Heading for the Light

The last of the leaves are hanging drenched in the cold November rain falling outside my window. Nature is reminding us here in Wisconsin to prepare for more time inside. The days are still getting shorter, but the winter solstice is just around the corner and soon we will be moving into the light. I think that’s a perfect metaphor for what needs to happen in America as we move forward. It is clear we have much to do if we are to keep the “darker angels” of our national character at bay and to create public policies that genuinely solve our problems. We all need to advocate for solutions that honor the best vision of America and also help everyone. I have some ideas I want to share, but there is some baggage to unpack first.

This is the one and only time I will discuss Donald Trump and his personal character. I have always believed that politics should be more about issues than personalities. We all have said and done things that we regret and it is possible for good people to disagree about issues. But this election has been different and I find it necessary to make the record clear about my own feelings.

 I was raised on a farm in southern Wisconsin. We worked hard and went to church every Sunday. I attended public school and worked multiple jobs to earn my way through college. Every adult in my life – parents, teachers, neighbors, professors, ministers – all had the same message about being a good and decent person. Work hard. Be honest. Be thankful. Be humble. Be generous. Be kind. Help others. Don’t cheat. Do it right the first time. Don’t cut corners. Apologize when you are wrong. Take responsibility for your actions. These were the things a good person should try to do. By these standards, Donald Trump is not a “good and decent” man.  There is no need to go over again the list of contemptible things Trump has said and done. Donald Trump is a small, vain, weak little man who got a lot of money from his father and has used it to manipulate others. To praise Trump because he got $10 million from his dad then swindled and cheated to make lots of money is like praising Anthony Weiner because he was really good at taking pictures with his phone. (Because Trump does seem unusually insecure about the size of his penis, I’m surprised he hasn’t shared some of his own pictures as well.)

Most disappointing, however, is to hear the excuses and apologies being used to ignore or cover up the petty, shallow person Trump is.  As Lincoln said, “You can call a jackass a thoroughbred, but everyone knows he’s still a jackass.”  It is not surprising that Trump lost the popular election by more than 2 million votes to Hillary Clinton. Thankfully, the majority of voters in America reject what Donald Trump stands for. He will be President, but that won’t make him decent or honorable. For those of you who believe the President of the United States does not need to be decent or honorable, I will leave it to history to decide. I am reassured that the majority of voters still believe character matters.

You may think my assessment of Trump is rather harsh, but it is important to note that despite the fact that he lost the popular election by 2 million votes, he will serve as the President. In any other situation, Trump could be ignored as the sleazy, little bully he is. We would all laugh at his ignorance and dismiss his phony bravado just like many other you tube celebrities. But today, as white nationalists, the KKK, and other assorted nut jobs who supported Trump come crawling out from beneath the rocks, we must be more vigilant than ever. We must help Trump understand that getting “followers” on social media is not a substitute for understanding issues. We must help him understand that we Americans – at least the majority who voted – want America to stand for something big. We do not want our leaders to be selfish and petty. We do not want our leaders to be bullies and braggarts. We do not want leaders who try to make themselves look important by putting other people down. We want leaders who understand we can never be great if we are not good and decent first. The majority has spoken. We must make certain Trump listens.

Thankful

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays because it makes me reflect on all those things that make life satisfying.  I mean, what more can you ask for? Turkey and ham and stuffing. Ponds of gravy and mashed potatoes. Bowl after bowl of delicious vegetables. (Corn with cream cheese and bacon!) Desserts to die for.  All in the company of family and friends under one roof.  Our family, like many others, also uses this day to remember those no longer with us. We connect with all those who have led us to this moment and we remember their guidance. This year I shared part of a letter I wrote to my oldest daughter in 1994 on her 18^th birthday. I wanted my grandchildren to know what my dad and mom had taught me about values. The letter said, “….but whatever happens, remember those things that make living worthwhile. Be kind. Be generous. Encourage those who need it. Educate the ignorant. Be faithful. Trust others. Be honest. Be humble. Be thankful. I know this sounds like a Hallmark card, but it is the truth. There is, or will be, nothing more important in your life. You will be judged, not by what you do or own, but by what you are. Be honorable and decent and you will never regret it.”  Of course I know we won't always live up to our goals, but I still believe these things. As the years pass, however, I think I would add “forgiveness” to my list.  A wise author once said – Richard Russo maybe? – “We don’t forgive people because they deserve it. We forgive because we deserve it.” Life can make it hard to be our best selves, but it also gives us vast opportunities to make the world better for our family and friends.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

A poem:

"Starfish"

This is what life does. It lets you walk up to
the store to buy breakfast and the paper, on a
stiff knee. It lets you choose the way you have
your eggs, your coffee. Then it sits a fisherman
down beside you at the counter who says, Last night,
the channel was full of starfish. And you wonder,
is this a message, finally, or just another day?

Life lets you take the dog for a walk down to the
pond, where whole generations of biological
processes are boiling beneath the mud. Reeds
speak to you of the natural world: they whisper,
they sing. And herons pass by. Are you old
enough to appreciate the moment? Too old?
There is movement beneath the water, but it
may be nothing. There may be nothing going on.

And then life suggests that you remember the
years you ran around, the years you developed
a shocking lifestyle, advocated careless abandon,
owned a chilly heart. Upon reflection, you are
genuinely surprised to find how quiet you have
become. And then life lets you go home to think
about all this. Which you do, for quite a long time.

Later, you wake up beside your old love, the one
who never had any conditions, the one who waited
you out. This is life’s way of letting you know that
you are lucky. (It won’t give you smart or brave,
so you’ll have to settle for lucky.) Because you
were born at a good time. Because you were able
to listen when people spoke to you. Because you
stopped when you should have and started again.

