Superman doesn’t exist | profile

All presidents have their moments of glory. Sometimes fleeting; others, more durable. But they have one thing in common: fame fades.

The case that is always remembered is that of Churchill, the British Prime Minister and great protagonist of the Allied triumph over Hitler. A hero to the British during the war who would lose the election by a significant margin shortly after the German surrender.

From the glory to the sunset. The examples are endless. After winning re-election with an overwhelming majority and a solid economy, Nixon was forced to resign amid mockery of Watergate. From statesman to corrupt in just two years. For Peruvians, Fujimori went from being a hero who ended inflation and the Shining Path to someone convicted of crimes against humanity. Sarkozy came into office with a record-breaking positive image, amid a collective acceptance that he was the man who would modernize France. But he never won re-election and now, after weeks in prison for corruption, he has just been released and is awaiting his final sentence.

The job of president is one of unlikely success: society’s expectations are always…

It turns out that being president is a job of unlikely success. Carlos Menem advised leaders not to think about the day after they leave power. Don’t get bitter and focus on the present and not the future.

The fact is that for a president, the “after” will always be worse than the “before.” Because in the past, people hoped that the government would meet their needs, and the president still had no time to disappoint them. However, it will later become clear that society’s expectations were greater than the results.

This is what usually happens: the majority or at least a portion of a head of state’s initial supporters will sooner or later become disillusioned.

Argentina is no exception, even dictators had their moments of glory. The same social circles that initially praised his actions later began to praise his conviction for the crimes he committed.

Noticias has chronicled the peak times associated with those in power over the past decades and warns of the risks that a society and its political, business and media representatives run when they lose their critical sense due to the virus that the magazine calls “Officialitis”.

…exceed what the leaders can give back. Therefore, it is usually ephemeral
be the glory

Supernada. This happened with Kirchner, Macri, Fernández and Milei (see the four covers). Each and every one of them and Milei today are widely viewed as perfect presidents. Superhumans who, under extraordinary conditions, face and defeat powerful enemies and problems that others have been unable to solve.

The problem is that Superman doesn’t exist.

Of the four, the one that has achieved unprecedented support from 80% of society has the worst image today. What remains today of this “SuperAlberto” is what the political consensus, rightly or wrongly, calls “the worst government in history”.

The year ends in a similarly festive mood. There is an opinion that received 40% of the vote in October and sees Milei as the one who defeated inflation and the “Kuka risk” at the same time. Can subdue governors and allies. A statesman who will finally be able to lead the country to its destiny of greatness.

Hail, Caesar. The twists and turns of social humor are as sudden as they are commonplace.

Just two months ago, Milei itself seemed to be plagued by various corruption scandals, accompanied by the financial crisis and economic recession. Its negative image grew week by week, losing more than 13 points in Buenos Aires province. It was the same Milei who seemed to be resilient against all odds in the first months of his reign. What is the state of grace that accompanies it today.

Due to opportunism, fear or simple cognitive comfort, periods of official empowerment are accompanied by pro-cyclical behavior on the part of various social actors.

Businessmen may close their factories due to the opening of imports and the decline in consumption, but they do not stop adhering to the economic model that puts them in this situation. Allied opposition politicians (macristas and radicals) are repeatedly denounced, but they don’t want to be too offended. The governors, who have been discriminated against for two years because of the distribution of financial contributions and the lack of public investment in their provinces, are once again turning the other cheek by putting the vote of their legislators in favor of the ruling party.

Judges and prosecutors, perhaps the greatest specialists in recognizing moments of empowerment or weakness in rulers, act accordingly. This is what American researcher Gretchen Helmke called the “strategic waste” of Argentina’s judicial system after analyzing more than 7,500 verdicts and finding that the majority benefited governments while they remained in power.

Risks of submission. Like judges, the media and journalists also have a good radar for detecting social moods and behaving procyclically in response to them. Therefore, the same media and journalists who were pro-government until the beginning of this year suddenly became critical when they perceived Milei’s loss of image. And then, after the October elections, he resumed his libertarian militancy. They are repeating what they did in the peak and twilight periods of previous governments.

Procyclical submission carries risks. Anyone who engages in social humor and believes that they will also be rewarded by society forgets that if the mood changes again, it will always be necessary to find those responsible for what happened. Who will be none other than the politicians, businessmen, judges and journalists who supported the disgraced power? At the same time, presidents will lose the superpowers assigned to them.

But countercyclical positions also pose risks. At some point perhaps more than the pro-cyclical ones. At Perfil editorial media we know this and accept it.

Criticism of all governments can provoke rejection because it is seen as questioning the hope that a majority has in the incumbent president. But society has the right to be excited, and journalists can be a part of it.

What we can’t or shouldn’t do is join in with the official fictions that try to cast people with successes and failures as superheroes.

In order not to hide the first and not to remember the second until the power collapses.