Are we there yet? Heaven help us if we are.

June 20, 2022

I saw a quote that seems to sum up where we are headed as a nation if we are not already there.

“People have moved beyond apathy, beyond skepticism into deep cynicism.” – Elliot Richardson

Much of my early life and some of the middle of it was lived in years of apathy in America, punctuated by periods of “woke” unrest caused by resistance to the Viet Nam War and in rise of the Civil Rights Movement. More recent awareness of issues and wrongs, such as the “Me, too” movement, the “Black Lives Matter” movement and the issue of LBGTQ rights has pulled the scabs off things in our society that we cannot and should not allow apathy to gloss over. The power of social media and modern communications channels have quickly moved us passed the phase of skepticism and towards cynicism.

That movement has been exacerbated by the wide political divide that has developed in our nation. We no longer enjoy the stability of an intelligent and thinking moderate political majority in our government. The old bell-shaped curve in which the majority of our politicians were in the middle on issues, with outliers at the extremes on both sides has been replaced by an inverted bell-shaped curve where the majority of politicians have aligned themselves with the extreme positions and only a few, moderate voices remain to try to find compromises.

As we approach yet another election season and the attack ads start to pop up on TV and social media, I can’t help but ask myself, “Is these really the best people that we have to offer?” Are these politicians from the extreme on either side really our brightest and best; or are they just the only ones willing to put up with life in the gutter that politics has become? As a nation are we ready to follow these sleazy politicians in their crusade AGAINST others and various causes; or would we rather follow true leaders towards higher, positive goals for America? Do we vote for the guy (or gal) who can yell, “The other guy is a bum” the loudest or do we look at what they really stand for and vote for people with a vision of what good can yet be done in America?

We cannot afford to be apathetic, but we need not become cynics. We need to look with skepticism at the messages being aimed at us on social media and in the news. We need to look at what the current elected people have actually done while in office, verses what they initially promised to do (it is seldom the same). And we may need to compromise a bit ourselves, putting some of our own priorities or issues aside for the moment to vote for the best people for the jobs.

So, let us not become cynics; but, rather let us become better informed and more thoughtful voters this year. One cannot just sit on the couch watching the nightly news and saying, “What an idiot” when current elected officials pass yet another dumb or vindictive law. It is our task as good citizens not to let the voices of reason and moderation get drowned out by the yelling and misinformation from the extremes on either side. It is no small task to search for the best people amidst the noise of the calliope that modern politics has become, but they and the truth are out there. We see signs on beer and liquor trucks saying, “Drink responsibly”; maybe we need signs on polling places saying “Vote responsibly.”

I’ll see you at the polls.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Are you aware?

January 22, 2022

I am inspired today to ask the question above by a quote that I’ve been saving for some time – “Let us not go back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness.” (James Thurber)

It seems to me that way too many people are spending their time being angry about things that have already happened and which are in the past or they are fearful of the future without just cause. Perhaps they have based where they are going upon something that they saw on the Internet or something that they heard from someone else. If, in either case, they did not take the time to become aware of the source and veracity of that “information”, then they may be headed off in fear or anger in the wrong direction.

What does awareness mean? I think it at least means that one takes the time to think about and question things that they hear, see, or read before accepting them and acting upon them. We all need to ask questions like, “What is the source of this information?” or “What proof is there that this information is correct and accurate?” The phrase, “I saw it on the Internet, so it must be true” is both laughable and yet prevalent in today’s world of misinformation, conspiracy theories and outright lies.

Unfortunately, the source that most use for their news and information about what is happening in the world is also the biggest source of bad information – the Internet.  It’s a shame is that so much of that bad information is purposely planted there by people to cause the resulting confusion or anger or both. The real shame is that it works all too often.

The second major source of bad or suspect information is politically biased coverage on so-called news shows. The influence of the political views of both the right and left are evident in the choice of words that both sides use in their newscasts to re[port on events. Awareness of that bias towards either side will help one correctly assess the news content from the political views of the presenters. The weather portion of the news shows is about the only part that has not been highly politicized, except for comments sometimes thrown in on global warming.

So, approach each new day with an open but questioning mind and awareness that you need to evaluate everything that you hear, see, or read before allowing it to influence your reaction or direction. Instead of starting a conversation with the phrase “everyone knows”; start the conversation with, “here’s what I believe”, because you have taken the time to evaluate things and to form your own opinion. Just being in a state of mind to question and evaluate first will make you a more aware person and probably a more interesting one, too.

