Where Are They Now?

When George W. Bush was elected to the Presidency, it took us months to remember his wife’s name. “You know, Mrs. Bush… What IS her first name?”

Keep in mind that my husband’s name is George and my name is Laura. We are politically very liberal, so I guess we subconsciously blocked Laura Bush’s name from our memories to avoid the association. Fortunately, our friends never made the connection unless we pointed it out to them.

Two years ago, we added a male and a female Labradoodle puppy to our family to share our new home. George suggested several names, but my mind was already made up. Not only did I want presidential names to go with ours, I wanted the names of good Democrats so I could attempt to even the score. I decided upon Harry and Bess. (Franklin and Eleanor would be much more suited to donkeys or mules.)

Whenever we walk the dogs, someone inevitably stops us to ask about their breed. It never fails that, when they hear the dogs’ names, someone will sigh and say, “Harry, where are you now that we need you?”

Bess is cuddly and playful and totally wrapped up in herself. We adore her.

Harry, though, is the best dog we’ve ever had. Our youngest son describes him as “noble” and it certainly fits. Harry is loving and protective of the people in his life without being aggressive toward people or other dogs. He’s definitely the alpha leader without being a bully. He’s confident, smart and studies situations before he reacts. Harry pays subtle attention to what we expect; he can hold a hammer when asked to or carry in the mail. He finds box turtles and brings them to us unharmed because he knows we are delighted by his gifts. Each morning when George walks, a vigilant Harry waits at the end of the driveway until he returns and each night Harry stays up with me, the last one to go to bed.

Presidents themselves should be noble. They should serve their people first and be aware of and responsive to their needs in times of crisis. They should be vigilant, but they should also study situations before they react and should understand the difference between protection and aggression. They should appreciate and share our interest and delight in the gifts of our diversity, our public lands, and resources. They should pay attention so they are prepared for the biggest or smallest of jobs. And they should know the difference between arrogance and confidence.

Oh, integrity, intelligence, strength, vigilance, service, nobility, where are you now that we need you? Some of us are giving up hope that this nation can once again become the symbol of peace and freedom and truth for the world, a place where people believe their dreams can become reality. While the American people realize that the differences that divide us are much fewer and smaller than the things we have in common, we must also face a new reality that those minute differences may make us the next target of suspicion by the same leaders sworn to protect our standard of diverse opinions, backgrounds, and perspectives. While we as individuals find ourselves more deeply connected throughout the world through trade and digital communications, we find ourselves increasingly isolated as American citizens.

Our leaders now make decisions on what they suspect and what they choose to believe rather than what they know. They use lies to justify fear and fear to justify actions that we would never support if presented truthfully. They have called upon America’s sons and daughters to sacrifice their families, their jobs, their homes, and their very lives while the economic and social gaps between those in power and everyday Americans grows wider and wider.

How sad to think that it’s come to this. And, how sad to think that we let it happen.

"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly as necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or anyone else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about anyone else."
Theodore Roosevelt