Clinton Paradox

A leader survives scandal after scandal that would have ended anyone else's career. Observers are baffled. The resolution is uncomfortable: we do not judge leaders by rules; we judge them by stories — and some people are simply granted better stories.

Watch the mechanism in any workplace. Two employees make the identical mistake. One is called careless; the other is called unlucky. The difference is not the act. It is the narrative capital each has banked — the accumulated warmth, humour, and usefulness that buys forgiveness in advance.

This is not entirely unfair. Character is a long record, and a single act is fairly weighed against it. But the paradox corrupts quietly: the forgiven stop paying for errors, and the unforgiven stop being able to afford one.

In your own judging, name the currency. Ask: would I excuse this in someone I did not like? Then you are weighing the act. Anything else is weighing the fan club.