The nature of people leads to various reactions when circumstances turn sour. Such turn of events result in anger, denial or unwarranted accusations.

As the economy continues its downward spiral, Americans alleviate their own uncertainty by blaming the government. When a sports team loses several consecutive seasons, the coach or manager often becomes a scapegoat. Since organizations began laying off workers, the employers have collected the brunt of the criticism.

Because the leader of a group represents the whole, those who are discontent find authority figures the easiest to condemn. They control the final decisions of the group. However, this power means the president, coach or principal must sometimes make unpopular decisions when circumstances prove uncontrollable.

Although condemnations are often unfair, when accepting a position of power, those in charge agree to become responsible for the problems and misfortunes of their organizations. No one expects these figures to satisfy every opinion but to use their best judgment. The end results cannot please all involved and authority figures must accept consequences that accompany their jurisdiction.

However, indignant accusers sometimes hit the mark. Imperfection is part of life; those in charge are not exempt from flaws and some choices made by officials are marred by personal corruption. Greed and ignorance are often the cause of unscrupulous choices.

Regardless of our belief in their ability, superiors must maintain their clout in order to regulate the system they head. Without positions of authority ? corrupt or otherwise ? our country would lack the structure necessary to function.

For more editorials from The Feather staff, read the Nov. 24 article, President Barack Obama: Deal with it.