I admittedly spend a lot of time assessing what’s wrong and how it can be different. It’s rooted in the optimism that if we can see what’s wrong—identify the problem, measure its scale, understand what’s broken—we can fix it. That includes looking at systems and structures, but also reflecting on individuals who fail in their jobs and put others at risk. In my view, our collective well-being depends on taking seriously the responsibility to make things better.
This line of thinking got me wondering anew about elected officials—not only their failings (yes, we can find plenty of that), but also what we value and want from them. I’ll go out on a limb here and say, I reject elected officials who use their positions to lie, cheat and steal (and there’s far too much of that).
So here’s this week’s question for discussion: What should we expect from our elected officials? These people are granted power by voters to serve society. What do we really want from them? What does success look like? Here are a few related questions to jog your thinking: Does it matter if they tell the truth? Admit mistakes? Inspire our better instincts? Work hard? Act with compassion?
As always, I welcome the opportunity to hear what you’re thinking and for this community to learn from each other.
I look at this from a totally different perspective. I’m probably the old fashioned type of democrat where I feel you need to trust your elected officials. During the last 5 years, there has been a strain on America. I say this because Donald Trump blew up everything and almost succeeded. He made lying ok, he made secrecy ok, he made name calling ok. It’s not ok coming from the highest office in the land. Since I do know Trump, it’s not hard to digest exactly what he did for the power. He has always been corrupt, but in the real estate world, that was supposedly to be expected. Trump corrupted everyone around him and still is corrupting everyone around him. Look at the lengths people have gone to make him look relevant. Tucker Carlson now questioning our democracy, Laura Ingraham poking fun at Capitol Police, Fox News, OANN, Newsmax have all become propaganda stations. There is no reason to trust any politician that has an R after their name. The sad part, Trump was alway a democrat changed to libertarian then went back to democrat and now a registered Republican. I totally blame what is happening to America right now on the entire Republican Party and have no trust in them and that they will eventually over throw our government in 2024.
For me, the word integrity encompasses it all. It includes truthfulness, compassion, decency, grace, and a willingness to admit and learn from mistakes. We all fall short at times. But that's what I look for in my elected officials and colleagues. It's what I try to teach my students.
Having run for election 9 times, served in office for 23 years, and been in public office for 35 years, I can confidently respond to your queries as follows: Does it matter if they tell the truth? Absolutely yes! Isn’t being honest with correspondents the moral/ethical standard for all reputable human callings? Admit mistakes? Certainly! Even though elected or appointed to the public trust, we continue in our capacities being vulnerable to human fallacies Inspire our better instincts? At a minimum we all should present the best of any and all expectations regardless of the niches we fill. Work hard? Of course. We as humans expect the best of all our encounters and efforts throughout our lives among our like species. Act with compassion? Inarguably, the highest value in social/political interactions is compassion and human understanding. The alternative is frightfully counterproductive of any positive growth in our lives and that of others. In the words of FMA de Voltaire “Il fault cultivar norte hardin.!
At the core, we must have our leaders passing the test of character. In 2020 I read the 1912 nomination speech from Warren G, Harding, then an Ohio newspaper editor, for President William Taft at the Republican Convention. The following portion showcases one of those moments of the stark contrast between then and what too often has passed for our politics over the past few years.
The nomination speech declared that Taft was “as wise and patient as Abraham Lincoln, as modest and dauntless as Ulysses S. Grant, as temperate and peace-loving as Rutherford B. Hayes, as patriotic and intellectual as James A. Garfield, as courtly and generous as Chester A. Arthur, as learned in the law as Benjamin Harrison, as sympathetic and brave as William McKinley……”
No honest person today could pen a similar type of statement about a wide swath of the opposition party today.
I expect my elected officials to listen to everyone, not just the constituents that affiliate with their registered political party. And once they gather their information, find a collaborative solution that works in the best interest of the community, county, state or federal level of government.
Honesty, integrity, ethics, people constituents over dark money pulling their levers and decisions or what I would call sell outs, decorum, decency, at least some moral compass, the ability to take their oathes and jobs seriously while not treating it or using it to propagandize or gaslight against we the people, effective policy, stopping obstructionism or the power mongering, protecting our vote, protecting and abiding by the laws and the constitution. These are only a few that I can think of or the first that come to mind, thanks again #MDDOS
1st watch how state representatives and senators are voting. Gerrymandering begins there. Your vote/town does not matter when the legislatures choose their voters. Find web sites that show the votes. Find the maps. Do they make sense? 2nd get informed. You may be liberal or conservative but cooks and crooks won't fix anything for you!
I second Adrianne Campbell's comment here. INTEGRITY! That encompasses it all. When our current representative in my district first ran for election, he flat out stated that he would go to Washington to support Trump. When I finished throwing up, I penned an opinion letter exhorting that Trump's name was not in the oath he would be taking, in fact, no president whomever it may be is in that oath. The CONSTITUTION! Read, understand, execute and defend the CONSTITUTION. Show some integrity. Alas, we do not have that here.
