Friday, August 12, 2016

The Presidential Election of 2016

In power, responsibility.
In responsibility, opportunity.
In neglect, loss of power.
In disdain, loss of all.

To relax does not infer going to sleep. There is a line between acceptance and carelessness. Most of the time, relaxation invites sleep. Remaining relaxed with awareness is an act of consciousness.

Worry and fear reduce awareness and limit consciousness.

Donald Trump is not qualified to be president of the United States.
He believes in the power of might; that the strong survive, whoever has the biggest club wins. Come what may.

Maybe people believing in Trump can fill in what eventual worldview this thinking leads to. Maybe not. Maybe there is no thought to go that far. It is a difficult position to be a public figure. So much scrutiny, every inadequacy there on the billboard. Who makes a good leader in times of instantaneous global communications? Maybe someone who does not wander in second thoughts. This a world where second and third thoughts, with their implications come quick.

Donald built a fortune in money based on traits with small regard for second thoughts. Perhaps we can appreciate this as a skill so patterned in practice, it is automatic. A reflex. It is necessary to see the many sides and dimensions of a civilization at the scale of global village to lead it. If there is a person in that position it would be the president of the United States. Today, anyway. A tough character makes no custom for formality. Donald Trump appeals to many as that. Diplomatic?
Not even close. Sometimes we discard diplomacy in time of crisis. Sometimes. If we are wrong, the train won't stop on a dime.

At this moment in history we need to embrace something more than quasi-affable hubris. Trump's ambition is not for public service but proving opinion in an ocean of right and wrong. His reward would be tenure leading the greatest political and military power ever known.

We need to learn from experience like the World Wars.
I'll use an example from this timeline in my point. Today the large majority of military experts agree Truman's decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan in 1945 was not necessary. Least of all, a second bomb at Nagasaki. At the time, it was a tested decision; there was political pressure and emotional inertia pulling the trigger. I do not have resentment toward Harry Truman. But I use the fact of military might sadly distraught in it's ultimate consequence as food for thought today.

George Bush is personally responsible for the decision to have invaded Iraq in 2003. We know today there is ample evidence that decision was not made based on necessity, or a clear plan. Least of all,  however we meter the count of Iraqi's who have perished in it's wake, what a sad moment in the human saga. Life in Iraq is still in turmoil. Day by day, week after week still hundreds die as collateral damage following an inept decision chiefly driven by emotion, a politics of economics, and implausible advice by advisors who did not appreciate the full effect of toppling Saddam Hussein. That was their answer to the quagmire imposed by reliance on Mid-East oil.  We were told it was about freedom. To this day some people still believe that.

This however, is the power invested in the office of the president of the United States, in a liberty invested by it's citizens, for better or worse. To be able to pull these triggers and sway these tides, impacting a community of nations. This is the power about to be given to either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. I cannot say entirely what Hillary's abilities are to lead this country. I personally thought Bernie Sanders would have made a great president.

I do know at the same time however, to leave it with Donald Trump will be a tragic mistake.