Where Has Leadership Gone?
LEADERSHIP (n): the position or function of a leader, a person who guides or the directing head, as of an army, movement, or political group.
In our form of government, We The People elect persons to hold positions not just of representation but of leadership. Men and women who choose to run for public office will cite their qualifications, most including the leadership they have shown, whether private business or military experience, as a highlight. We are social creatures, when in groups we tend to require one person to head the direction, the project completion, even something so simple as a trip to the museum, to keep order, to ensure success. In times of distress, one leader is key to making certain matters do not escalate, chaos does not ensue.
At this moment in time, August 20,2014 A.D., the world is “on fire” as the euphemism goes. Hamas terrorists launched rocket attacks on Israel who retaliated in defense of her sovereign nation and people, but the criticism issued for the war has for the most part landed on the defender, to the point the United Nations has instigated an investigation into possible war crimes committed. ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) has taken hold of that part of the world, the terror group has been declared now to be a credible alternative to al Qaeda by U.S. officials. Today we wake up to the horrific news that American journalist James Foley was executed by ISIS, they produced a video of his beheading and include the threat to do the same to freelance reporter Steven Sotloff, but so far the only action taken against this evil are “pinpoint” air strikes.
Here inside the States we have a community almost literally on fire because people demanding justice could not wait for just that, outsiders of the city have taken the opportunity of the distress are engaged in chaos but so-called leaders seem to be more concerned with how “the optics” rather than doing the necessary to quell the violence and destruction which broke out after the shooting incident in Ferguson, Missouri. A police officer was required to use lethal force in the line of duty on August 9th but before the streets could be cleared of the emergency vehicles, the race of the officer and the deceased were made the whole of the story. Rioting, looting, and burning broke out, all as a purported revenge for the fact that the officer is white and the deceased is black. No facts for the why or the what that had occurred before, no statement from the police released, all of the chaos due to rumor and a rush to judgment.
It used to be the leader/leaders in this country would perform the most important piece of the position: A visual presence to assure safety, maintain calm, and require those in authority to detain the people who are disturbing the peace. All this was done not only with words, whether issued in a written statement or spoken on television from some remote spot, but also offered in a place that itself denotes the same leadership. Sadly, it seems our current leader considers his position a part-time job and cannot let the demands of it cut into the demands of his golf game.
