78. Integrity is a silent killer
Integrity is a silent killer because its absence can take effect late and at moments when SPs feel safe, or indeed at their most vulnerable. Integrity issues do not go out of date in this respect. SPs therefore should not think that undiscovered lapses will never be discovered or that once the slate is wiped clean of mistakes it will remain clean forever. Misdemeanors can escalate to be used as deadly weapons, or discovered by coincidence. For this reason, SPs always carry their past transgressions with them.
Integrity is a deadly weapon, as we saw in the previous chapter. SPs can use this weapon to lay others low, and others can also use it against them. For this reason it is necessary for SPs to have integrity and not to put weapons into the hands of others. This demands that SPs pay close attention to whether others use the integrity weapon against them, and if so to what extent. This is not only about the question of whether others are armed – or if not, the chance of their arming themselves – but also when and in what circumstances they use this weapon against SPs. Common practice teaches us that integrity is a silent killer that can lull SPs into a false sense of security, striking when they are at their most vulnerable.
Even if others have incriminating materials, they may not strike immediately but may bide their time, waiting for the moment when they can maximize their gains, for instance when they are best prepared to take over the position of the person they are looking to bring down, when the SP is in difficulties and publicizing a lack of integrity will be the coup de grâce, or when making incriminating information known in election battles or negotiations will get them ahead or drive the SP into a corner. They may wait until they publish their autobiographies or memoires to stimulate sales or plead their way out of something. They may wait while gathering more evidence or support for the attack, increasing the chance of attaining their goal. They may wait until the other has less power so that they can no longer so easily strike back or defend themselves. This happened to Jacques Chirac after he had stepped down from his position as French president and given up his presidential immunity, when he could be charged and convicted of fraud committed long before, in his capacity as mayor.433
Integrity does not go out of date in this respect. Something unknown soon gains news value, even if it happened years before. Mistakes from a distant past, after all, can easily be connected with relevant aspects of the present. For example, fraudulent claims regarding school diplomas decades ago can still be relevant if an SP is responsible for education or is required to be highly numerate in office. In fact, it is all the more relevant. Such fraud among ordinary citizens leads to less outrage than among SPs. Past mistakes on the part of SPs with successful careers will be taken more seriously because of their power and influence. As we saw in chapter 22, the more power SPs have, the harder they fall.
SPs should not be too quick to assume they are safe and that undiscovered mistakes will remain that way. It can take years before bribery, extramarital affairs, illegitimate children, or manipulated reports come to light. It took five years for a video of George W. Bush admitting to having once taken illegal drugs to be leaked,434 and presidential candidate Mitt Romney was even confronted with his own behavior as a teenager when a newspaper revealed that he had bullied a boy 47 years previously for aberrant behavior.435 In the battle against corruption the Greek parliament decided to compare the actual incomes and tax returns of the prime minister, ministers, state secretaries, and party chairs over the past 38 years.436
SPs should also be careful about thinking that once mistakes are behind them they will remain so. Many small mistakes can eventually lead to a big problem. The separate droplets are not a problem, but many droplets fill the bucket until it eventually overflows.