What I have learned this year (Part 1)

As we conclude 2020 one thing that most of us can agree on – perhaps the only thing these days – is that it’s been one hell of a year. They say that challenges and adversity are beneficial because they build character. I hope so – because we certainly need more of that. I’ve learned a lot this year about myself, my fellow human and our country. Today, in part 1, I focus on the Motherland and five significant concerns I have that demand our attention as a nation.

1. I’ve learned that we are more divided that even I imagined — which is really saying something. I have been preaching for a long time about the widening and dangerous chasms in our society: Democrat vs Republican, rich vs poor, black vs white, man vs woman, straight vs gay, rural vs urban, religious vs agnostic, gun-toting vs anti-gun, environmentalist vs climate change denier; anti-immigration folk vs those who recognize the critical role that immigrants play in our country. And on and on.

But who would have thought that the division was so wide and intractable that a Presidential candidate who lost an election by more than 7 million votes and 74 electoral college votes (a margin HE characterized as a “landslide” in the 2016 election) would gain the support of tens of millions of Americans and hundreds of congressmen/women to just ignore the election results and eliminate democracy, Russia-style?

Or, that the decision to wear a mask in public (or refrain from a big Thanksgiving or Christmas gathering this year) to help protect yourself and others from a disease that has ravaged more than 75 Million people worldwide and already killed enough Americans to fill six football stadiums would be largely based on which political party you are affiliated with?

What the hell is going on with our beloved country? We desperately need to begin to bridge the seismic gap among our citizens or our country as we know it is doomed. There aren’t easy answers but I think it begins with adhering to a basic set of common values (like integrity, compassion and respect) and practicing decency in everything we do.

2. I’ve learned that many people will completely set aside their core principles and values when it comes to politics – surprisingly, no more so than the folks who identify as highly religious. Although I’m not a very religious person I admire the common values of all serious religions: treating others how you would want to be treated; showing empathy and charity for the downtrodden in society; being honest and truthful; appreciating and being grateful for what you have been given; attempting forgiveness, not vindictiveness; and being humble, not arrogant.

As anyone hopefully can readily discern I have just described the antithesis of Donald J. Trump. And yet, the overwhelming majority of people who consider themselves to be highly religious voted for this God-awful human being to serve as our leader and the representative of our country. I understand their desire to appoint conservative judges who will affirm certain religious principles they hold dear but surely that alone (especially since he already had four years loading the courts throughout the land and the highest Court with these folks) cannot overcome the severe moral depravity of the man. Indeed, this flies in the face of the teachings and wisdom of the person they allegedly worship more than anyone else.

I’ve said before that there is no way that if Jesus were eligible to vote in the U.S. that HE would vote for Donald Trump. But I will go one step further. If Jesus were running against Donald Trump for President I am now convinced that the majority of highly religious and evangelicals within our midst would somehow justify voting for Donald Trump. Simply incredible!

3. I’ve learned that many people can’t (or just refuse) to think for themselves. They live in a town or area or family where virtually everyone is of a like mind. Or they listen to the same television or radio commentators or social media platform where they are told things that are false or outrageously misleading. Instead of considering or analyzing what they are digesting or seeking out alternative views or doing independent research, they accept what they hear as fact. Moreover, they repeat it and repeat it and repeat it – to their family, friends, golf buddies, tennis partners, colleagues at work and people on the street like a mantra.

Indeed, once someone they worship makes a public statement you can expect hearing the same point and in the exact same language from them shortly thereafter – as if they are robotrons without a brain of their own (that some factual revelation is a “hoax” or “fake news” or that COVID “is just like the flu”). It reminds me of Jim Jones telling his followers in 1978 to consume the poison-laced punch and all 900 literally “drinking the cool aid” in lock-step to their mass suicide. Today there are apparently tens of millions of folks willing to do whatever is asked of them it seems if they “get the call” from Rush or Hannity or, naturally, the Donald.

4. I’ve learned how utterly foolish and ridiculous our Constitution can be. I’ve identified in the past other blunders, miscalculations and unintended consequences by the founding fathers in their formation of our government structure and their drafting of language in our Constitution. But the current absurdity comes from Article II that gives the President the power to issue pardons. The Article simply reads: “The President … shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” Because it has no further explanation or clarification the vagueness has been exploited to eviscerate the purpose of this power (just like the Second Amendment incidentally) to afford the broadest possible meaning and discretion imaginable.

The founders were no doubt thinking that there were RARE times when a punishment issued didn’t really fit the crime, or when a convicted person had acknowledged and repented for their sin, paid the price sufficiently and deserved some mercy (perhaps he was getting older or dying) or where because of changes in society certain acts that were crimes at the time of conviction were viewed differently now (like pardoning Vietnam draft dodgers or people in prison for marijuana possession).

