Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man

Every morning I wake up with many questions running through my head. One of the questions is always about leadership.

I wonder if I have been a good leader? Have I set a good example? Have I inspired anyone to do better recently? Have I encouraged others to take risks knowing I will be there to support them in their endeavor?

I also wonder where have all of our national leaders gone? People who inspire us as a nation to not only do better personally, but to also do better for the good of the commons. People like George Washington, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, Sitting Bull, Harriett Tubman, Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, Joan of Arc, Queen Elizabeth II, and Sonia Sotomayor.

Where are the leaders who will stand up to the President Trump, Vice President Pence, Attorney General Bill Barr, Secretary Mike Pompeo, Secretary Betsy DeVoss, Secretary Steve Mnuchin and the other cabinet members who are complicit in ruining and tearing down our great country?

Why aren’t former Presidents Jimmy Carter, George Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama standing in front of the White House daily decrying the actions of the current administration, who is disrespecting the Office of the Presidency on a daily basis?

Why aren’t former Vice Presidents Walter Mondale and Al Gore standing in front of the White House on a daily basis with those above?

Why aren’t former Speakers of the House John Boehner, Paul Ryan standing in front of the White House on a daily basis with those above?

Why aren’t former Senate Majority Leaders Harry Reid, William Frist, Tom Daschle, and George Mitchell standing in front of the White House on a daily basis with those above.

All of these leaders know what the Trump Administration is doing is morally and ethically wrong, and Unconstitutional. Why are they silent? Why do they not speak out loud and clear how we have veered so far from our path as a country?

I know there is precedence. And normally I would agree. However, we are living in an unprecedented time and are moving precariously close to losing our Democracy, our Republic, our way of life.

Is this what they want? Are they so rich and detached now they feel insulated and believe it won’t affect them? Do they care so little for us 99% that we are expendable?

Or do they feel so little for the country they have served they don’t really care where it goes because they already got their spoils of office?

It is time for every elected leader, from city to county to state to federal, to stand up and be counted. Are you for the United States of America and the oaths you have taken, or are you for an unlawful tyrant who is leading us to despair and ruin?

Personally I don’t see why that is such a hard question to answer. It is either I’m with the U.S. and Democracy, or I’m with Trump and Trumpism. There really is no in-between.

So, I’ll ask. Leaders of our country, who have a voice the press and the people will listen to, are you with us or against us?

I await your direct answer.