As we have a representative government, then they should represent us: our common good, our needs. They are elected to protect our country, our constitution and as we have seen in the last year, our lives. They are elected by us for us. This is what I expect. Now it is another thing if we discuss what we GET. We should expect our elected official not to kill us by promoting policies that worsen the environment, unfettered gun violence, global disharmony. TFG era absolutely brought us to the brink of destruction and we have to continue to work hard to save our country.
We must expect ALL Officeholders (elected or appointed) to faithfully execute their Duty, especially if it involves our collective security. Looking at Director of FBI real hard
I look at this from a totally different perspective. I’m probably the old fashioned type of democrat where I feel you need to trust your elected officials. During the last 5 years, there has been a strain on America. I say this because Donald Trump blew up everything and almost succeeded. He made lying ok, he made secrecy ok, he made name calling ok. It’s not ok coming from the highest office in the land. Since I do know Trump, it’s not hard to digest exactly what he did for the power. He has always been corrupt, but in the real estate world, that was supposedly to be expected. Trump corrupted everyone around him and still is corrupting everyone around him. Look at the lengths people have gone to make him look relevant. Tucker Carlson now questioning our democracy, Laura Ingraham poking fun at Capitol Police, Fox News, OANN, Newsmax have all become propaganda stations. There is no reason to trust any politician that has an R after their name. The sad part, Trump was alway a democrat changed to libertarian then went back to democrat and now a registered Republican. I totally blame what is happening to America right now on the entire Republican Party and have no trust in them and that they will eventually over throw our government in 2024.
For me, the word integrity encompasses it all. It includes truthfulness, compassion, decency, grace, and a willingness to admit and learn from mistakes. We all fall short at times. But that's what I look for in my elected officials and colleagues. It's what I try to teach my students.
Having run for election 9 times, served in office for 23 years, and been in public office for 35 years, I can confidently respond to your queries as follows: Does it matter if they tell the truth? Absolutely yes! Isn’t being honest with correspondents the moral/ethical standard for all reputable human callings? Admit mistakes? Certainly! Even though elected or appointed to the public trust, we continue in our capacities being vulnerable to human fallacies Inspire our better instincts? At a minimum we all should present the best of any and all expectations regardless of the niches we fill. Work hard? Of course. We as humans expect the best of all our encounters and efforts throughout our lives among our like species. Act with compassion? Inarguably, the highest value in social/political interactions is compassion and human understanding. The alternative is frightfully counterproductive of any positive growth in our lives and that of others. In the words of FMA de Voltaire “Il fault cultivar norte hardin.!
At the core, we must have our leaders passing the test of character. In 2020 I read the 1912 nomination speech from Warren G, Harding, then an Ohio newspaper editor, for President William Taft at the Republican Convention. The following portion showcases one of those moments of the stark contrast between then and what too often has passed for our politics over the past few years.
The nomination speech declared that Taft was “as wise and patient as Abraham Lincoln, as modest and dauntless as Ulysses S. Grant, as temperate and peace-loving as Rutherford B. Hayes, as patriotic and intellectual as James A. Garfield, as courtly and generous as Chester A. Arthur, as learned in the law as Benjamin Harrison, as sympathetic and brave as William McKinley……”
No honest person today could pen a similar type of statement about a wide swath of the opposition party today.
I expect my elected officials to listen to everyone, not just the constituents that affiliate with their registered political party. And once they gather their information, find a collaborative solution that works in the best interest of the community, county, state or federal level of government.
Honesty, integrity, ethics, people constituents over dark money pulling their levers and decisions or what I would call sell outs, decorum, decency, at least some moral compass, the ability to take their oathes and jobs seriously while not treating it or using it to propagandize or gaslight against we the people, effective policy, stopping obstructionism or the power mongering, protecting our vote, protecting and abiding by the laws and the constitution. These are only a few that I can think of or the first that come to mind, thanks again #MDDOS
1st watch how state representatives and senators are voting. Gerrymandering begins there. Your vote/town does not matter when the legislatures choose their voters. Find web sites that show the votes. Find the maps. Do they make sense? 2nd get informed. You may be liberal or conservative but cooks and crooks won't fix anything for you!
I second Adrianne Campbell's comment here. INTEGRITY! That encompasses it all. When our current representative in my district first ran for election, he flat out stated that he would go to Washington to support Trump. When I finished throwing up, I penned an opinion letter exhorting that Trump's name was not in the oath he would be taking, in fact, no president whomever it may be is in that oath. The CONSTITUTION! Read, understand, execute and defend the CONSTITUTION. Show some integrity. Alas, we do not have that here.
As we have a representative government, then they should represent us: our common good, our needs. They are elected to protect our country, our constitution and as we have seen in the last year, our lives. They are elected by us for us. This is what I expect. Now it is another thing if we discuss what we GET. We should expect our elected official not to kill us by promoting policies that worsen the environment, unfettered gun violence, global disharmony. TFG era absolutely brought us to the brink of destruction and we have to continue to work hard to save our country.
We must expect ALL Officeholders (elected or appointed) to faithfully execute their Duty, especially if it involves our collective security. Looking at Director of FBI real hard
“I’ll faut cultiver notre jardin.—Candide, F M A de Voltaire.