The upcoming elections are going to be interesting, but it’s certainly not something to relish. Sadly, many of the people running are no great shakes.
The people of Nevada have a choice between an incumbent Senator who will say and do anything to keep his job. It’s very difficult to see him as a man of great convictions and he was a surefire loser in the upcoming election. He has a burst of hope, however, because the Republican nominee is pretty fair out there. There are no good choices in Nevada.
Barbara Boxer is running for re-election in California against Carly Fiorina. Boxer’s career has been the definition of mediocrity; and people at Hewlett Packard, where Carly was the CEO are quick to tell everyone what a disaster she was in that role. No good choices there.
The House of Representatives may easily change hands from the very partisan Nancy Pelosi to the very partisan John Boehner.
And this is just to name a few. We will all experience the joy and wonder of modern technology as mud and manure are flung far and wide around our great land. All of this brings me to some points.
First is this. There is a reason candidates throw mud and manure. Generally the person who throws the must mud and the most manure, and makes it stick on his or her opponent, wins the election. Dirty campaigns and dirty tricks are used because they work.
The problem is that the winner himself or herself, wins, covered in manure and mud and with the label that he or she was even nastier than his or her opponent. Off they go to Washington, DC lacking a great deal of respect. And, of course, when they arrive in our nation’s Capital, the same thing goes on. In time there is an erosion of trust for these people and it impacts everyone. Why would people respect a government that looks like a mud pit and smells like a pig’s stye?
Add to this how we deal with Presidents. I’ll use the last two as examples.
Whether one liked or disliked President George W. Bush he was demonized on a regular basis. Many, me included, did not agree him and allowed that disagreement to fester into dislike and often into ridicule.
Many carried it way too far. I believe, fervently, that ALL Presidents are patriots. No one would put the amount of energy, angst, and personal danger they put into being President if they had any questions about their own personal love of nation. As a result, I also believe most every President does act on what he (hopefully one day soon she!), believes is right for the nation. Bush was called a traitor, a fascist, a Nazi, etc., on a regular basis. As a result he was so vilified that people stopped taking him seriously. How can one respect a villain?
Much the same is taking place with President Obama. He, like his predecessor, is demonized on a regular basis. Whether the overtones are racial, religious, or ideological, the ending result is much the same. Again, like ALL Presidents, he is a patriot and regularly accused of not loving America and is regularly called a socialist, a Nazi, and a fascist. And, like his predecessor (and others before him), he becomes so vilified that people begin to not take him seriously. Again, how can one respect a villain?
So, where does this leave us?
It leaves us with many people who hold extreme positions and people with demonstrated incompetence as out leaders. This does not reflect, everyone, of course, but a growing number. It also leaves us with people who are callous and ruthless in keeping their own jobs and keeping power for their party; or getting power back from the other party. In short, we are not sending our best and our brightest to our nation’s capital because our best and our brightest have too much dignity, ability, and self-respect to go there.
It is very difficult to respect institutions when we demonize the people in them and the people in them make it so easy to do because they are busily demonizing one another and being demonized by people who hate them.
As a result, the re-finding of faith in institutions begins with us. Who we choose as our leaders, and how we tolerate them to behave is on us. Until we expect and demand more, we will get what we have.
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