Go around in awareness.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Being silent on things that matter…

January 18, 2022

It is the day after Martin Luther King, Jr day and for many that means time to forget and move on with life. Yet King’s words in this quote still resonate today – “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”  (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

There was much consternation and condemnation of some Republican politicians who used King’s words in Tweets or other pronouncements yesterday, while at the same time voting against the voting rights act now before the Senate. Yet not all Republican Senators may be against strengthening voting rights in the face of some changes in voting laws in several states – they just chose to stay silent on the matter. Remember them.

I have a yard sign that I put out in the summer months that has this quote from Dr. King – “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” While the quote does not specifically say anything about political lives, perhaps it should. A politician who is so consumed with remaining in power that he/she will compromise their integrity and the trust that was placed in them by not taking a stand on this issue should see their political lives end. Remember them.

I am not solely advocating for the current wording on this bill, but for the ability of all politicians to seek compromise in order to further the intent of the bill – that all people be allowed to vote. We do not see that in today’s political environment, where the two sides dig in to hardened positions on most issues and lob insults at each other. These are people who choose to fight rather than to seek compromise and they are on both sides of the aisle. Remember them.

I think the important message to get across to members of both parties is that we chose them to create laws in the best interest of all of the people and not to adhere to the extreme positions of radicals on either side. If they are unable to stand up to the pressures of extremists within their own parties, then they are unable to put our collective interests before their own. Remember them.

It is telling that efforts by the leadership of either group in Congress towards compromise for the common good are attacked by extremists members of their own party. It is also telling that those attacks most often result in the gesture towards compromise being withdrawn and positions are allowed to harden into stalemates. Remember them.

We have the opportunity to change all of this when we vote on the serving members of Congress. We have an obligation to look at the performance of the people running for reelection from both parties and determine what their position on important events has been and whether or not they made those positions known or decided to stay silent on things that mattered. Remember them.

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Posted by Norm Werner

You can be civil…

March 31, 2021

Pastor Freed lamented the use of ad hominem attacks as the stock in trade in politics recently in his blog, Jack’s Winning Words, today and used this quote – “When you cannot answer your opponent’s logic, you can still call him vile names.”  (Elbert Hubbard) 

I have commented in prior posts about the lack of civility that has crept into our way of life in America. Politics and politicians have certainly contributed greatly to that transition and in the process have denigrated their position in our view and embarrassed themselves (if there is any shred of decency or embarrassment left for them to use).

A major contributor to the loss of civility in our society, at least in my mind, are the robo-callers who inundate us with annoying calls pitching things we don’t need and didn’t ask for. Since they are robots, they can’t hear our polite answer that we are not interested, so we just get angry and either shout at the robot or just angrily hang up. Unfortunately, that same reaction pops into our head when we receive what could have been a polite call from some worthy organization asking for our help. I wouldn’t want to be a phone solicitor these days, even for a worthy cause.

But, back to the original thought. We certainly have seen the use of ad hominem attacks in our state as the Republican legislators have resorted to name calling (and witch is probably the least offensive one that they use) in their battle with the governor over her COVID restrictions. Since they have no logical way to refute the science driving her decisions, they use personal attacks instead. They claim to be fighting for the freedom of people to make their own decisions on things like masks and vaccinations. While they don’t officially have a name for this movement, I’d suggest that they use “The right to die” as their tagline, because that is what the result will be if they are successful. It might be easier to grant them that right if it weren’t for the fact that those same people could infect hundreds of innocent people in their careless disregard for themselves and others.

We have also seen the rise of extremist groups that have been engaged in plotting actions that go well beyond name calling as remedies to what they see as government intervention in their lives.  Some of them took buses to the nation’s capital for the inauguration of our new president and participated in the insurrection that ensued. They could not answer or accept the will of the voters and resorted to much more than ad hominem name calling.

Those are a lot of questions, especially in the midst of what might be a heated exchange, but those also form the bedrock of civility. The key it stopping to think, before responding. I have noticed over time that the few politicians for whom I had respect were those who always stopped to consider things before they responded to questions or challenges. Usually they paused long enough that you noticed it and then they responded with well thought out answers and careful use of the language. Former President Barrack Obama is masterful at that and there have been politicians from both parties who displayed that kind of carefully thought out civility (although far fewer of late).

