{"id":37354,"date":"2018-05-07T22:31:24","date_gmt":"2018-05-08T02:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=37354"},"modified":"2018-05-07T22:31:24","modified_gmt":"2018-05-08T02:31:24","slug":"the-problem-with-heroes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=37354","title":{"rendered":"The problem with heroes"},"content":{"rendered":"

They are human; ergo, they are imperfect.<\/a><\/p>\n

Last week, my cousin Janet and I found ourselves talking about Woodrow Wilson<\/a> who, when we studied American history, was a political and intellectual hero to many people, and our dismay to learn recently that he was a racist.<\/p>\n

We came to a pretty rational conclusion: you can keep your heroes but you should never worship them, because not one of them, no matter how genuinely heroic, will be worthy of worship.<\/p>\n

I am disheartened by the Eric Schneiderman news and resignation. Didn’t I just mention him as a standout figure in the Democratic AGs group defending out civil rights and values against Trump?<\/a><\/p>\n

Yeah, I did. Great timing.<\/p>\n

We’ve lost Schneiderman’s aggressive advocacy for everything I believe in. But I do not believe in any sort of god and therefore do not worship anyone. I don’t think I ever have. I’ve had my social and political heroes, among them Martin Luther King, FDR, Nelson Mandela and Andrei Sakharov,<\/a> but never trusted to their perfection, so was able to absorb their human failings when they popped up. Which, almost inevitably, they did.<\/p>\n

So after hearing Schneiderman resigned — so quickly — and saying, “Oh shit!”, while simultaneously accepting that the allegations sound valid and repellent, I found myself sitting on my couch thinking, “OK, who’s around who can take over the office, its purpose and the work Schneiderman launched?”<\/p>\n

The office will go on even without Schneiderman.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They are human; ergo, they are imperfect. Last week, my cousin Janet and I found ourselves talking about Woodrow Wilson who, when we studied American history, was a political and intellectual hero to many people, and our dismay to learn … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[337,1175],"tags":[3063,3061,1911,1817,3062,3064],"class_list":["post-37354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-news","category-the-facts-of-life","tag-andrei-sakharov","tag-attorney-general-of-the-state-of-new-york","tag-eric-schneiderman","tag-martin-luther-king","tag-nelson-mandela","tag-woodrow-wilson"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t