Lots of people like San Diego Sheriff Bill Kolender, me included. People who like Kolender are discussing whether it's a good idea for him to run again. The recent San Diego Union Tribune article about him was both respectful and informative. Bill is slowing down, so it's appropriate to think about a replacement.
I'm glad Bill has friends like Walter F. Ekhard and Bob Burgreen, who defended him in today's SDUT Letters section, but I'm afraid that his friends are seeing Kolender's impressive past, and missing the current situation. "I have seen no evidence of dementia," says Burgreen. Well, I haven't either. But that doesn't mean everyone who works with him has to keep his mouth shut.
Churchill declined mentally; so did Ronald Reagan. It can happen to the best of us. It's more noticeable if a person was high-achieving, and it sure beats dying young. I would prefer that John F. Kennedy be suffering from Alzheimer's now, than to have died in 1963.
My concern is that a leader who is weak can be used by others. This concentrates too much power in the hands of those who are doing the using. Perhaps this is exactly why some people want Kolender to run again: they want to use him.
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