BOYLAN: Expectations of leaders

Published 11:58 am Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Certainly it is easier to criticize than to act.  On the other hand, to say nothing when actions are taken that are contrary to one’s hopes and expectations is not what is ordinarily expected or hoped for from the citizenry of a nation. Therefore, I express my concern with the actions of our President for his failure in Afghanistan, his failure to properly address the COVID issue, and now, his failure to control our borders by permitting tens of thousands of migrants to illegally enter our country … people who, I might add, are unvaccinated and therefore are permitted to enter in the face of president Biden’s dicta regarding COVID vaccination requirements for certain portions of our country.  I am concerned that Biden is guided by instincts that relate more closely to political ends than to the benefits of our country.   It is certain that thousands upon thousands of persons are allowed to enter this country illegally and that he has prohibited the border patrol agency from doing the job that they are hired (by law) to accomplish. I have no idea what rationale Biden is using to permit this, but it seems to echo his failure in Afghanistan. It appears that his decisions are taken to satisfy political aspirations rather than contributing to the welfare of the country that he was elected to lead. In short, he appears to be circumventing the truth in much the same way that President Johnson did in justifying the war in Vietnam as a means to a political end. I would be far more comfortable if Biden had, in any way, served our country in ways beyond becoming an elected official for the many years he has been in the US Senate. Not that it is fully descriptive of him, but he has never heard a bullet fired in anger nor a blank fired in fun. He has therefore missed the opportunities that accompany the costs of one’s actions in critical situations. Again, I refer to the debacle in Afghanistan wherein he declared victory in the face of defeat (there remain more than 200 Americans in Afghanistan). Finally, I am concerned about the apparent apathy demonstrated by voices that have some degree of compelling truth. The world wants to know what category in which to place us, so it sends difficult situations our way. For many of us in this country, we ignore difficult situations that are sent our way and thus we pass through life knowing not what we are capable of.  We accept life as it comes without questioning legitimacy and thus courage to dispute reality disappears. We fail to understand that politics is, in some respects, about lying to deceive the enemy. However, Biden fails to recognize that we are not the enemy … we are those who fight the battles in which he has unfortunately engaged our nation. Would you follow him in a crisis that was life threatening?  I surely would not. As Longfellow wrote:

Lives of great men all remind us                                                                      We can make our lives sublime                                                                        And departing leave behind us                                                                          Footprints in the sands of time.

We, as citizens and voters in these United States, have the profound responsibility to make our voices heard …. to make a difference.

Peter J. Boylan

Milledgeville