The moral leadership we've lost

“For many years to come, we will remember Judge Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation battle, with each one of us processing facts and beliefs within the echo chambers of our own mindset and emotions. I know that for me, what will stick in my mind is the vivid video of the President of the United States poking fun at a victim of sexual assault, to the cheers and applauses of his supporters wearing their “Make America Great Again” red hats. If this is one of the things that make America great again, I am ready to trade our “God Bless America” with “Oh God, please have mercy on America”.Even if many of us did not vote for Mr. Trump, we as a nation bear the common responsibility of what our country now stands for.

On that same week, on the other side of the world, the Nobel Peace prize was awarded to two extra-ordinary individuals who have personally dealt with the most inhumane crimes of gender violence. They remind us of what our humanity can be capable of: resilience and compassion.

America will continue to flex its economic and military muscles for the foreseeable future. But for now, I am wrestling with the thought whether we even deserve a leadership role in the world.”

 (Published on line in the Gazette Times, Oct 9^th2018)