JANUARY 15, 2020 – Hooray, hooray for the Democratic candidates! Any of them is vastly superior to Trump. But wait . . .
I must harangue.
That any of the Dems stands vastly superior to Trump is a resounding indictment of Trump. We face a sorry state of affairs when the fact that damned near anyone, irrespective of attitude, personality, experience, competence, or proposed policies, is a better choice than the incumbent who, stands a good chance of re-election, despite impeachment.
I’m losing confidence in (a) our structure of government; and (b) how people are chosen for elective positions.
In pre-debate blather on CNN, Democrat operatives talked as if they were about to call the play-by-play of an NHL game—or an Olympic rowing regatta or a Big Ten track meet. Viewers were encouraged to look for the candidate who could best hip-check her opponents or row his single scull through the sprint or clear the hurdles in the 110-meter event—when in fact, once anointed, the “winner” will be have to juggle 10 baseballs with one hand and play accordion in the other hand, while running barefoot, a sub-2:30 marathon over thorns on a gravel road through a jungle full of wild beasts. Surprise, surprise, but not a single question probed into the real qualifications essential for the real challenges ahead.
This is insane.
Policy issues—national security, healthcare, trade policy, climate change—addressed on the “debate” stage are either grossly oversimplified (e.g. “I’ll pay for it by negotiating lower drug prices”) or patently unrealistic (e.g. “On day one I’m gonna [fix the broken ship].”).
Leadership qualities are defined by pundits who grade hand gestures, tone of voice, choice of words, and word delivery. We get no glimpse, example, anecdote—any information at all—about how any candidate recruits advisors, listens to experts, digests written reports, interacts with subordinates, deals with crisis, builds coalitions, deflects distractions, and unites people in seeing that it’s in their individual self-interest to look beyond their individual self-interest.
Oh, and big news: Warren wouldn’t shake hands with Bernie.
To put all this in perspective, contrast (1) how we choose the person at the top of a two million-person org chart, the President of the United States; vs. (2) the process by which almost any managerial or executive position is filled in a Fortune 500 company or any major college or university, religious organization, or other non-profit entity. In the case of “(A),” each candidate spends obscene volumes of cash to buy name saturation inside our brains. Each delivers ad nauseam the same rehearsed stump speech and appears on a “debate” stage as fearsome hockey player, Olympic rower, or record-breaking hurdler. We the people shout our approval, disapproval, or . . . simply yawn in apathy.
Meanwhile, Facebook shrugs off lies in campaign ads, and in Wisconsin, which Trump won by fewer than 23,000 votes, a battle rages over the purge of 200,000 voters from the rolls.
None of this reflects a healthy democracy. Eventually, the broken system will collapse upon our better interests. Oops. It already has.
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© 2020 Eric Nilsson
