Senator Lee, “I have a Hunch,” Bad Call… Poor Judgment… Uninspiring Leadership (Unabridged)
The boss is in a quandary. He now takes the political showman’s hat off and must now wear the decisive leader’s hat. It’s no longer a reality T.V. show, its now a question of life and death. How he performs now will determine his future. The stakes are HUGE. Right now, the President and his staff are grappling with when to ease “Shelter in Place,” reduce the risk of America becoming the “second” most powerful country and economy in the world (behind China), and how many lives it will cost in this Coronavirus War. Tough decisions, he better get it right! (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-considers-reopening-economy-over-health-experts-objections/ar-BB11Byry?ocid=spartanntp).
Folks, I am extremely sensitive to the fact that many of you embrace President Trump’s leadership and many of you passionately self-identify with what he represents and offers – many of my friends and customers feel this way. And, I certainly give him points for taking on the stress and drama of what is a very heavy burden for a man his age. But I try to be objective, assess the results, the options, and then decide where I stand on issues that face us all.
I want to impart on you that it is okay to reassess the facts and reconsider your feelings. It’s okay to change your mind about leadership when it falls short of expectations and lets you down, no matter how hopeful you were about the messages and charisma initially being projected - messages that appeal to us all - keeping America great, draining the swap, etc. It’s okay to say that your thoughts and heart were, and are, in the right place, but that the wrong leaders have become self-evident. It’s okay to change your mind.
Today I’m focused not as much on the performance of President Trump, but on the Constitutional mandate of “checks and balances” Congress is responsible for as our insurance policy against whomever is in The White House. I urge you to consider the representatives you elect to Congress and their role to assure America that if the Executive Branch stumbles, it’s empowered to take action that will preserve our national interests. That’s what Congress does. Therefore, having Congress held captive by party representatives who without question does what the President orders is not what’s in America’s best interests – that hurts America Folks. I want to see “leaders” in Congress – not what has become a competition for party control that does the bidding of the President when in the majority, and does whatever it can to undermine the president when not in power – all for the sake of preserving their re-election possibilities and jobs. That’s not what our founders envisioned.
At the risk of drawing too much unfriendly fire about taking a position in the midst of a Coronavirus crisis, and being shamed for “not being helpful” while the country and so many others do their best to combat a true “Black Swan” event, including President Trump himself, it is prudent, and our individual responsibility as voters, to take a moment of pause, stick our heads up above the chaos, and ask, “is this going right?” As we fast approach this year’s election, I ask that you too consider and insist on leadership that projects ownership, inspires confidence, and measures up to your expectations. Some Food for thought (not opinions, but facts):
1. Russia, not America, offers our Allies assistance: Russia took immediate action in January and has so far eluded the scourge of Coronavirus, and now offers hardest hit Italy assistance (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russian-army-to-send-coronavirus-help-to-italy-after-putin-phone-call/ar-BB11wCU3?ocid=spartanntp).
2. President Trump had a “Hunch” there would be no significant Coronavirus impact, and failed to take action and prudent precautions at the critical juncture (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwqV0VHR4-E).
3. Now, Coronavirus is so out of control that authorities in America have begun to stop widespread testing (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-coronavirus-death-toll-rises-as-hard-hit-areas-restrict-testing/ar-BB11wD3I?ocid=spartanntp). Testing, the very grip on the metrics that will tell us if we are losing the Coronavirus battle, or turning the corner, is being lost.
4. Instead of keeping his eye on the ball in America, President Trump now offers N. Korea, not his Allies, assistance (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/10/us/coronavirus-testing-delays.html), President Trump’s offering N. Korea assistance (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/trump-writes-to-kim-jong-un-offering-help-in-virus-fight-north-korea-says/ar-BB11wg3x?ocid=spartanntp). (disclaimer: I have nothing against helping people wherever its needed, but I would like to see us take care of ourselves first).
5. In the meantime, President Trump, THREE YEARS INTO HIS TERM, continues to blame others for his misfortunes. He blames President Obama for the CDCs lack of preparedness. Folks, the President and Republican Senate have owned the administration for more than three years! President Trump 100% owns the responsibility for immediately assessing all governmental vulnerabilities when taking over OWNERSHIP, including actions to remedy them. (https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-blames-obama-for-nationwide-coronavirus-test-kit-shortage). Stop blaming others – you have owned it for years!
6. Live by the sword, die by the sword: The economy and markets have seen among the greatest losses in American history in the last week: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/03/21/stock-market-collapse-how-does-todays-compare-others/2890885001/ Taking bows and ownership when the economy is good, and blaming others when its bad, is, well, “bad form” to put it mildly.
Senator Lee, the leadership you are campaigning for - the effort to re-elect President Trump and the Republican party - continues to under-perform.
Senator Lee, instead of blindly supporting leadership that rolls a foreign government to collude in surfacing dirt on political opponents to enhance personal interests, fires key generals (who incidentally are well versed in pandemic influenza contingency plans) opting for “yes-men/ladies,” travels around the country conducting “I-Love-Me” political rally’s, turns America inward alienating our allies making America less secure, making America less of a leader on the global stage, provides opportunities and inroads for our enemies, marginalizes the credibility of our diplomatic presence worldwide, releases convicted felony buds from jail, mismanages border security building a massive wall that will go down in history as a HUGE monument to wasted money, and lobbies foreign governments (Japan) to get a Nobel peace prize for fixing N. Korea – which is not fixed – and presides over ballooning national debt like America has never seen… shall I go on, and on, and on… maybe, maybe you should be more focused on running America and tackling our needs and the interagencies resiliency needs instead…. Folks, is this what you want? Is this what you voted and hoped for?
Folks, you deserve better. Do the right thing in 2022. Unseat Senator Mike Lee: Support the Utah Bull Moose Party and replace “legal clerks” with well-informed leaders.