Who cares anymore?
Bonus trivia: Lehrer was paid $20,000 to deliver this speech. Ridiculous and a mountainous source of embarrassment for the Knight Foundation.
Second, do you really want a world where errors -- even massive ones -- automatically disqualify you from being relevant again? Where there are no second acts in American life? I do think there are places where that makes sense, but they tend to be places where the supply is perceived to be abundant and commoditized. Ergo why we encourage failure amongst entrepreneurs.
Nobody automatically deserves forgiveness, but I do think Lehrer is a giften enough storyteller that we should not necessarily consign him to the dustbin.
Perhaps he will succeed, after some soul-searching and change. This article represents a step in the right direction: some people seem to already be on the cusp of forgiveness, while others would like (as is their right) some more assurance. Or maybe he'll fail in this: his sins may be too great, or he may prove to be incorrigible. Either way will be telling.
And this is as it should be. Forgiveness is earned, one way or another, and should be.
This speech had a very important message: It's not enough to acknowledge or apologize for mistakes. You need to give yourself (and others) a reason to trust that you won't make similar mistakes in the future. Jonah goes into more detail: you need a standard operating procedure which prevents sloppiness, so that the routine ensures you don't make mistakes.
If you've not read this, because you feel he deserves oblivion, you should read it and pretend it was written by someone else. Also ... if someone deserves "oblivion" for mistakes, even egregious ones, what's the point of rehabilitation?
In that light, it's almost performance art.
If the Knight Foundation does regularly pay speakers this much, then I agree with those who say that the bulk of this fee should go to some agreeable charity.