At a Time When We Desperately Need a Great Leader, One Stands Alone, and She’s a Woman

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart

 

At the ripe old age of 77, I feel lucky to have witnessed a few great leaders in America. In 1956 I watched “Ike’s” second nomination at the Republican National Convention. Although I do not consider Eisenhower a “great president,” he did have some impressive accomplishments, including the interstate highway system. He was a loyal American who loved his country.

I was just beginning high school when John Fitzgerald Kennedy was elected as our 35^th president. He was murdered on November 22, 1963 when I was a senior. He was the last great leader in my lifetime. My generation was devastated when he was taken from us too soon. My senior class dedicated a bust of President Kennedy to our Senior Court when we graduated.

There were other men and women who were impressive and accomplished great things, including Richard Nixon, the former Governor of Texas, Ann Richards, Senators Ted Kennedy and John McCain, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.

This is the primary problem with Washington today. There are no great leaders, no man or woman who will always do the right thing for all of the American people on every occasion.

When situations such as these arise, people who are good, bad, and somewhere in between will look for a leader, even when that person is the worst choice possible. This is how we got Donald Trump, Moscow Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, Kevin McCarthy, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and others whose names are constantly in the news, and not for good reasons.

There are a few men and women attempting to move our nation back on the right track, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Adam Schiff, and Jamie Raskin just to name a few. However, they lack that something special which inspires voters to go to the polls.

There is one woman who is not in Washington, yet, and she inspires me and most of the residents of her state: Gretchen Whitmer, the Governor of Michigan.

Governor Whitmer enjoys a Democratic legislature, which gives her an opportunity to accomplish much of her progressive agenda. Her plans for the last few months of 2023 include “funding paid family and medical leave, mandating a 100% clean energy standard and codifying protections ensured by the Affordable Care Act.”

“What’s next on the fall agenda for Michigan is: the health of our people; the health of our planet; the health of our economy; and the health of our democracy,” Whitmer said Wednesday in Lansing.

You might remember that in 2020 two Trump supporters planned to kidnap the Governor, and possibly kill her. Both men were captured before they could execute their plan and are now in prison for at least a decade.

I believe that her intelligence, progressive agenda, and charisma are what our nation needs today.

She fits my criteria for our nation’s future. I support our country’s need for a woman president. She is closer to the age of most Americans at 52, and possesses the intellect and experience to perform the duties of the President of the United States. Her agenda will move our nation forward into the 21^st century.

The contrast between Governor Whitmer and any Republican wannabee is impressive, and I include her age difference between President Biden and herself. I see our first woman president who will change the negative and destructive direction of our nation today. She will clearly represent all Americans, conservative, progressive, young, and old.

Op-ed by James Turnage

Sources: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/4/2190571/-With-Democratic-control-Michigan-s-governor-pushes-for-health-care-and-climate-change-laws

https://www.npr.org/2022/12/27/1145632535/michigan-governor-kidnap-plot-adam-fox-sentencing