All of these things point to a society that has been conditioned over time to be much less civil to each other and towards the institutions of government. Even though the current administration has called for a cooling off and a reduction in the level of the rhetoric, just saying that we are all in this together is not enough. We may be in the same boat, but we are on opposite sides of that boat. Rather than trying to get those on the opposite end to rush to our side of the boat  (which isn’t likely to happen, but which would probably capsize the boat if it did), it is important to understand the opposite views well enough to be able to create a position in the middle of the boat for all to seek. That middle ground of compromise has been lost in Washington and in too many other places in America.

Where can we start in an effort to restore civility to American culture? Like all things, the changes that are required start within each individual. It is incumbent upon each of us to stop giving in to the knee-jerk reactions that we have been conditioned to respond with in situations and instead stop and think for ourselves.

Ask yourself, before you blurt out a response, why something that someone just said to you is causing such a reaction. You must first control yourself long enough to think about the situation. Is there some basis in fact for that reaction or have you just reached for some canned response that has been planted in your mind, perhaps an ad hominem attack against the speaker? What is the logic of this disagreement and not the emotions of it? How can you explain your position on the mater without attacking the person with whom you are disagreeing? Is there a compromise position somewhere between your current position and that of the other person? Why can you not agree with that person to go to the more neutral place? What can you do to keep this a civil exchange of competing ideas or views?

So, resolve as you start each day to stop and think before you react to anyone. The Biblical admonishment to do unto others as we would have them do unto us is a good starting point. If you wouldn’t want to be called a name, why label others with a name of your choice. Let’s get civil, again. It starts with each of us.

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Posted by Norm Werner

A year of great discontent…

July 11, 2020

In a recent post to his blog, Jack’s Winning Words, pastor Freed used this very apropos quote – “Progress is not created by contented people.”  (Frank Tyger)

One does not need to be a scholar or history buff to know that most, if not all, of the changes (both large and small) that have happened in America grew out of someone’s discontent with the status quo. Even at our beginning as a new nation, many in what became known as America were content to be subjects of England and the rule of the English King. Throughout our history as a nation is has been discontent that changed the course of that history. Our discontent with staying put on the eastern side of the continent took the form of “Manifest Destiny” that drove explorers (and later settlers) westward. Discontent with the immorality of slavery eventually led to the Emancipation Proclamation. Later, discontent with the social, legal and economic situation that had evolved in the nation, mostly in the southern regions of the country, led to the Civil Rights Movement. It could be said that man’s discontent with being stuck on the surface of our planet led to the creation of aviation and later space flight and our moon landing. There are tons of other examples and all were driven by someone’s discontent with the existing situation.

The word “content” is relatively benign. It means – “in a state of peaceful happiness”. For some who do not see the problems at hand, that may actually mean “in a state of blissful ignorance”. For others is more of a state of “resigned acceptance” of things that are wrong. A lack of concern about anyone but ourselves can lead to a state of numbness or callousness about the events happening around us. Others may take offense at any disturbance of their otherwise serene and prosaic environment.

The year 2020 is proving to be a year of great discontent. The discontent over the sexual exploitation of women in the educational, entertainment and business worlds carried over from 2019, with almost weekly exposures of new grievances. The jarring changes mandated by state governments in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic caused great discontent and exposed a long-festering rebellion against government authority and the basic concepts of society by groups on the fringes of society. Discontent boiled over into the streets in matters of race and inequality of opportunity in America. While the trigger for the protests in the street was the murder of a black man in Minnesota, the underlying discontent was with the continued and pervasive racial biases that dictate the day-to-day lives of people of color in America.

What will come out of all of this discontent? The hope is that changes will be made at a systemic level. Changes will be required to laws that support the bad behavior; but more importantly, changes will be required at the personal level. It really doesn’t matter if the law says it is illegal to discriminate, if we still do that in our hearts and minds at every encounter with someone different from us. That change will take longer and is impossible to legislate. Real change starts with you and with me. We must become discontented with not only the things that are happening around us that we know are wrong, but with our reaction (or lack of reaction) to those things. As I have opined here a few times, it is those “things left undone” that we must pray for forgiveness about, as well as the things that we may have done.

If you are to “love thy neighbor as yourself” you cannot start from a position of fear, hate and bias. Be discontented with that state of mind and seek to change it. Do not become satisfied and content with a state of affairs that positions you in comfort and safety while leaving many of those around you in poverty and despair. Take no comfort from your good fortune while ignoring the needs of your neighbors. Inequities are at the root of many of the problems that are causing the discontent that we see in our society right now – inequities of positional power or economics or opportunity. The systemic changes that are need must be aimed at identifying and righting those inequities.

