Lookin' for a leader - Shawn's Sense with Shawn Loughlin

After last week’s debate between the two presumptive candidates for the presidency of the United States, much has been made about whether President Joe Biden is fit for another four-year term that would take him into his mid-80s. He struggled to make points, parry former President Donald Trump’s criticisms and, at times, keep on track from the beginning of a sentence to its end.

 

The editorial board for The New York Times, the newspaper of record in the United States, has called for Biden to step down for the good of the Democratic Party and the country itself.

 

Some are panicking, while others - mostly snarking right-leaning politicians and pundits - feel vindicated, saying Biden has been unfit to lead for years. Others, however, are looking at both men and wondering how it got this bad.

 

I am one of those people. How did we get here? The two best options, allegedly, to run one of the most powerful countries in the world (forgive me for not subscribing to all of that July 4/Greatest Country in the World propaganda) are a convicted criminal and a man who can’t string together a sentence.

 

It really is sad. However, I’m not just here to bemoan the state of American politics. We too have lots to disappoint us here in Canada.

 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has - by a real wide margin - worn out his welcome with most voters. Even those who still support the goals of the Liberal Party have had their confidence tested, with some expressing opinions that, for the party’s future, Trudeau should step away.

 

He has had a scandal-ridden tenure and, whether he deserves it or not, Trudeau has become one of the most hated politicians in Canadian history. And yet, who else is there?

 

Many will point to Pierre Poilievre, leader of the federal Conservatives and a (relatively) young face in the world of Canadian politics. Some think he’s the brash new voice Canada needs for the tough times ahead while others think his dog whistle has its own comically-small dog whistle for extra dog whistle effect.

 

His open arms to Freedom Convoy-adjacent people and policies has ingratiated him to some and repelled him from others. 
Here in Ontario, we have a fumbling party who will sell the land you’re standing on right now (you, actually you, the person reading this newspaper right now - the land that you, the reader, is currently occupying) if it could turn a buck for someone Premier Doug Ford maybe considers a friend - though merely speculation.

 

And, of course, we have our municipal levels of government. Once thought of as an almost point of duty among pillars of the community - business owners, doctors, service club members and community stakeholders - taking their turn to govern the town they love, local positions now barely attract more people than there are spots. At one time we had these excellent members of the community beating one another out in elections that presented tough choices and a wealth of good candidates. Now, with exceptions, of course, we find ourselves saying, “well, at least *fill in the blank with any loser trying to push this agenda or that conspiracy theory* didn’t win.”

 

Governing a community, whether it be the United States of America or the tiny Township of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh, say, can be a hard job, but we deserve to look up at our leaders and see them as the best of us; people we trust to make big decisions because they’re smarter than us and work harder than us. 

 

I think the apple has fallen very, very far from that tree and it really is too bad that we’ve all let it get to this point that an embarrassment of riches has become just an embarrassment.