We The People, Last Night's Real Losers

Last night was the first presidential debate, and I use the term “Debate” loosely. This morning there are many discussions of who won and who lost, but the sad truth is, “We the people” are the real losers in this contest.

A debate, by definition is to be a formal exchange of ideas or even an argument done formally. Last night was anything but this. I spent much of my young life watching and immersing myself in politics, but I can honestly say I’m sick of it. I never thought I would see the day when there would be name calling, sarcasm, disrespect, and even telling each other to “shut-up” as part of the conversation between to elder “statesmen” (again, I use this term very, very loosely). 

Don’t get me wrong, I know there will be differences, and I expect there to be healthy disagreements, but what I saw last night was truly saddening, not just for the state of our politics, but for the state of our country. Sad that this is the choice before us, and that this is now becoming the new norm.

As an elementary principal, I work with children all the time, I mediate disagreements, I work out problems, and sometimes referee some intense arguments, but I can honestly say whether dealing with students, parents, or teachers, I have never seen the level of disregard and disrespect and out right dismissal of another person as I did last night between our two candidates.

In a time when cancel culture is so popular, and we are quick to call anyone and everyone out, it is disappointing that even our political leaders can’t rise above this, and sadly, I fear what we saw last night is a good representation for what we are seeing all around the country. The disrespect shown and the rudeness, the tone, and yelling over one another, telling each other to shut up and the constant insults, are unfortunately something we see all too often in today’s world.

Where did we go wrong? Where do we lose the principles and the ideas of how we should treat one another? When did we reach the point that we cannot even have a civil discussion about differences? When did we decide that dishonoring somebody is the best way to win an argument? These are all things that I have told my elementary students not to do, yet here they saw two people vying for the most powerful position in our country, treating one another like this. 

I actually felt bad for the moderator, who was constantly trying to simply get these two “men” to show each other BASIC respect. Sadly, even in this, neither took responsibility, and when confronted about their behavior, simply blamed the other for the tone and tenor of the debate. Maybe they should’ve given Chris Wallace a remote control for shock collars to use when the two candidates got out of line?

What is most disheartening for me is that these are the two people we have to choose from, or the two people we are told we have to choose from. At what point will our leaders start being leaders again, and at what point will we learn once again how to treat one another with respect and honor, even when we disagree?

Sadly, our politicians are more interested in soundbites than solutions, and more interested in their own power and destroying somebody else than in doing what’s right for the people in our country. At some point “We the people” have to start showing the things that we want our leaders to be, and we each need to show how we should treat one another even when we disagree.

Sadly, last night, I don’t think there were any winners, but I can assure you that “we the people” are the ones that lost. I hope one day as a country we find our way back to the little things that we learned as children of how to treat one another, of how to show respect and honor, and how to disagree without trashing another person. Until we get back to that, nothing will change our leadership, and we will continue to be the one that lose.