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BS ‘n’ About…
Leadership
The word leadership seems to be getting bandied about a lot in the political arena these days. But what defines leadership? Was Robert E. Lee a great leader even though he lost the war? Was Eisenhower a great leader just because he won the war? Was Custer a great leader because men would follow him anywhere, even to their deaths? Was Manson a great leader because he got kids to commit acts so savagely against human nature? And lest we forget, the German word for leader is ‘Fuhrer’.
Leadership isn’t an easy thing to define. It has something to do with an individual’s ability to unite others in common cause. It has something to do with the wisdom and eventual success of that common cause. And never forget that it is the winners who write the history books. Leadership is all of these things, but most of all it is a quality defined by the fears and loyalties, failures and successes of those being led. Take those away and you end up with Saddam Hussein in a hidey-hole.
Most of the time we don’t really need or want so-called ‘leaders’. For the most part we human beings don’t want to unite in common cause. We just want to be left alone to go about our selfish little lives. This isn’t one of those times. When the going gets tough we want a strong voice we can believe in, a solid plan we can understand, objectives we can achieve.
So next time we head for the polls, we need to take a long, hard look at ourselves, as well as the candidates. They will keep on being who they are. It is us who will have to do most of the work. It is us who will have to change. It is us who will reap the rewards or pay the prices for the choices we make. Long after they’re off writing their memoirs, we’ll be living in the world to which they led us.
So as We, the Voters decide who we want leading us out of the messes we’re in, there are three areas we ought to focus on: the candidates’ track record, the feelings in our own heart, and the America implied by each candidacy. There will always be a lot of smokescreens and mirrors thrown up, but we need to see through them.
The only constant in this whole process is the backgrounds of the candidates. That stuff happened. But we need to sort the facts from the propaganda, the realities from the rhetoric, and focus on the defining moments. What choices did each make? About school? About Vietnam? About politics? About family? About friends? What results did each achieve? In education? In the military? In business? In government service? Did they bring people together or drive them apart?
After we have a handle on each candidate and their ability to deliver on what they promise, we need to take a good look at what they are promising to deliver. Where are they leading us? What effect will that have on our wallets? Our jobs? Our retirements? Our kids’ lives? Our foreign policy? Our national security? Our lives? Politicians speak in generalities, but leadership in a democracy is about a lot of very specific policy decisions. These decisions will build the America our grandchildren call home.
After we’ve assessed where they’ve been and where America is headed, we need to take a long, hard look within ourselves. Who are we as individuals and what does that say about us as a people? Are we willing to make the sacrifices implied by each candidacy? What is off-limits and what is open to negotiation? What kind of America do we want to build for our grandkids?
America is as divided as at any time since the Civil War. We are at a crossroads, deciding who and what we want to become, both as a people and as a nation. There are no easy paths from where we’re at to where we want to be. No single issue or decision is going to make everything all better. It is going to take an awful lot of decisions, about an awful lot of things. We’d better choose very carefully this time around.
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