investigation into whether he illegally lobbied on behalf of the nation of Qatar.
DOJ dropped the charges but, in 2023, Congress released findings that 77 general officers and admirals had taken high-paying gigs with foreign countries. The list included former Defense Secretary James Mattis (UAE), former NSA chief Keith Alexander (Singapore, Saudi Arabia) and former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster (Japan).
Go back to 2015 and you’ll be reminded that then-Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas allegedly pressured DHS officials to approve visa requests on behalf of powerful friends in business, entertainment and politics.
I get it; there’s an edge in this game, too.
Mayorkas and the generals played close to the edge. Menendez played too close to the edge (at minimum). Rocha obviously went over the edge.
The bigger question is … why?
At an age when most Americans re-discover the soapy drama of daytime television, the politicians and generals venture deeper into the jungle.
Taking one more free trip.
Looking for one more big payday.
Something short of the law should restrain their greed. Call it shame, stigma, patriotism, or even self-discipline. Call it common morality.
The generals and military bigshots are most troubling. They made their names in an institution that demanded fidelity to the military ethos. Duck your duty to stand post, and you betray your comrades. Lie to your commanding officer, and you perhaps put an operation at risk. Sit back at the command post while your troops walk patrol, and be labeled a coward by yourself and others.
When Allen, Mattis, McMaster and the rest served as officers, much of what they could have done, they didn’t do. Their restraint enhanced their character. Their high moral standards made them leaders, and formed the basis for their credibility to ask young Americans to kill or be killed in combat.
But as generals transition to civilian life, apparently, they discover what can be gained by switching sides and corrupting into your opposite. The opportunity to become sandwich-board twirlers for foreign governments is turning once-virtuous leaders into human directionals for money, attention and other regime goodies.
Because the generals sold out, they’re not special anymore.
No more duty, honor, country.
No more honor, courage, commitment.
The generals are hunting diamonds now, and we should treat them accordingly.
Citizen Soldier believes in life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
