Serving the Nation, Saving Democracy

The Next Six Months

President Biden, it is important to the nation and to the continuation of our democratic traditions, for you to step up and be very, very presidential.  As the old saying goes, “now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country”. It is time for the ultimate patriotism, rising above the politics of the moment, the parties and partisanship, the elections and divisions, and focus on the future of democracy in this nation. We need a full-time president willing to forego a possible second term in service to the higher calling of the nation’s democracy.

Something that seems to be lost in the current political turmoil is the idea of serving the nation.  It should be about honor and, if necessary, sacrifice for the good of the nation.  It is about statesmanship.  It is about a willingness to recognize when it is time to step down from politics to focus on the survival of democracy as the sitting president.

It is like an athlete past his prime.  People still love him and what he has done for his team and for them in the past, but it is also hard for them to watch him diminished in front of those who cared so much.  It is always about the art of knowing when to step down, probably better a bit too early than a bit too late.

The key is getting past the ego of it all, the glory, the goals still to be met.  It is about knowing when to quit, to claim your legacy and pass on the baton to one who can run faster now and win the race.  After all, the goal is not about you at all, it is about winning the race.  Only then can your efforts survive as a basis to build upon, to go farther than you had, perhaps even farther than you imagined.  To allow for the growth of the nation and a review and renewal of the basic traditions; democracy as the real legacy of the nation that made it so great in the beginning.

For the next six months of our nation’s history, we do not need a military leader or brave soldiers.  We need presidential leadership to secure the nation and its future as a modern democracy in this frayed and chaotic world.  This is not about wars or projecting American power throughout the globe.  It is not about extending our economic power.  This time requires a president who will work full-time for the next six months to head off any threats to American democracy emanating from the Supreme Court ruling on the extension of presidential immunity, and perhaps, even reining in the power of unlimited dark money in the electoral process.

It is time to walk away from the politics of the election, from the “politics as usual” of the nation, to focus on the most important presidential job; that of protecting our democracy.  It is time to go well past partisanship and truly serve the nation.

Most importantly, this president has a unique opportunity to secure the future of this democracy by using the extra-judicial powers of the presidency bequeathed by the recent supreme court ruling to do whatever is necessary to make our democracy safe from any threats to curtail democracy in the future.

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