> I have no intention of entering the presidential fray

Hey, me too! Maybe I should also write an article about it.

Yeah, the Communist Pope. There's a great leader for ya.

I'm the most humble guy I know. Let me tell you how amazingly humble I am. Get comfy, this might take a while...

Whenever I hear the nauseating term "servant leadership" — which is en vogue with both fundamentalist dinks like Rick Santorum and capitalist-progressive dinks like Howard Schultz — I long for the days of open, naked careerism.

Caffeine is a crutch and everybody knows it.

Maybe if we made growing and selling coffee beans illegal, world peace, prosperity and health will most likely flourish. Worth a try, if only to see this Starbucks idgit thrown in jail.

Coffee tastes dumb, anyway, that's for sure.

"Unlike the cruel Leonidas, who demanded that you stand, I require only that you kneel. "

Despite the encouragement of others, I have no intention of entering the presidential fray. I'm not done serving at Starbucks. Although we have built an iconic brand while providing even part-time employees with access to health care, free college education and stock options, there is more we can do as a public company to demonstrate responsible leadership.

Translation: I don't want to take the pay cut.

He's got a bigger forum for his ego as CEO of Starbucks than he would as president having to deal with that pesky Congress.

Although if he keeps giving away the profits to indulge his ego and provide "free college education" for his lowest-paid employees, he might find himself at odds with his shareholders.

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Coffee tastes dumb, anyway, that's for sure. ~ Posted by: Jason S. at August 6, 2015 9:11 AM

Not "for sure" at all. Coffee tastes great, even that swill made by Schultz's company.

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Pope Francis, shortly after his election, kneeling and washing the feet of a dozen prisoners in Rome, one of them a young Muslim woman, in a pre-Easter ritual.

As a Catholic priest, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, took a lifelong vow of poverty. His "servant leadership" stems from that. Unless Schultz views Starbucks as a calling, he's not in the same job as Francis. Schultz's job is to run a corporation owned by shareholders and maximize shareholder value. Francis' job is to guide and inspire the faithful.

Francis' job is to guide and inspire the faithful

Wrong. His job is to keep consumers paying money to the church

Wrong. His job is to keep consumers paying money to the church ~ Posted by: lujlp at August 6, 2015 10:41 AM

And he does that by presenting a pious and humble front to the public, by appearing as a religious figure, not a CEO.

To do his job, Howard Schultz needs to appear as a CEO, not a religious figure.

When Howard Schultz signed on to sell coffeemakers with Hammarplast, he didn't take a vow of poverty, chastity, and obedience. He didn't "answer a call" when he took that job.

When Jorge Mario Bergoglio joined the priesthood, he took up a calling and vowed poverty, obedience, and chastity in his service to God.

So, yes, Francis' job is to guide and inspire the faithful - alongside his job of running the complex multinational organization that is the modern Catholic Church.

obedience

I failed to see it in the bible, but where did god command the pope to shield the molesters of children form secular law enforcement?

In fact according to the bible, anyone who wishes to be a priest, but is not a member of the tribe of Levi is to be executed forthwith.

So he isnt very obedient

I failed to see it in the bible, but where did god command the pope to shield the molesters of children form secular law enforcement? ~ Posted by: lujlp at August 6, 2015 12:21 PM

That wasn't Francis. That was the endemic failure of a bureaucracy that came to believe its own survival more important than the people it served and the failure of the Popes in charge.

Pope Benedict XVI apologized profusely on more than one occasion for the actions of the Church.

And no one is shielding the Church from the more than 3,000 secular lawsuits filed against it.

Francis has set about reforming the bureaucracy that led to those failures.

Bernard Law, the Cardinal and Archbishop of Boston was forced to resign in disgrace, leaving over $120 million in claims against the diocese. That he was not defrocked was a failure of John Paul II (I think, by canon law, he could not be). Law's ludicrous pre-resignation protest that only he could protect the children going forward was met the the derision it deserved.

"Some of the accused priests were forced to resign. Some priests whose crimes fell within statutes of limitation are in jail. Some have been defrocked. Others — because they are elderly, because of the nature of their offenses, or because they have had some success fighting the charges — cannot be defrocked under canon law. Some priests live in retreat houses that are carefully monitored and sometimes locked." [Wikipedia.org]

Thanks to the scandal, the Catholic Church lost its moral stranglehold over the hearts and minds of the Irish, leading Ireland to eventually legalize gay marriage, against the Church's wishes. And the Church's influence in Italian politics has been severely weakened.

In fact according to the bible, anyone who wishes to be a priest, but is not a member of the tribe of Levi is to be executed forthwith.

So he isnt very obedient

~ Posted by: lujlp at August 6, 2015 12:21 PM

Exodus also says the the Israelites were a "kingdom of priests," so there's some wiggle room.

And, in later books, there were non-Levite priests with duties in the Temple.

And, since the Ark of the Covenant is missing, there's not much need for Levite priests anymore.

Perhaps Catholic priests are considered Levites.

The modern word priest "comes from the Greek πρεσβύτερος presbýteros through Latin presbyter, "elder", or from Old High German priast, prest, from Vulgar Latin "prevost" "one put over others", from Latin praepositus "person placed in charge")...." [Wikipedia.org]

I'm sure it wasn't the intent of Moses to have every non-Levite elder among the Israelites executed.

"the Communist Pope"

Don't forget the Jooz who run a secret banking cabal of Illuminati in partnership with Trotskyite Negroes and them slanty-eyed yella bastids what makes them little cars nobody buys!

In the book of Judges, there is a parable told by Jotham known as the parable of the trees. The trees, it seems, have decided to elect a ruler over the trees. They ask the olive tree, the fig tree and the grapevine to be their king, but each one declines, being useful producers of fruit and not able to leave their offices to rule over the trees.

So, the trees finally elect the bramble, which is, of course, good for nothing.

The moral I get from this story is that those who seek political office are the last ones on earth that should have it.

Gog, reacting reflexively without looking into issues is what the people you criticize all the time do. I thought you were smarter than that.

The moral I get from this story is that those who seek political office are the last ones on earth that should have it. ~ Posted by: Patrick at August 6, 2015 7:27 PM

Many pundits have expressed similar thoughts.

"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job." ~ Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

"People concerned about making a difference often tend not to be all that interested in being fitted for the crown."

"Making a difference ". .......I really hate that term.

What the hell does it actually mean, and how do you measure it?

To put it a different way Isab, those interested in being effective have little desire to sit around talking all day, A.K.A. politics. Similarly your best factory workers typically have no interest in management.

Personally I can't stand middle management. Either put me at the top or the bottom. I just don't fit in the middle.

Personally I can't stand middle management. Either put me at the top or the bottom. I just don't fit in the middle.

Posted by: Ben at August 7, 2015 11:31 AM

Middle management is usually filled with patronage employees, like the bosses nephew. People with too much pride fo be a worker bee, but too little competence to actually be put in charge of anything.

There are more than a few CEO's who have been promoted above their competence level and made a utter hash of things. You can read about it in numerous books written about the 2008 crash.