On responsible leadership

Bill Veazey

Disclaimer: I have not had an affair within the statute of limitations.     

Whew! Glad that is out of the way.

It is not my intent to be a moralist about leadership in these writings for Rye Reflections, but it seems that more commentary is in order. How many times will the failure of our leaders, political and private, have to happen before the next generation of this country throws up its hands and says the heck with rules.

While the media may feel it is their job to make us aware of these failures in our public figures, they present them ad nauseum. I must have seen the minister in Chicago denounce the United States of America thirty times, and Eliot Spitzer’s wife sadly standing by his side, another thirty. And then there were the rationalization pieces providing raison d’etre for all their actions and reactions in these newsworthy pieces. President Clinton, Tyco CEO, New Jersey's Governor, Detroit's Mayor and local duo, Mr-Do-you-know-who-I-am and Mr-Frostbite? Where will it end?

And what about competence and honesty. Here in Florida, the debate is all about the Democrats’ Primary. Observing voting day via television, it seemed normal with polls open and the talking heads speculating about the exit polls. Late in the day, the talk turned to the fact that the ELECTION DID NOT COUNT. What? Yes, the National Committee, headed by Howard Dean, had told Florida not to move their primary to an earlier date, but they did anyway and therefore the vote was invalid.

Wouldn’t you think that the people who want to be the leaders of our country would have worked this problem out before having millions of people go to the polls and vote in a meaningless election? Where was the leadership? I won’t even mention Michigan or the "super delegates". While I don't like to blame Florida, I do remember that this is the "land of chad". Failed leadership right down to the voting booth at PS No.4 in Dade County.

My brother-in-law, whose roots are in Chicago, says, "Vote early and vote often, and let the chips fall where they may." He may be right!

My conclusion is this:
  
We don’t always get who we vote for when we vote; yet sometimes we do. We may not know that person at all;  however, if we don’t vote, we don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting the leadership we do want.

Note:
 Voter turnout in the March ’08 election in Rye was 22%. Your conclusion?



April, 2008