WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?

It’s approaching 72 hours since the terrible events in Dallas last Friday evening.  As I’ve watched and listened to all kinds of discussion, I keep asking myself, “Where is the President?”  Leaders naturally look for opportunities to lead.  When they find them, they take action.  While it sits squarely on the tragic events in Dallas, there is a HUGE opportunity now to take America forward in a new positive direction.  NOW ACTION IS REQUIRED!

OK, Mr. President, I volunteer.  I’m happy to play the “if I was President game.”  Here’s what I would have done in a national address on Saturday, the next day.

What I would say …

STEP 1:  APPRECIATE:  Recognize with true empathy how all Americans are suffering from the senseless killings that have come to us.  Take the BLACK LIVES MATTER mantra to a higher level.  ALL LIVES MATTER! 

STEP 2:  AFFIRM:  America is a nation of laws and all of us (WE THE PEOPLE) live under the same constitution.  We all enjoy the same rights and bear the same responsibilities.  

“Our freedoms and liberties are guaranteed for ALL. That's a fact! That some of us have suffered over the years because others among us would deny those two things must now become a point of focus. This can be corrected! IT MUST BE CORRECTED!”

STEP 3:  MOVE FORWARD IMMEDIATELY:  Create a priority task force lead by the Vice President and to include the Attorney General, the FBI director, Congressional Majority and Minority leaders, and police chiefs from our largest cities.  The task force will report back in thirty days on the following three questions —

• Body cameras for every police officer.  
• Deadly crime in America.  Where is it, and what are best practices for stopping it?
• Rebuilding the bonds between the police and the communities they serve in America. 

STEP 4:  LASTLY —

“As President, I commit to holding weekly press conferences and speaking regularly on these issues for the next thirty days as the task force does it’s work.  Following the task force report, and within one week of its delivery to me, I will appear at a Joint Meeting of Congress, and before the American people, to lay out my plan for a better America in the areas these issues touch.  Everyone deserves fair treatment under our laws IN FACT, and they should FEEL IN THEIR HEARTS that they receive it.  We’ll talk again soon.  I promise!  God bless America!”

OK, that’s what I would say and do.

Let us always remember that honesty and public service are the gears that drive our democracy, and we turn those gears with our RIGHT TO VOTE.   LET’S ALL VOTE!

. . .  remember that America’s best days aren’t behind her.   America’s best days are ahead of her.  They always have been and always will be.

Dave

Copyright © 2016 by David William Wygant. All rights reserved.  

Here’s How I Feel

I've been thinking about America all day. Like all of us, I feel shock and great sadness about recent events. Good lives have needlessly been lost and families torn apart. It's hard to find answers, isn't it? Nonetheless, we must move forward into the wind. Straight ahead, we need to continue building our American future. Can we not learn some lessons and build a better America still? In spite of everything that seems wrong, I see a bright future. I believe there is much to look forward to. Why?

Our freedoms and liberties are guaranteed for ALL. That's a fact! That some of us have suffered over the years because others among us would deny those two things must now become a point of focus. This can be corrected! IT MUST BE CORRECTED!

We ALL have another job to do. ALL of us must focus on our responsibilities as citizens. The amount of freedom and liberty any of us enjoy is directly connected to how well we do in fulfilling our responsibilities. We should never expect a fire to warm us if we refuse to give it the wood it needs to burn brightly. In the days ahead, our first responsibility should be to hold and comfort each other. At least in spirit, if not in fact. Let's use this as a time to extent kindness and civility. Let's look out for each other. In so doing, we'll find ourselves united, not divided. The American way!

Lastly, tonight, I also believe we can and will reach MLK's "promised land." He was one of our greatest leaders and I find comfort in his words spoken so long ago.

What do you think?

Let us always remember that honesty and public service are the gears that drive our democracy, and we turn those gears with our RIGHT TO VOTE.   LET’S ALL VOTE!

. . .  remember that America’s best days aren’t behind her.   America’s best days are ahead of her.  They always have been and always will be.

Dave

Copyright © 2016 by David William Wygant. All rights reserved.  

GOD BLESS THE USA

MY FELLOW AMERICANS, this day and this age calls us.    Everything we want and all that we need IS in front of us, but we must focus on its potential, and embrace it.  

So, it’s time for us, “WE THE PEOPLE”  to quiet our voices and become calm.  It’s time for “WE THE PEOPLE” to increase the volume of our VOTES.  Whether we are liberal or conservative, left or right, man or woman, young or old, no matter our color, no matter our language, no matter our religion, and no matter what divides us or makes us different from each other, it’s time for all of us to put aside these labels and just be Americans in the United States of America.  It’s time for each of us to awaken our sense of CIVIC responsibility and become “WE THE PEOPLE” again.

Please enjoy this Home Free a cappella arrangement of "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood.

Have a great and safe Fourth of July!

Let us always remember that honesty and public service are the gears that drive our democracy, and we turn those gears with our RIGHT TO VOTE.   LET’S ALL VOTE!

. . .  remember that America’s best days aren’t behind her.   America’s best days are ahead of her.  They always have been and always will be.

Dave

Copyright © 2016 by David William Wygant. All rights reserved.