#45: Lies And Hate-Speech Are Not Moral Leadership

The Presidency is not merely an administrative office.  That’s the least of it.  It is more than an engineering job, efficient or inefficient.  It is pre-eminently a place of moral leadership.  All our great Presidents were leaders of thought at times when certain historic ideas in the life of the nation had to be clarified.
—  Franklin D. Roosevelt
.
On This Day In:
2019	Be Brave
2018	What Else Matters?
2017	Slow Go
2016	A Tiny Ripple Of Hope
2015	Liberating Books
2014	Discover God
2013	Without Witness
2012	Nutritarian

Read Full Post »

A Choice

Aryam Guerrero, who lost her brother Juan Ramon at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016, told my colleague Melissa Chan this week that she has become numb to the constant threat.  “I just live my life as if I could die in the next 30 minutes,” Guerrero said.  “You have no choice but to live with it.”
We do have a choice as a society.  Not a perfect choice.  Or a guaranteed solution.  But doing nothing in the face of repeated mass murder in our society is indefensible.
More than 250 mass shootings in the first 220 days of 2019 alone, it’s hard to believe that this doesn’t go without saying.
Enough.
—  Edward Felsenthal
From his editorial:  “We have a choice“
Appearing in Time Magazine, dtd:  19 August 2019
The editorial also appears online at:  https://time.com/5646854/time-cover-enough-shootings/
.
On This Day In:
2019	Fill It Up
2018	Can We Talk About Me?
2017	About Change
	Gordian
2016	Are Your Prayers Functioning?
2015	Expressing Love
2014	Cyclical Attitudes
2013	Footprints
2012	Broken Resolutions
	Bin It

Read Full Post »

Fearless Security

Our development assistance to other countries is not a bargaining chip, it is an investment in our long-term security.  Showing leadership and working with other countries is a measure of strength, not a sign of weakness.
…
We all want our borders to be secure and our laws to be upheld, but it is not true that we face a choice between security and our humanity: between sealing our country off and turning our back to the world on the one hand, or having open borders on the other.  The best way of protecting our security is by upholding our values and addressing the roots of this crisis.  We can be fearless, generous and open-minded in seeking solutions.
—  Angelina Jolie
From her Editorial / Essay:  “The border crisis needs humanity, not fear“
Appearing in: Time Magazine, dtd: 26 August 2019
The essay can also be found at Time’s site:  https://time.com/5640012/angelina-jolie-border-crisis/
.
On This Day In:
2019	I Prefer A Neat Single Malt
2018	Seeking Finer Fruits
2017	Something That Is Absolute
2016	Animate And Encourage
	Out Of Time
2015	In Time
2014	Robust Interconnectivity
2013	What Have We Here?
2012	Tributaries And Eddies
	An Honest Politician
2011	Penultimate

Read Full Post »

On Killing Foreign Generals…

The injury we do and the one we suffer are not weighed in the same scales.
―  Aesop
[As an American, I would like to believe my President when he says we killed a foreign general (Iranian General Qasem Soleimani) who was in the process of ordering / organizing terrorist attacks on Americans in the middle east.  Unfortunately, my President (and his administration) is a known and shameless public liar.  He has lied so frequently and about so many things – both trivial and important – I simply cannot believe anything he says without independently verified, concrete, public proof.
While I have no evidence of it, my opinion is it is far more likely President Trump ordered the drone strike to provoke Iran into taking escalating “tit-for-tat” action which might distract the American public from the up-coming Senate impeachment trial.
While we currently have the most powerful military in the world, incompetent leadership has resulted in the loss of more than one (otherwise) superior force in world history.  I pray his (Trump’s) failure in leadership will not result in any losses (injury or lives) for our brave men and women who will have to pay the real price for his ill-considered decisions and orders.  —  KMAB]
.
On This Day In:
2019	Patient Understanding
2018	I Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Form
2017	Fashionista
2016	A Faulty Model Of God
2015	Non Sequitur
2014	No Flags League
	I Ain’t Who Am
2013	Spoiling For Fame?
2012	How Many?
2011	Too Tired To Chat Much
2010	I Must Be Crazy!!

Read Full Post »

More Proof #45 Is Incompetent?

Nothing so conclusively proves a man’s ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself.
—  Thomas J. Watson
.
On This Day In:
2018	Every Time I Think I’m Falling
2017	Still Testing The Hypothesis
2016	Excessive Weakness In January
2015	That Burns
2014	Hey, I Resemble That Remark… (4!)
2013	Sit, Put, Until…
2012	Lessons For My Son
2011	Reaching The Right Audience
2010	Christmas Trees and Profession of Faith

Read Full Post »

Many Forms

Leaders come in many forms, with many styles and diverse qualities.  There are quiet leaders and leaders one can hear in the next county.  Some find strength in eloquence, some in judgment, some in courage.
–  John W. Gardner
.
On This Day In:
2018	Serenity Prayer
2017	But The Clock Says It’s Already Two Minutes 30 Seconds to Midnight
2016	Towards No Regret
2015	109 And Beyond
2014	Are You Waiting?
2013	Traditional Human Sacrifice
2012	A Division Of Men
2011	Miles, Legends and Superwoman
	Got Tragedy?
2010	My Company For A Prince!!
	On The Shoulders Of Titans

Read Full Post »

I Think Impeachment Is Another Test #45 Has Already Failed

One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.
—  Arnold H. Glasow
.
On This Day In:
2018	Second Chances – Rice, Now Trees
	And Then You Have To Start Training Again
2017	Small Hands, Small Grasp
2016	Two Murrow’s
	Election + 1 Week
2015	Not Mine, Anyway
2015	South By South East
2013	Don’tcha
2012	I Hear A Distant Thunder
2011	A Poison Tree

Read Full Post »