Regaining Respect For Our Institutions and Each Other During These Trying Times

What happened to times past when we had respect for our institutions? What happened when people serving in our institutions served the people whom helped place them in these institutions? When did we lose respect for our institutions and when did we stop having respect in the people serving in our institutions?

There was a time when our respect for institutions like the Presidency, Senators and Congressmen was something to be proud of. It mattered not which party won an election, for once elected people serving in these institutional positions seemed to rise above partisan politics and personal gain to work for the benefit of the American nation and its citizens, us.

There was debate, compromise and finally consensus for many challenges and issues related to the benefit and betterment of America and its citizens. The solutions were not always perfect nor always successful, but genuine effort seemed to be the course that drove process and success.

Today, we seem not to have people who are humbled by the positions they occupy. Instead we have individuals who are self serving, who seem to believe that being bellicose and mean are signs that they are doing a good job. The next election is their primary accountability and fighting with each other is their secondary priority.

Serving the people that elected them is a distant third, if that high on their priority list.

So, how do we get back to a time when individuals serving in our institutions serve the country and its citizens in such a way, that even during a very serious event, such as the ongoing health crisis, they step up to the plate as a team and exercise the collective care that the country, its citizens and indeed the world need?

It starts with you and me!

We must return to a time where we respected and supported the institutions that the positions of President, Senator and Congressman represented. Once the decision is made and individuals are elected, all of us must get behind the elected and act as a country made up of many cultures, many backgrounds, and many points of view. It is this multitude of diversities that is truly the strength of our country.

We must respect the freedom of choice and get behind our elected President, Senators and Congressmen. We must respect the democratic process and hold our officials accountable.

This does not mean carrying on when our candidates lose elections. This does not mean engaging in lies and negative behaviors making elected officials look bad thinking somehow that this will hurt them and advance our positions.

If we can have a conscience of our choices, our processes and our actions, we will have officials whom we can respect. In turn, individuals who are President, Senators and Congressmen will stand up to the task and perform honorably.

Crises tend to demonstrate the best in us or the worst in us as human beings, and the current health crisis is no different.

Instead of looking for the reasons why our favorite or not favorite elected official is saying or doing things we do not like or want, let us first respect the institution of the Presidency, the Senate and the Congress for the venerable institutions they are.

Let us hold our elected officials accountable for being allowed to serve the country and its citizens to the very best of their ability. They will rise to the occasion if we hold them accountable.

After all, that accountability is uniquely ours; the vote in an election!

They can and will work together for the collective benefits of the country and its citizens if and only if we demand it, and that begins with regaining our respect for the institution of President, Senator and Congressman.

It is up to us!