“Well, that’s over.” Those were the contents of a text this afternoon to my wife, Elizabeth and they seem as good a place to start this post as any. The acquittal of President Trump in the Senate this afternoon on both counts of impeachment ends a long and painful news cycle for better or worse and the question for the citizens of the United States now is…what’s next?
Some, no doubt, will be inclined to celebrate. Others will be in a mood to commiserate. But what I hope we all do…is contemplate. The case for whether the President should be removed from office was argued bitterly in Congress, almost directly down party lines, and now it’s over. But even some members of Congress that voted against removing Donald Trump from office made it clear that they did not approve of his actions.
So what’s next for the USA? Are we still a country that can serve as an example of democracy at its best for the world to follow or is zero sum politics the new normal here? There is an adage in the world of corporate culture, “Culture”…the saying goes, “is the worst behavior that your leaders tolerate.” So what is our culture? Do we still believe the stuff we tell our kids about right and wrong, about looking after the needs of others, about truth and justice or has it turned out that, in the end, winning really is more important than how you play the game?
In the last post I promised OKRs for Project to Find America. Now that this chapter is over they are coming tomorrow. Good Night and Good Luck.