If Tyger was right, this should be a year of great change, since it is already a year of great discontent. Let’s all look for the good that can come out of this discontent.

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Posted by Norm Werner

A self-inflicted wound…

July 6, 2020

This morning I read a story posted by an American Ex-pat who currently lives in France (see Do Americans Understand How Badly They’re Doing?). The story was focused upon the difference between the coordinated, national-level measures that European Countries have taken to control and contain the Corona Virus vs. the chaotic and rudderless efforts in the United States. The U.S. ranks with Brazil in the out-of-control spread of the pandemic – see chart.

By The New York Times | Source: Johns Hopkins University

I posted about that last week – see How Embarrassing. One phrase that the author used that seems to apply to the response to both the pandemic and to the lack of national leadership that is contributing to the unfolding disaster is “self-inflicted wound”.  Indeed POTUS could easily switch out his MAGA logo on his red baseball caps with Self-Inflicted Wound and they would immediately become much more meaningful and accurate.

Several states that rushed to reopen have also discovered that they have caused self-inflicted wounds upon their populations. The southern and western states that reopened everything are now having to backtrack and take measures that were obvious from the get-go – closing venues where large, unruly crowns might gather and requiring masks in enclosed spaces. It is only a matter of time until regulation or common sense causes the airlines that decided to fully pack their planes to back off that decision. No one in his or her right mind would get onto a fully loaded plane.  

I also posted here last week about the lack of will that American have displayed in dealing with this crisis – see Felled by a lack of patience and resolve. What I did not state strongly enough was the devastating impact of not only a lack of leadership sat the national level, but indeed a leadership that seems to be only concerned with political survival. This is a self-inflicted wound on America; but, it is one that we can  correct in November. We need only hope that our Tweeter-in-Chief’s self-aggrandizing and delusional leadership is kept somewhat in check until then. One can also hope that his Senate toady Mitch McConnell stands proudly at attention saluting and goes down with that ship.

Until November we will all have to watch the embarrassment unfold on the nightly news as POTUS keeps claiming what a great job he is dong and the successful countries of the world keep their borders closed to Americans. I guess it is good in one way that we can’t ravel to those countries, since we would be subjected to their laughter and derision about our self-inflicted wound.

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Posted by Norm Werner

How embarrassing…

July 1, 2020

On last night’s national news it was reported that the United States has been listed as a travel banned country by the European Union, due to our inability to bring the Corona Virus under control in our country. How embarrassing is that? To be lumped in with Russia and Brazil as countries without the political will, resolve or discipline within their populations to stop the spread of this pandemic. You really can’t blame them. See my post from yesterday – Felled by a lack of patience…

The American traveling public earned the nickname “Ugly Americans” from the title of a 1958 book by authors William Lederer and Eugene Burdick, due to their arrogant and entitled behavior when traveling abroad. Now, perhaps the “Contagious Americans” or “Stupid Americans” might better fit. The news report said that Europeans are appalled by the scenes that they see on their news shows of Americans ignoring all health rules and congregating in public. Our skyrocketing infection rate and climbing death rate are proof to them of our selfish disregard for the well-being of others.

Probably as strange to them is the total lack of national leadership on this issue from our Tweeter-in-Chief and his band of clowns in Washington. No other country in the world, including many developing nations that are well ahead of us on this issue, has as vapid a group of so-called leaders at the top of their governments. And, the response from fearless leader was “So I told them to slow down the testing.”

Now, we find ourselves banned from travel to countries that have taken effective, if sometimes painful, steps to contain the pandemic. While in the Wild, Wild West of America, POTUS worries about how he looks in a mask and frets that people are wearing them just to slight him. How pathetic is that?  Instead of a slogan built upon the initials MAGA, perhaps we should use SEA – Stop Embarrassing America. The good news is that we will have the opportunity to make a SEA change in November.

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Posted by Norm Werner

A new song in the fields…

June 3, 2020

In today’s post to his blog, Jack’s Winning Words, Pastor Freed wrote this –

“I don’t feel tired.”  (Slavery hymn)  I don’t know about you but I’m “sick and tired” of lots of stuff these days…but imagine yourself as a slave – you’d be tired. Really tired. But the slaves sang in the fields “I don’t feel tired. I don’t believe God has brought me this far to leave me.”  Today let us remember that God has not brought us this far to leave us.

