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Sadly and perilously, it’s no longer whether Trump/Cruz or Clinton/Sanders may become winners in November, nearly insomuch as what this recent picture of American politics says to the nation and the rest of the world.
When I wrote some years ago about the “Dangers of Irrelevance,” and how our global reputation and impact were diminishing greatly, I could not have predicted the realities we now face. Few, if any, in the business — and it is a business — of competing for the top job in Washington seem to possess the least amount of awareness regarding how their disgraceful campaigns have been reflected around the world.
At a time when the American people and those we consider allies need American leadership most, what is being trotted out shamelessly is not only unattractive, but sends the message to real and potential foes that we are not prepared to provide the leadership expected from a nation that has boasted constantly of our exceptionalism.
In the course of what poses as a presidential campaign, media, sadly have permitted the use of the term “debates” to be applied to the character assassinations presented by candidates of both parties and at all levels. It may be naïve, but the American public seems to be entitled to a discussion on the issues facing them, and what each candidate can offer to address those problems.
It’s incomprehensible that Hillary Clinton could be tearing down Bernie Sanders and vice versa, and just the same with Donald Trump calling anyone and everyone who disagrees with him “liars” and worse.
It may be these realities that have provoked what a friend told me after she returned from China: asked by a cab driver where she and her companion were from, her companion, who resides in China, quickly said “Canada.” Seems that’s more advisable these days.
Sometime back, I proposed that President Obama make part of his departing legacy a call to Republican leadership to join in the development of a bipartisan strategy to deal with ISIS and other crises. There was both support for this notion and a suggestion that this President would not do such a thing. It’s no longer the time to use name-calling as an expression of American leadership, or what’s left of it.
It’s time for those screaming for the chance to lead the nation to change course and work hard to recapture not our greatness, but the notion that we actually have mature candidates who care for the country they want to lead than the parties that now resemble parodies.
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Joe Honick is President of GMA International.
The ridiculously high prices Americans are paying at the supermarket might influence how—or if—they vote in November.
At a moment in history when there are so many conflicts among peoples here and abroad, let us put our differences aside and celebrate this wonderful season in a spirit of togetherness.
The news announcing the death of Henry Kissinger, the last of the prevaricating politicians and so-called statesmen who stole my future and that of thousands of other young Americans, got me thinking about Walter Cronkite.
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