Concerned for Our Nation

While making the drive down 951 to the island after visiting with one of my doctors, I couldn’t help but be touched and saddened by the display of American flags which were positioned at half-staff in honor of the 13 wonderful young men and women whose lives were lost last week.

Lost were eleven Marines, one from the Army and one from the Navy, all in their early to mid-20’s except one Marine who was 31. I make that point because their lives were taken well before they even had an opportunity to live theirs to the fullest. Another 20 service members were injured in the blasts. It was a tragedy which you will never be able to convince me couldn’t have been averted.

I’m not going to go down the senseless road of politicizing events of the past 20 years and especially of the last two weeks. The blood-stained and flag-draped coffins of those brave heroes who were taken out of Afghanistan last week to Dover, DE, deserved so much better than that.

But I cannot fail to point out the crisis of leadership within Washington, DC, itself, and with both of the major political parties within our nation. The desire to win the game of “one upmanship,” regardless of the cost to our citizens and to our 245-year-old “Representative Republic” itself, may well lead to its eventual demise.

We live today within the 24/7 news cycle, a cycle which sometimes may well be part of the problem and not the solution. I can’t imagine the pain and suffering being endured by the families of those who lost their lives in that senseless attack, not only of our brave young men and women, but of the Afghan citizens - men, women and children that were lost or seriously injured that day. 

Had we stayed too long in that nation as part of our mission there? Was the mission appropriately defined and did we have a proper exit strategy? Had we not learned enough lessons through history regarding the inability of others to find their way out of that quagmire of a nation which, over the centuries, had demonstrated its inability to be tamed by outside influential cultures or armies?

I find the phrase, “He’s not my President,” both offensive and out of character with the vision and intent of our Founding Fathers. Unfortunately, I have heard it more and more these last two decades from both sides of the political aisle.  

After the election of George W. Bush, Democrats challenged the legitimacy of his Presidency. When Barack Obama won the Presidential election in 2008, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared it would be their goal to see Obama was only a one-term President, thereby defeating Obama’s legislative priorities. In a similar effort to play the role of “Chief Obstructionist,” Nancy Pelosi provided Donald Trump with similar roadblocks to any legislative agendas.

The nation and our citizenry have felt the terrible pain of a stalemated legislative process, and the lack of progress on so many important issues that will affect our nation for years to come. I am positive that this is not what our citizens want. Instead, they are wishing our leaders would seek to find solutions to problems, rather than initiating roadblocks to fixing problems. Yes, we have a two-party system that many times creates conflict regarding the way forward, but historically we have worked to find resolution rather than notching up a defeat to a legislative solution based solely along party lines, punishing those who have sought to do the people’s business.

Sadly enough, we must look inward to determine our own culpability with regard to the quality of leadership at all levels, and especially at the highest levels within our nation. Like many of you, I am growing more and more concerned regarding that issue. I do so, not as a proponent of any political party, but instead, as an American. The competence of the person sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is something that should concern us all, and rightfully so.

I believe we sit at a crossroad in our nation’s future and, as such, must move forward with a steady and constructive conversation that requires a dialogue that speaks to solutions and a way forward, not one which pushes a political agenda. Instead, it should be an American statement of democratic values which we all can point to with pride regarding its goals and objectives, and one to which our allies and friends around the world can relate and have confidence in.

The America I know must now speak with a voice that is loud and clear, not one stumbling off of cue-cards and teleprompters - one which our leaders speak to from their hearts with pride.