In today’s world, the streets have been substituted for the fields and the songs contain the phrases “Don’t Shoot” and “I can’t breathe”. What hasn’t changed for most of the African –Americans in the demonstration is the belief that God is still with them. Certainly, there is frustration and anger that the oppression of racism continues to exist, but there is also an abiding belief that God is with them and that things can and will get better.

The process of change in our society is frustratingly slow, but it is also inevitable when the change is to right some wrong direction that the society has allowed itself to fall into following.  Some wrongs are more deeply ingrained than others and racism is one of the most deeply ingrained in America. It is fairly easy to see the contrast in relationships between races or ethnic groups when one travels to foreign countries, even countries as close as Canada. There is a natural acceptance of differences in people, rather than an unnatural fear or suspicion.

There is much said about this being a systemic problem, and it is.  Our system reacts to the needs of the minority community and the bad behavior that those needs drive by cracking down, beefing up police presence and building bigger prisons. Our “solution” is to try to make the problems go away by putting people away – out of sight. We do not focus on rehabilitation of those we incarcerate, just on keeping them out of sight. We do not focus upon improving the schooling, and thus the opportunities, for minority youth and then wonder why they went wrong later, as so many had already concluded that they would.

Our national leaders take great pride in declaring the United States to be the greatest nation on earth, yet try to ignore that a significant portion of our population has been left out of that greatness because of the color of their skin. It’s not like we don’t realize that we have this problem (see the Pew Research Group report on racism in America of 2019 – https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2019/04/09/race-in-america-2019/). It is that, so far, we don’t have the national will to make the changes that are needed in or society.

Recently, Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors, made a major announcement of an effort to make General Motors the most inclusive company possible and to work to eliminate racism in any form within the company. Maybe it will be the actions of business leaders, rather than political leaders, that will cause change in our society. If other major business leaders join Barra in the fight to eliminate racism within their companies, it would be a step forward to resolving the systemic nature of the problem. Enlightened business leaders see, and actually get, the benefits that they can achieve from a well-integrated and diverse work force.

Hopefully the anger and frustration fueling the peaceful demonstrations in the streets today  will translate to real change in the upcoming elections at all levels, but especially at the top. We need real leadership, not egomaniacal showmanship and Tweeting at the national level. We need men and women in Congress and the Senate who will get behind real change in laws and programs that work to include everyone, not just incarcerate some. We need changes to our education system to focus on preparing and equipping the youth of today (of all races and colors) to be contributing members of society.

The good news is that as the old slave hymn said – God didn’t bring us this far to leave us. Perhaps had he opened that bible that he was waving around as a prop for his photo op, The Tweeter in Chief would have noticed that God didn’t say “when the looting begins the shooting begins”.  Rather, he might have found the advice, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:39). Show that loved for your neighbors of all races by getting out to vote for real change in November. The choices have never been more obvious.

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Posted by Norm Werner

The cameras are rolling…

June 2, 2020

Jack used a quote in his Jack’s Winning Words blog today that rings true – “Racism is not getting worse.  It’s getting filmed.”  (Will Smith). I’ve been around long enough to know that racism has always been there, but smartphones with video  recording capabilities were not always there to capture it and let it be shown on the nightly news.

The Civil Rights movement in the 50’s and 60’s succeeded in getting many of the overt signs of racism removed and caused changes to the American Education system, but it did not cause racism to go away. Much of the focus of racism shifted from social expressions of separation onto economic and political means of subjugation of the black community.

The racism that sparked the marches and speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was still there when the news cameras stopped filming. It had become “old news”. But the protests against it never stopped. I remember Tommie Smith and John Carlos each raising a black-gloved fist during the playing of the US national anthem at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. The news media was all over that. And there were the riots and protests in 1968 over the killing of Dr. King. That got news coverage for days.

I remember also the news coverage of the desegregation of Boston’s public schools and the hate that made the nightly news shows as schools across America were order to desegregate. Much of the focus of protest during the late 60’s and early 70’s was on the Viet Nam war, but racism was always there and sometimes not below the surface.

In 1980 Miami erupted into violent protest and riots over the killing of a black man by four white police officers. And in the 1990’s In Los Angeles in 1992 a week-long series of riots, lootings, arsons and civil disturbance that occurred i, following the acquittal of police officers on trial regarding the assault of Rodney King. That was the last time that the U.S. Army was called upon to quell the rioting.

