Ok, friends, let\u2019s do it. Let\u2019s go totally political today because we can. And because we know we\u2019re going to be inundated with a coming monstrosity of ads, insults and manipulated impression management the closer we get to 2024 \u2014 and will thus need to turn the TV off and stay away from all newsy sources and sites in order to maintain some sense of individual sanity. Today, though, just today, before things get tougher, tenser and rhetorically turbulent, let\u2019s talk one aspect of the 2024 presidential race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ugh. Egad. We said it out loud. Well, out loud for a blog post, that is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The exasperated sigh within the above \u201cugh\u201d and \u201cegad\u201d is because we know this is going to get ugly. I will say it and think it some three zillion times between now and \u201824\u2019s November. I just don\u2019t understand how seemingly intelligent people can justify speaking so consistently horribly about other people. On both sides of the aisle. One of my most prominent takeaways from recent election cycles is how obvious it is that intelligence and wisdom are not<\/em> the same thing. The wise one never justifies ongoing insult and disrespect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So before more magniloquent fuel stokes the partisan fire, allow me to share a working supposition I\u2019m playing with at the onset of the upcoming election season. Note that a supposition is only a theory \u2014 and a working one at that. But increasingly more, I\u2019m believing it to be true\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump need each other, and as a country, we need neither.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hear no inflammatory rhetoric. No ferocity either. With all due respect, from this admittedly limited, distant vantage point, I think Joe needs Donald, Donald needs Joe, and we as a country would be better off if neither of them was our primary leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let me be as plain-stated as possible. When I listen to Pres. Trump, I rarely walk away impressed by any deep sense of humility. I don\u2019t find him consistently compassionate. I thus often feel his real campaign slogan is \u201cElect Me Because I\u2019m Donald Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I listen to Pres. Biden, there are multiple moments where cognitive decline is clearly in question. I don\u2019t find him consistently competent. But he beat Trump once. I thus often feel his real campaign slogan is \u201cElect Me Because I\u2019m NOT Donald Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both of them seem to be running on a referendum on the 45th President of the United States. Such was evident in each of their reelection campaign announcements. Neither touted a litany of accomplishment; each alluded more to personality than policy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Friends, as a country, we\u2019ve got some tough challenges in need of discerning next best steps and efficient solutions\u2026 the economy, health care, immigration, inflation, spending, national security, individual safety, civil liberties, welfare, election integrity, environment, poverty, climate, crime, gun deaths, free speech, religious freedom, national unity, not to mention China, Taiwan, Russia, Ukraine, and so much more. But if two people from two different angles are more focused on who they are or are not, that tells me it\u2019s less about us than it is about them. And if it\u2019s about them, then they are not serving our country well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is no one person our country is in dire need of. In fact, every HR director worth his or her salt, so-to-speak, will tell you that the best leaders are those who know they are replaceable \u2014 who know that we can survive and actually thrive with or without them\u2026 Do your job. Do it well. But have a level of self-awareness that recognizes you are just one person. You are not Jesus. You are not the Savior we are desperately in need of\u2026<\/em> I admit. I respectfully question the self-awareness of both the current and most recent President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Presidents Biden and Trump keep acting like we need them. The reality is they need each other; it plays into their desired mantra since neither<\/em> is popular with a majority of the country. So they propagandishly paint the other as some sort of death to democracy, and then each act as if they alone can and need to save us. Sorry. That’s misleading and used to promote their own partisan cause. There are far more people on this planet who are both<\/em> compassionate and competent and know they are not called nor capable of being our Savior. There are far more people on this planet who know how to respect more than one political party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re not the only ones noting this national dysfunction. NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press\u201d \u2014 not known for their absence of bias \u2014 kicked off this week\u2019s \u201cFirst Read\u201d briefing by calling it \u201cthe codependent presidential campaign of 2024.\u201d It\u2019s codependent because the majority of us don\u2019t want either to be President, but Biden and Trump are each relying on the other, nemesis and all, to help them get there.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n To be clear, \u201ccodependence\u201d is unquestionably unhealthy. We deserve better and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ok, friends, let\u2019s do it. Let\u2019s go totally political today because we can. And because we know we\u2019re going to be inundated with a coming monstrosity of ads, insults and manipulated impression management the closer we get to 2024 \u2014 and will thus need to turn the TV off and stay away from all newsy … <\/p>\n