Betty Ford RIP

If people are following me, they are probably wondering what is my deal with Betty Ford - I would argue that she was one of the most transformative individuals of the 70s - she opened up about her mastectomy, she championed women's rights, she understood the inherent human flaws in all of us and shared her struggles and thoughts in public - regardless of the reaction. She understood the need for understanding and not judgement, compassion not hate, no partisan versus partisan, human versus programmed. She and President Ford brought a much needed reality to a nation faced with scandal and lies. I believe that her time in the White House and her many years after through her establishment of the Betty Ford Center, brought humanity to the forefront. She was a real woman with many real struggles, we don't see many people in public life conduct themselves as gracefully, forcefuly, and unabashedly, as she did. May she rest in peace with her husband. Thank you for sharing your gifts with a nation.

The America we live in

Talking heads, experts, analysts, elected officials - listen closely - the United States of America is not your play toy - it is not your personal soapbox nor a hostage to be taken to achieve your narrow goals. The world is changing faster than any government can keep up with and we, the global leader in so many fields, is falling behind. How, you could ask, could this happen? I reckon that we as a society, most directly, our elected officials, were too embroiled in the maintaining the status quo. No one, I would argue, since Richard Nixon was president, holding elected office, actually has shared the horrible truth, we are in decline as a nation. If we can't educate, if we can't inspire the next generation to strive to be better and more creative and more caring, then we have failed. If we can't tell the truth about manufacturing jobs never coming back in the numbers or at the pay level that generations of families enjoyed, and stop pandering that they are coming back, we have failed. We need to look in the mirror and tell ourselves that we have no one to blame for ourselves. We individually, at all levels, stopped caring about the collective, We, the people. We were up in arms when Hillary Clinton suggested that it takes a village to raise a child - but it does and it should. We have lost that sense of common humanity that we have a responsibility as an American citizen that those of us who are most successful have a responsibility, not a law, not a judgement, but a personal responsibility to help those less fortunate. Little ways, big ways, we don't need elected officials to tell us half truths and shadowy statements - we need to believe in the power of us versus the power of me. Everyone has to step back, evaluate his or her self-centered behavior, take the Me out of important decisions and ask how does this affect the We.

We as citizens deserve the government we have - however, America is an amazing country with resilience, intelligence, and a willingness to slough it through hard times. We have lost probably a generation of Americans to misdirected public policies, political posturing, and stagnant economic growth. We, the people, can and must do better. That is our challenge - this is our legacy. Be bold, be brave, and be an active part of this amazing experiment called America.