It Seems to Me . . .

I have always believed that the morale, the atmosphere, the environment of a family, a business, a state, a country is set by those in charge.  If a person has a positive leader, the environment is happy.  If a CEO leads by intimidation, so will those under him or her.  I found at the school, if I was kind and friendly, almost everyone else was, too.

Our nation is undergoing an era of incivility.  To throw someone out of a restaurant because one does not have the same political beliefs?  Oh my.  To refuse to bake a cake because someone does not have the same beliefs?  Unheard of.  To encourage people to intimidate and harass our elected leaders?  Come on, Maxine. You are better than that.

Yet I blame our leaders - and not just our President.  During President Obama's era, those in the Senate and the Congress were as bad as they are now.   People called for President Obama to fail, just as some are doing now.   Why do we want our country to fail?  I don't get it.

Our governors have not been the examples they should be.  Our attorney generals have not been either.  In Wichita, our County Commission is like the Rock 'em, Sock 'em robots.  It is all so unnecessary, yet it seems to be the norm for all.

We as civilians need to call out our elected leaders for their incivility - from our local commissions to our National leaders.  We need to ask them to calm the rhetoric.  We need to help them understand what their nastiness is doing to the rest of us.  It is not okay to harass someone just because they believe differently.  It is not okay to make fun of people who have disabilities, speech difficulties, or handicaps.  It is just not okay.

If we can remind those who lead that their actions matter, that they need to lead by example, that the negative environment they have all created needs to change, maybe they will become courageous.  Maybe they will monitor each other.  Maybe they can change the environment so that all of us "common folk" can go back to being kind, to engaging in healthy dialog, and to loving the best country in the world.  Maybe.