I was looking through some old items I kept from the first blog series I ever wrote, not in search of anything relevant to today, but more as a reality check on what life was like then. And this one from just a bit more than ten years ago jumped out at me since, although it’s mid-term, it’s still election season.
John Edwards, you may recall, got himself into a little ‘truthiness’ problem. His own campaign manager said that famous line, “We believed him, and he lied.” You can still read it here on the Philadelphia Inquirer’s website: http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/inquirer/20080812_Editorial__The_Edwards_Scandal.html
My favorite part is the subtitle they came up with: “At least the hair still looks good.” Doesn’t that say it all?
Elections are our national hiring Olympics – the Triathalon of Rhetoric, Looks and Resume.
And what we miss are the really important things.
Can you bring together people who are different in many, many ways – an idea you might think of at first as ‘diversity, inclusion, and equity.’ Which are all really important. But also, can you bring together the ones who think differently than you do? Who care about different things? Who want a future that you may not be part of, just because they are generations younger than you?
That is leadership. And that’s what I hope you are voting for.
Good-looking hair, optional.