But there is no bleepin’ way that Adams, Franklin, Hamilton, Jay, Jefferson, Madison or Washington envisioned that the pardon power would be used by a sitting President to hand out massive favors to all of the President’s friends and cronies, especially when the crimes those folks were found guilty of involved HELPING HIM. Or, that it would provide salvation to persons who were not the least bit repentant for what they had done and had incurred no consequences for their illegal actions. Almost everyone in this country – both Democrats and Republicans – accepts the basic premise that: “No person is above the law.” Indeed, it’s what supposedly separates us from lawless autocratic dictatorships like Russia, China and other countries most perceive as lawless. And yet, WE have a law that allows precisely that.

To be fair, Trump is not the first President to controversially issue a pardon to a friend or supporter just before he exited the office (Bill Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich comes to mind). But no President in history has abused this unique and special privilege for self-serving purposes more blatantly than Trump. And it’s not just that he pardoned so many loyalists adjudged by a court of law or by their own admission of guilt to be criminals. More importantly, it’s that he has established a horrendous precedent for the future when it comes to seeking truth and justice.

The clear message of Trump’s actions is this: If you are a war hero who has served your country for your entire life and do your patriotic duty and appear before Congress and tell the truth (i.e. Lieutenant Colonel Vinman) you are ostracized, subjected to death threats and lose your job. But if you refuse to cooperate or comply with a subpoena or lie under oath, then you get to walk free (Flynn, Manafort, Stone etc. – with undoubtedly a LOT more to come, including Trumps’ own family). What does this suggest a government official (on either the left or the right) should do in the future if he/she acquires knowledge of corruption or illegality – even when it involves an issue that compromises the integrity or very security of our nation?

Constitutional amendments are extremely difficult to accomplish but this is one that needs to occur in the future – it is not a left or right issue. At minimum, the two parties need to agree to establish an independent oversight committee that is consulted about each proposed Presidential pardon to confirm that there is at least a reasonable non-political and unbiased reason for treating this person “above the law.”

5. I’ve learned to my dismay how undervalued science is by many of our citizens. If there ever was a year to gain appreciation for science and technology this was it.

We all owe tremendous gratitude to the incredible scientists and the highly advanced scientific technology that aided them in developing a vaccine to a worldwide pandemic in record time (which hopefully works!) Yes, the President and government threw a lot of $ at the problem and made it a priority (certainly appropriate and worthy of some credit, but DUH! – anyone faced with this crisis would have presumably done the same thing).

The real credit belongs not to the politicians or to the President but to the scientists — University of Pennsylvania’s Drew Weissman and Katlin Karinko who developed the mRNA concept for vaccines (injecting a protein that magically instructs one’s own body on how to defend itself against a virus); Ugar Sahin and Ozem Tureci at Germany’s BioNtech who toiled relentlessly to use this technology to develop a vaccine specific to COVID, and Pfizer’s leading scientist Katherine Jansen who played an instrumental role in the development along with its CEO Albert Bourla who took a big financial risk, without taking ANY U.S. Government funding, to do so.

These folks deserve not only our profound appreciation and Nobel prizes, but to become household names like Jonas Salk is for developing the polio vaccine. (I realize that will be a huge challenge in a country whose citizens are far more apt to know the names of reality TV folks like the Kardashians than those truly worth of recognition.).

And how about the technology folks who developed Zoom – allowing our students at all levels to attend classes and receive a quality education despite being relegated to the home? While I’m not suggesting that remote education is equivalent to the in-person experience, it’s been a great short-term substitute given the alternatives. And Zoom also has enabled many businesses to operate relatively seamlessly and keep critical parts of the economy afloat during the pandemic. None of this would have been possible I suspect even ten years ago. Zoom founder Eric Yuan is a Chinese-born American who came to this country after EIGHT failed attempts to obtain a visa. Consider that when railing against immigration and allowing others to enter our country.

And there are many other examples of enormous scientific achievement from mapping the human genome to developing wind and solar power to our bringing the world to our home with the incredible internet system that we largely take for granted.

Science is not and should not be political issue – it’s about creative thought, established by empirical data and testing conducted by highly educated and experienced people that is subjected to further analysis, testing and consistent replication by other highly qualified scientists.

Millions of people are alive today because of science – perhaps a blood pressure medication, a chemotherapy treatment or a liver transplant, or because an airbag on a vehicle, an air traffic controller warning system or a military reconnaissance plane prevented a catastrophe. Our future existence depends heavily on science to solve our many taxing problems; from new deadly contagions to technologically advanced terrorism to climate disaster that affects the food and water supply and safety of the planet. Even the thing that many Americans seem to care most about – our economic system – is heavily reliant on advances in science and being able to stay up with and and ahead of the pack.

And yet it is shocking how many people whose lives and economic circumstance have been improved or outright saved by science discount it as “fake” when it comes to something they just don’t like or that inconveniences them – like wearing a mask to prevent COVID (endorsed by 99% of medical doctors – most incidentally who are Republicans!) or accepting the need to seriously address climate change (endorsed by 99% of the world’s environmental scientists).

Indeed, perhaps Trump’s greatest disservice to mankind (in a very long list) is that he has made rejecting science and expertise somehow cool and a big rallying point for many of his followers. How does that possibly serve our future as a people and a nation? It’s time for all Americans to stand up and think for themselves, and choose science over propaganda, wishful- thinking, personal inconvenience and certainly politics.