Talk Down To Me Dept.

Yesterday's post brought some more thought to mind: Does becoming a "success" — however you might define that — make it all the more difficult, if not outright impossible, to speak truth to power? Or, for that matter, speak the truth at all?

One of the things that happens — maybe inevitably — when someone becomes widely recognized and vested with the power of authority, any authority, is that people don't see the person anymore. They see the authority, and they respond more to that than they...