Silence is Complicity: Why I’m Compelled to Speak Out
“It’s not often I get upset, but there are some things that are just plain wrong. And, to sit silently by is, in essence, to be morally complicit in the act itself.”
That’s how I started an article I wrote twelve years ago. Talk show host Rush Limbaugh had viciously attacked Sandra Fluke, a young woman who had the guts to share her opinion on birth control to a congressional committee.
On air, he called her a “slut” and “prostitute." That was so mean-spirited and unnecessary. It was meant to silence her and other women on this issue. I couldn’t stay silent then; I still feel that way.
It said a whole lot about Limbaugh’s character—or rather lack of it. After all, what kind of person deliberately maligns and minimizes other people? Especially for his/her own benefit.
That’s why I’m so tired of one of our presidential candidates defining his opponent with words and phrases like low IQ, vicious, nasty, mentally impaired, dumb as a rock, crazy, and more.
It’s disrespectful at its core.
Or, how about describing immigrants—both legal and illegal—as vermin or animals with bad genes. And spreading lies about them attacking cities across the country. This diminishes them as human beings, spreads hate, and leads to violence.
Again, it’s about a person’s character. People who truly care about others don’t do these kinds of things.
As a mother, if someone verbally attacked my child like this, I’d be up at the school in a nanosecond raising holy hell.
If my child was the perpetrator, he/she would have to apologize immediately—and publicly if it was done in front of others. Plus, there’d be other consequences to ensure it didn’t happen again.
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Yet we excuse this kind of behavior in a presidential candidate? Or we laugh at it?
To me, a person’s character is crucial, perhaps even more important than their positions on the economy, immigration, healthcare, the environment, and just about everything else.?
It’s all about how you treat people. Because we’re a nation of people. Because we need to work together to solve the challenges facing our country and the world. So much more is possible when we can do that.
Character truly matters!
“When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something.” ~ John Lewis
Don’t wait till election day. Do it now. Early voting increases voter turnout and enhances election integrity. Find out your state’s rules here: https://www.usa.gov/early-voting
Fractional Sales Leader | Sales Strategy Consultant | Expert in Sales Team Coaching, Hiring, & KPI Optimization | Driving Growth Across Diverse Industries | Specializing in EOS Integration with Canadian-U.S. Businesses
3 周Thank you for articulating this point so well.
Associate Director @ TopRank Marketing | Influencer & Social Media Marketing
4 周Thank you for speaking out, Jill. As you called out, if a child was bullying like this, we would call them out. We cannot put up with this horrible behavior in a presidential candidate.
President and Growth Consultant
4 周I'm with Jill: character matters. It's essential. You don't know what will happen in the future, and you want a leader with the character, temperament, and intelligence to deal with those unknowns.
Thank you, Jill Konrath it does take courage to stand out from the crowd for the right reasons. While there is always room for proper behavior this election is about character. Neither President Biden or VP Harris were ever indicted, or convicted for any of the opinions raised and there was certainly plenty of time to find just cause in proving the allegations. This presidential election is about the character of a person’s Will to unite, represent the Country and decease and desist from stating otherwise. It is a crucial election, “perhaps even more important than their positions on the economy, immigration, healthcare, the environment, and just about everything else” because it touches on negative statements related to the Constitution, retaliation, use of the military and more. I have not heard neither Biden or Harris refer to the United States as a ‘garbage country’. One whose families have lost a love one to military service, many wounded in support of their oath of allegiance, and many who served and continue to serve out of allegiance. Stopping the personal attacks is one thing but calling the U.S. a ‘garbage country’ is my line in the sand.
Director of Sales Training
1 个月So why aren’t you being fair and accurate and speaking out against the other side? Biden Harris has been calling Trump unhinged, unstable, fascist, bigoted and Hitler-like for years…no mention? They turned the DOJ and the FBI on him to commit lawfare…no mention? Is lying about Biden’s cognitive decline for four years “Character”? How about lying about our border security, while allowing in 15 million unvetted migrants…including murderers, rapists and terrorists? And still not taking responsibility for it. How about not standing up against rabid anti-semitism on our college campuses? I’ve watched Kamala since the beginning…when she was Willie Brown’s mistress. She’s never shown a moral compass…no personal giving, no sincere charity work, no heartfelt concern for anyone…just opportunism. She’s never even gotten a single vote for her position…yet took it. Trump is a character, but Kamala has no character…and has never shown it. If you’re going to throw stones, throw them equally and accurately. BTW- your Trump comments above about immigrants are out of context and misleading. Character is more about what you do, than what you say…I’ll take the four great years we had under Trump, over the last 4 soulless, corrupt and expensive w/ BH