What is American Leadership?

So I recently had my Hinge account banned. I am kind of upset about that because there was this really cool chick I was talking to. She’s out in Montana currently so I wasn’t able to get the date that we both wanted and since I was playing it cool not asking for her number — I knew it was happening, we were vibing and so we we going to do dinner and drinks. Cute girl that lives in the greater Chicago-land area you know who you are. Hit me up if you read this.

Anyhow, so I am redoing my Hinge account and it asked me my shower thoughts. I hate that I have to tell it like it is but America What is Leadership, what the hell is going on. The fact that no matter who wins this election cycle there will be a sizable portion of the population that does not agree with the outcome. I am a Veteran (Thank you for my service later) and I do not like what I see in America. No matter who wins this election cycle America loses and here is why. We need to have a conversation and sit your ass down and listen.

Quit with the rage porn new cycles. Spend half the time you do surfing your news cycles reading a book. Look, I have Value Stream Mapping by Karen Martin for Business, The Power of Mathematical Thinking by Jordan Ellenber from Bill Gates Reading List, and Like War the Weaponization of Social Media which is pretty self-explanatory and contains eye popping Stories from ISIS to Chicago Gangs. Can we agree reading is good? Can we politicize that? Fuck, go find a story about Dogs I don’t care. Read more!

The America I grew up in involved learning of Americas Greatness. We are the country that cured Polio. Thank you Dr. Jonas Salk for curing a crippling disease that caused paralysis and giving the cure away for free. We landed a man on the Moon after we were behind in The Space Race. Now every day I am attacked with one terrible headline after another. It is exhausting. America needs to find a win and we are headed to a disaster.

What happens when our elections are attacked because they will be attacked and they are currently being attacked by that other side, you know the ones I am talking about. I am currently dating a girl that is a hardcore supporter, have family in Georgia, best friends in Florida and California so we have some pretty cool conversations. We are living in a world of different facts to quote a President who will not be named.

One question I get a lot is isn’t the Military often leaning to the right for better pay and benefits? I would say traditionally that is accurate, and that as times continue to change so does the military. The military recruits from the poorest sections of America with a promise of well defined benefits that range from free education to early retirement, reflect the generational shifts of America. I wish I stayed in after dealing with two global “Once in a lifetime” disasters and now a Global fucking Pandemic. I wish I stayed in because I could be retiring in 4 years and the Private Sector is brutal.

So here I am trying to pivot into a promotion during the largest meltdown again since the last greatest meltdown ever just ten years ago. I am no longer waiting tables so that is awesome plus in my Data Center bubble world our sales teams are selling faster than we can deliver which is awesome. But guess what, promotions, raises, 401k are all on hold and I don’t get paid commission checks. Oh well, I guess this is doing more with less, it kinda sucks but I have a job and actively getting my butt kicked in interviews while chipping away at this thing called a career. The Coast Guard looks kinda cool haha.

But what is Leadership and when was the last time America had a win? To me Leadership is moving the ball one inch at a time. I think some football coach said something smart about that. I dunno, progress is Progress even if we stumble. Well then lets look at where we currently stand. There are three arguments around the Pandemic and each of them need to be answered. There are Economic influences of whether we should open or not and how this impacts this country. There are the Political Parties and their positions we all love to hate on and there are the Healthcare / Public Health questions which ultimately boil down to how many deaths are we going to call an acceptable number because quite frankly I am tired of reading death counts as I am dealing with my own personal shit like paying off the student loans and more importantly the Credit Card. For a Disease that is 90% asymptomatic, the stories I read make it sound like a Zombie Apocalypse. The numbers I read and the groups it impacts, I hate to say this but sorry Grandma… We’re doing the best we can. Don’t like that answer? Good, get out and Vote. Be a fucking Citizen and remember you live in America the best Country on the planet and god damn it we cured Polio, we landed on the moon and created the internet! Oorah!