In the 2000’s much of the attention of the news services shifted to covering mass shootings; but there was always racism bubbling up in the background somewhere. These are just some that made the news:

2001: Cincinnati riots – April – in the African-American section of Over-the-Rhine.

2009: Oakland, CA – Riots following the BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant.

2012: Anaheim, California Riot—followed the shooting of two Hispanic males

2014: Ferguson, MO riots – Riots following the Shooting of Michael Brown

2015: 2015 Baltimore riots – Riots following the death of Freddie Gray

2015: Ferguson unrest – Riots following the anniversary of the Shooting of Michael Brown

2016: 2016 Milwaukee riots – Riots following the fatal shooting of 23 year old Sylville Smith.

2016: Charlotte riot, September 20–21, Riots started in response to the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott by police

2017: St. Louis protests, beginning September 15, large protests erupted when police officer Jason Stockley was found not guilty of murder in the shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith.

2019: Memphis riot, June 13, following the fatal shooting of Brandon Webber by U.S. Marshals, Memphis, TN.

It is notable that the first smartphone cameras were introduced in 2002 by Samsung and Sprint introduced the first camera equipped smartphone in the U.S. The public has been documenting racial incidents and the riots that often followed ever since. As soon as the camera quality become good enough for the video to be used on the nightly news we began seeing the stories of racial discrimination and the resulting unrest pop up again on our TVs. It had always been there, but no one could capture it until technology gave bystanders a video camera in their pockets. Some, as we have recently seen in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, were not innocent bystanders; but, rather, were participating in the acts by documentation.

Will Smith is right that things haven’t changed very much, they are just getting documented better. However, it is that constant reminder of the things that need to be changed that will eventually cause that change. It was the ugly nightly newscast pictures and video that eventually drove change at the national and state levels in the 1960’s. Today, it will be the smartphone videos on the nightly news that thrust the ugly reality of racism into our homes, which will drive change. The question is – How many people have to die on camera for us to make those changes?

Let your political representatives know that you have seen enough and demand that they make changes. Let’s turn the cameras on them and see what they do.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Where are the leaders of today?

May 29, 2020

Pastor Freed used this quote some time ago in his Jack’s Winning Words blog and I’ve been saving it for inspiration – “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”  (John Quincy Adams)

Leaders aren’t cynics, like our current Tweeter-in-Chief. Leaders don’t lead by painting negative pictures, they lead by offering inspiring visions that others want to follow. As I thought back over the last few decades of presidents that we’ve had in Washington, there have been few real leaders. There have been a few competent stewards of the nation and some good men who just didn’t inspire us. There have also more than a few politically savvy fools who took us off into wrong directions. Rather than try to evaluate and label the various occupants of the White House over my lifetime, I will just say that, in my opinion, we’ve only had maybe 2 Presidents that I would say had the vision and charisma to be called true leaders.

During the recent Democratic primary season, we got glimpses of candidates with leadership potential. Men and women with visions of what this country could be with the proper direction and leadership. Obviously, none of them were there yet and the Democratic Party ended up with what they felt was a safe fallback candidate. So, we are faced again this election with a choice that, while obvious, does not inspire the electorate to dream about a greater future, just about a less foolhardy one.

Perhaps this is the consequence of the polarization of the two political parties and the lack of any viable third alternative. The parties seem to embrace candidates that are safe and predicable (although one party has veered sharply away from those values), even if they don’t really inspire us. The rhetoric of current politics has shifted from expressing positive messages about where we could go to focusing upon conspiracy theories, mudslinging and name-calling.  Instead of aspiring to go to the moon, as we once did, we are now harangued to protest against whoever occupies the leadership position. It is sad that we no longer march as a nation toward some goal, but instead march in protest against almost every decision made at the top, no matter which party is in power.

We should be watching the elections at the state level, whether for state offices or congressional seats, looking for that elusive spark of leadership that may serve to unite and excite us all. I’m sure that the leaders of tomorrow are out there. I just hope that the muck of our current political landscape hasn’t become so nasty and pervasive that they have soured against applying their leadership skills to pursuit of political offices.

Let’s all hope that true leaders emerge from the mess that we find ourselves in now. Perhaps we are in the darkest hour before a new sunrise of leadership. I want to be inspired by my leaders again.

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Posted by Norm Werner

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