So life lets you have a sandwich, and pie for your
late night dessert. (Pie for the dog, as well.) And
then life sends you back to bed, to dreamland,
while outside, the starfish drift through the channel,
with smiles on their starry faces as they head
out to deep water, to the far and boundless sea.

                                                ---Eleanor Lerman

Our Daughters Are Watching

I have voted in every general election since 1972. I have had candidates win and candidates lose, but I have never regretted the decision I made at the time. Each election is a chance for Americans to select the candidates we believe will help create our vision of this country. This election is more important than any in my lifetime.

American politics has always been a rough and tumble affair. It has sometimes been very challenging in the past to create a “more perfect union.” But we have made our way forward. We used the words of our founding documents to help steer us to a place where our citizens can find satisfaction and security. In the past our candidates have made the case for their vision and we have decided among them. At its core, this election is no different. We must decide which candidate will lead us to the kind of country we want. Fortunately, Hillary Clinton is perhaps the most qualified candidate America has ever nominated.  And it isn’t just that the Republican candidate is so completely unqualified to be President and that his campaign has been so deceptive and degrading. Hillary Clinton has the credentials and character to be President of the United States.

I was raised to believe you must work hard to find success. Hillary Clinton earned her way into Wellesley College and got a law degree from Yale. While at Yale, Hillary Clinton did all the things we expect a dedicated, conscientious student to do. She was an excellent student and very active in the student government. Her work with organizations dealing with struggling families and children, migrant works, and indigent citizens is well documented. As a father, I can only imagine how proud Hillary Clinton’s father must have been when his daughter’s college commencement speech was reported in Time magazine!

You can read about her career in Arkansas and her work as First Lady. You can see the list of awards and recognition she received. You know she successfully served TWO terms as the first women Senator from New York and had the highest praise when she served as Secretary of State. As numerous government historians have suggested, Hillary Clinton is eminently qualified to be President. She has been endorsed by 229 newspapers. 229! Including the most prestigious papers in the land AND a number of newspapers who have NEVER endorsed a Democrat before. (The Republican candidate has received 9 newspaper endorsements.)  Dozens of former GOP National Security officials have condemned the Republican candidate as unqualified to be President and many are voting for Hillary Clinton. These are FACTS. The vast majority of people who have a clear understanding of Presidential qualifications say Hillary Clinton is more qualified. Still, what is most compelling to me is what her colleagues have said about her and her work. Jon Favreau, President Obama’s former speech writer, shares this story:

During the 2008 campaign, I wrote plenty of less-than-complimentary words about Hillary Clinton in my role as Barack Obama’s speechwriter. Then, a few weeks after the election, I had a well-documented run-in with a piece of cardboard that bore a striking resemblance to the incoming Secretary of State.

It was one of the stupider, more disrespectful mistakes I’ve made, and one that could have cost me a job if Hillary hadn’t accepted my apology, which she did with grace and humor. As a result, I had the chance to serve in the Obama administration with someone who was far different than the caricature I had helped perpetuate. The most famous woman in the world would walk through the White House with no entourage, casually chatting up junior staffers along the way. She was by far the most prepared, impressive person at every Cabinet meeting. She worked harder and logged more miles than anyone in the administration, including the president. And she’d spend large amounts of time and energy on things that offered no discernible benefit to her political future—saving elephants from ivory poachers, listening to the plight of female coffee farmers in Timor-Leste, defending LGBT rights in places like Uganda.

Most of all—and you hear this all the time from people who’ve worked for her—Hillary Clinton is uncommonly warm and thoughtful. She surprises with birthday cakes. She calls when a grandparent passes away. She once rearranged her entire campaign schedule so a staffer could attend her daughter’s preschool graduation. Her husband charms by talking to you; Hillary does it by listening to you—not in a head-nodding, politician way; in a real person way.

This same story has repeated itself throughout Clinton’s career: those who initially view her as distrustful and divisive from afar find her genuine and cooperative in person. It was the case with voters in New York, Republicans in the Senate, Obama people in the White House, and heads of state all over the world. There’s a reason being America’s chief diplomat was the specific job Obama asked Hillary to do—she has the perfect personality for it.

Your eyes are rolling. You don’t often see or read about this side of Hillary. You don’t doubt her fierce brilliance when she’s debating policy with Bernie Sanders. You don’t doubt her stamina or tenacity when she’s sitting through hour eleven of the Benghazi Kangaroo Court. But when it comes to nearly everything else, Clinton can seem a little too cautious and forced—like she’s trying too hard or not at all, preferring to retreat behind the safety of boilerplate rhetoric and cheesy sound bites. It’s a tendency that can’t just be blamed on her opponents or the media, though I wonder how many of us would be so brave and open in our public personas after being subjected to 25 years of unrelenting and downright nasty criticism of what we say, what we do, and how we look....

The long resume, the years of exceptional service, the endorsements, and the compliments of her colleagues makes her the best choice for President, but there is one final, historic reason to support Hillary Clinton. It is time that America catch up with most of the other developed nations in the world and elect a woman to be President. As the father of FOUR daughters, I know the election of a woman as President will affect the dreams of millions of little girls across America. Another glass ceiling will be shatter and we should acknowledge the importance of such an historic event. Hillary Clinton is to be admired for raising a successful and accomplished daughter and for weathering the ups and downs of a long marriage. She should also be admired for forging a path that will make it easier for those to come.

It is clear that Hillary Clinton is the best candidate to be President. I hope you will join me and vote for her. America has always been a beacon of hope for the world and there is no doubt they will be watching us on Tuesday.