Where Do We Go From Here??

One of these days, I’m going to do this with regularity as opposed to twice a year…that being said…

I remember that I wrote something as a reflection on the 2016 election on a different platform, blogspot is where it’s housed. The gist of the post was that DJT stood as a referendum against the intellectual/political elites. I didn’t vote for him mind you. I went 3rd party but that was what those who like to use German call the zeitgeist, the spirit of the age. Call it the prevailing mood, the way the wind was blowing, whatever. You think you know what’s best for us? Take that!

Fast forward 4 years. They’re a mixed bag. Understand, I’m trying very hard to be dispassionate and measured. Hyperbole doesn’t help anyone and it never advances the debate. The economy (pre-pandemic) has done quite well. The 30% or so of us who have 401Ks have seen their value rise. On the other hand, migrant children have been treated, IMO, inhumanely. I’ve been to PGA tournaments and seen what we’re able to do with temporary housing when American Express and Lexus want to show their people a good time. We can do better than cages and concrete floors.

And, lest we forget, there’s a pandemic.

I don’t care what people think about its lethality. To say this has been mismanaged is an insult to the word understatement. There’s a line from the movie Armageddon where Bruce Willis’ character after being asked to save the world tells Billy Bob Thornton’s guy, “And this is the best you can do, that the government, the US government can come up with?” We all walk around believing that if really, really smart people work somewhere, anywhere, it has to be in the White House, right? Right?

Some of this was unavoidable for sure. You probably can’t have a novel virus without deaths but my goodness, all I’m asking for is reasoned leadership. Tell us that we’re trying to balance the economic and physical health of our nation. Tell us we’re still learning, that what we thought was best six months ago isn’t what the data is telling us now and so we’re adjusting our guidelines. We might need rolling lockdowns and we’ll get through this together. Maybe the government’s allowed to just print money and we’ll make sure people can eat and not get evicted.

This doesn’t mean I’m pro-Biden. Full disclosure, I am a registered Republican and moderately conservative in my political philosophy but I don’t like being put in a box or having assumptions made about what I believe based on labels. It is my deep conviction abortion on demand is a crime against humanity AND I believe climate change is real. I think regulations are needed to keep economic darwinism from running rampant BUT taxing the top brackets at 90% probably isn’t the best way to go. It’s possible these are really complicated issues and consequently, there’s no one size fits all.

So what do I think about this past week?

A Biden/Harris administration is not exactly the answer. Biden may be a moderate but the definition of that word is changing and for sure Harris isn’t moderate and in every way that matters, she’s the next in line. I have some distant anxiety about that but what other choice is there? I don’t want them to win. I’m not going to celebrate but this season we are living through now has to end. It has to end. This administration breathes dishonesty. Empathy is non-existent, self-interest appears to be all that matters to a level approaching clinical narcissism, and while in the best of times those things are an annoyance, we are nowhere near the best of times. We need leaders who won’t be making decisions motivated by what will benefit only the person making the decisions.

As a conservative, I am actually really encouraged by the results we’re seeing. Gaining ground in the House, very possibly holding on to the Senate. Republicans made progress with state legislatures and I think even picked up a governorship. We are most assuredly not a nation looking to become California.

These positions may surprise you, especially if you read my Twitter feed. I’m active there because I have all these feelings and I don’t know where to go with them. I intentionally word my tweets to be respectful even when critical and, yes, some snark comes out from time to time but it’s amazing to me how civility is in unbelievably short supply. Our leadership could take us in a different direction. They could encourage polite discourse and with the way our polarization works where people walk in lock step with those who call the shots, the masses would follow suit.

This is my hope and plea and my reason for writing these words. Be conservative. Be liberal. Be far right or far left. Be and believe whatever you want. For better or worse, our country with its incredibly complicated history has gifted us with space to believe and live free from reprisal. I know this doesn’t always happen but it’s more possible here than anywhere else and I’ve been to a few else’s. Let’s embrace that gift and give that space. Be civil. Be polite. Think of MLK today who said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

God bless you and I pray for God’s blessing on the United States of America.