During the January of the previous two presidential election years, I have profiled the candidates each party put forth as our possible next leader. I remember profiling (by using each candidate’s platform) at least 13 Republicans in 2016, one of whom was Donald Trump, who won the nomination and eventually the election.
I’m not doing that this year. Both parties have turned the 2024 presidential election into a farce.
The second definition of farce, according to Merriam-Webster, is “an empty or patently ridiculous act, proceeding or situation.”
Is that too strong for what is happening to our political leadership?
I don’t think so.
Both parties are guilty.
I have a word for each political party. This is how I see you.
You probably don’t see yourself this way.
And that’s my point. I don’t connect with you anymore.
I wish we would. I wish you would care enough to even try.
Democrats: chameleon
Chameleon: a person who often changes his or her beliefs or behavior in order to please others or to succeed, Merriam-Webster says.
Transgender? Sure, if it makes you feel good. With children? It doesn’t matter. Their brains aren’t developed enough to even understand such a concept, yet you encourage that kind of thinking anyway.
Don’t try to change me, you say, even though the definition of transgenderism is trying to change the body’s sex.
Truth? It’s whatever you want it to be. If “my truth” is different than “your truth,” that’s OK. There’s no such thing as a universal truth that every human being must follow.
Since men have failed as leaders, women claim their own right to shape their lives. To some degree, this is good. But there’s little to no teamwork here, in your view. It’s us vs. them.
Women are not men, even though many are trying to be. Not in mindset, not in body.
Because women are taking on roles they were not created to take on, men – in general – have lost their purpose in life. We abdicate leadership at home, in society, everywhere.
Who are we, as men? That’s not a rhetorical question. I’m seriously asking.
If a woman can do literally everything a man does, what role does a man play?
When each individual is allowed to be his or her (not their – we are a singular person, every one of us) own god, this is where we end up.
No values. No community.
Chameleons. Doing our own thing, whatever we want to do.
How does one lead chameleons? Such people don’t respect any authority except themselves, and those with whom they agree.
There’s no conviction, no driving force in their lives. Except individualism. Do whatever feels good to you.
Politically, for every issue, throw money at it. Allow every surgery. Forgive every student loan. Pay every food bill.
Personal responsibility doesn’t matter. The government will defend you.
That’s not leadership.
Republicans: deceived
Deceived: to cause to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid, says Merriam-Webster.
Former President Trump lost the 2020 election, fair and square. And you still won’t accept that?
That’s on you, not on society.
Like Democrats, you also try to create your own truth. But you try to force your truth on everyone else, even when your truth isn’t.
You refuse even to talk with Democrats, much less work with them. Leadership is all about teamwork. You forgot what that is.
There’s just enough truth in what you say to make you dangerous. Abortion is murder, yes, but there are many root causes of abortion, and you don’t care about any of that. You even tried to call a miscarriage murder. Please.
You made the covid vaccines all about you, even though millions of your friends and family were suffering and dying – and still are, by the way (although, thankfully, not dying at the rate they were during the pandemic). You know little about compassion.
The vaccines worked. The evidence is overwhelming. But you don’t care. Still.
You often call yourselves evangelical Christians. If you actually read the Bible and did what Jesus did, you’d know what servant leadership is. It’s not what you’re doing.
One of your candidates tried to rewrite history books to fit his political views.
As with Democrats, there’s a bigger picture here that you refuse to see.
The solution
It’s not about you.
That’s it. That’s the answer.
Life does not revolve around you.
Neither Democrats nor Republicans understand this.
Some 330 million people live in this country. Here’s a revelation for you: Not everyone thinks the way you do. Deal with it.
But you won’t.
And that’s the issue.
Grow up. Learn to listen. Learn to get along with people who think differently than you do.
Here’s the big one: Learn again, as your leaders did in the past, to compromise.
Compromise is not a dirty word.
It’s a sign of respect.
Find the common ground. Agree to disagree when you have to.
Both parties need a new mindset.
If you truly cared about the United States of America, you’d work to make it better. Not divide it, or try to conquer it.
Pursue root causes. People do things for a reason. Ask why. Even if you disagree.
Earn their trust, and perhaps they will listen to you.
Make it work. Figure it out.
Be the solution, not the problem. Stop pointing fingers. You’re all guilty.
Your leadership is destroying this country, from the inside out.
Freedom of the press. Freedom of religion, not freedom from religion (which also includes freedom not to follow a religion). Voting rights. Women’s rights. Minority rights. Immigration rights. Men’s rights.
The United States is a unique country in the world. By welcoming a diverse population, we have diverse viewpoints on life.
That’s why we exist. That’s our strength.
We’ve lost that mindset.
We need it back.
I’m not advocating a return to the past, when Jim Crow laws ruled. It’s a new day.
Let’s look forward. Let’s figure it out.
Otherwise, we will die as a nation. Implode.
This is the ultimate truth we are living in now. Only we can change that narrative. Together.
I think Martin Luther King Jr. would approve this message.
the liberal conservative 