It’s seldom true that a single misstep ruins an official. With the exception of criminal conduct, most mistakes are ones from which a politician or bureaucrat can recover.
And yet, and yet, some mistakes take their toll. They do so, however, with a cumulative effect – one after another debilitates as does cumulative radiation exposure.
Look at Whitewater over the last decade, and consider those officials who departed with a limp, so to speak: Boden, Coan, Steinhaus, Brunner. With the exception of Steinhaus, each was celebrated (if only by his own account) as a great or visionary leader sometime during his respective tenure.
They each had kerfuffles during their time in local office, and perhaps thought that getting past them was a sign of success. At the moment, perhaps; over time, not at all.
Written criticism played no meaningful role in their respective departures; it was their own poor choices that undermined their roles in the community.
They all seemed strong, at least for a bit, until they weren’t strong at all. Some of them saw this coming (and so in each case did a growing number of residents), but for others it was a surprise.
It’s not day-in, day-out that makes a difference: it’s the years-long, cumulative effect of poor choices.
The way to avoid accumulated injury is to avoid the same harmful, repetitive motions.
It’s the long-run, and not the sort-term, matters.