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| "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings." |
I'm not a leader, and I'm not going to pretend that I have any leadership qualities. However, I do know what makes for a great leader, and I'm sad to say that those are few and far between. I can't think of a single leader that we have in this country. Not a real leader. Sure, there are a lot of people called leaders, but they aren't actually leaders.
I think the, uh, prime example of what a leader should be is the sentient being depicted in the above picture. Optimus is the ideal. He really is. And there's a reason that, out of all the Transformers in the cartoon, only Peter Cullen continued to voice his character in the Michael Bay live action movies.
(No, I'm not going to talk about how I think they suck. You probably didn't even need to ask me that question. I'm sure you good fuckers know me well enough by now.)
It's hard to imagine someone else voicing Optimus because Peter Cullen embodies all the qualities of leadership just by using his voice. I recently read an article about how he came up with that voice, and I think it's worth reading this part here:
Transformers icon and voice actor Peter Cullen explained exactly how the character's voice was developed, along with the person who inspired it. Cullen admits, "When I voiced Prime for the very first time, I was living with my brother Larry, who was a Marine. And I said, 'I'm going to an audition. I'm gonna be a truck.' And he started to laugh, and he said, 'A truck?!' And I said, 'This is a leader. This is a hero.' And his demeanor just changed. He just went, 'Well, Peter. If you're going to be a leader, be strong enough to be gentle.' And I got to the audition, and I said, 'My name is Optimus Prime, from the planet Cybertron.' I had no doubt that this is what a hero should sound like, and I was convinced I was gonna get that role."
"Strong enough to be gentle." I don't know a better way to put it. Leaders don't belittle the people they lead. Why blunt someone when you can sharpen them? You want the best team possible, right? You would take the time to make sure everyone realized their potential to be the best they can be. Leaders are not petty. They listen. They're understanding. They're firm but are open to suggestion. Leaders who are not these things always baffle me, kind of like the concept of "toxic masculinity." I don't believe there's such a thing because if you're being toxic, you're not being masculine. You're being a pud. Self-described alpha males are most definitely not leaders. They're self-obsessed dick shakers, is what they are. "Look at my dick! See it go rawr!" Put it away, Tiny. You're not fooling anyone.
It would be nice to have actual leadership in this country, but if there's anything I've learned from my 45 years of living here, anyone who wants the job DOES NOT DESERVE to have the job. Running for president, for example, should automatically disqualify you from the race.
Before I start on a rant about tearing down the system and building something new, I'm just going to go to bed. Hopefully when we all wake up tomorrow, the world will be a better place.
I doubt it, but it would be nice.
Yes, I know. I ran for US President once. But that was only as a book promotion! You can trust me!
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