rubber, meet road
A culture molded around stock trends and conventions, masqueraded in the light of individualism, naturally desires a leader. This flock is hopeless without minimal group direction or occasional mediation from one sheep to another. Disastrous times tend to attract leaders from the extremes of the flock - those with belligerent charisma, clear objectives, and frightening deliberation. But the average time will attract a wholesome leader with long-term vision and determination.
I had no expectation that 2008 would be the year I open my eyes about politics, when I may finally escape indifference. Yet, lately, I’ve thought about how America was in 2000 - how the global view of America was predominantly positive, how the presidential office was a respectable enclave, how the violence of Gladiator was shocking for the big screen. Still, in 2000, a person most felt was a reasonable leader came to take over the greatest political office in the world. His leadership was allowed to unconstrained in the months and years following 9/11 when the masses threw their hands to the sky praying for the help of God but hoping that our government would intervene in the meantime until armageddon. Shock & Awe was a good enough celebration, kind of like a second Super Bowl, at least getting the media attention such a sporting occasion would demand.
I feel that our next president needs to repair this nation, not in the sense that programs are needed to clean up the mess but that we need a leader who will encourage us personally to tidy up our own messes at home and abroad. A president should speak to his people; it’d be nice to bring back the days of fireside chats. If you haven’t watched this video which has virally made it’s way around, now is your chance. It is possible to return America to the haven of justice and freedom that it used to be. This time, it will require the effort of us all.