Leadership

Would you believe I had never seen the movie An American President?

The movie came out in 1995, starring Michael Douglas as the President of the United States, recently turned widower, and Annette Benning as an environmentalist whose passion becomes contagious for him in more ways than one. It's really not meant to be much more than a romantic comedy and in 1995, when we were living in more peaceful times, no one probably thought anything of the political backdrop.

But in 2007, hearing Douglas as the President worry about the need to attack a foreign building late at night because a janitor might still be working in the building is kind of mind blowing. It is such a humane portrait of America and of the Presidency, spotlighting true leadership being good morals and a real regard for every individual's life and opportunity.

Take a look at this conversation from the movie and tell me if you can imagine our current "leader of the free world" having such a chat:

[Discussing bombing a building as a reprisal for an attack on US troops.]

A.J. MacInerney: Sir, it's immediate, it's decisive, it's low-risk, and it's a proportional response.

President Andrew Shepherd: Someday someone's going to have to explain to me the virtue of a proportional response.

A.J. MacInerney: We could use this to your political gain.

President Andrew Shepherd: What I did tonight was not about political gain.

Leon Kodak: Yes, sir. But it can be, sir. What you did tonight was very presidential.

President Adrew Shepherd: Leon, somewhere in Libya right now, a janitor's working the night shift at Libyan Intelligence headquarters. He's going about doing his job because he has no idea, in about an hour he's going to die in a massive explosion. He's just going about his job because he has no idea that about an hour ago I gave an order to have him killed. You've just seen me do the least presidential thing.

Lewis Rothschild: People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage and when they discover there is no water, they'll drink the sand.

President Andrew Shepherd: Lewis, we've had presidents who were beloved who couldn't find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight. People don't drink the sand because they're thirsty. They drink the sand because they don't know the difference.

It reminded me, the person running our country is supposed to be a person we would want running our home.

Somewhere between 1995 and 2007, "we the people" changed as a whole.

Let's just think about the term "leader" for a minute and what that probably means to most American citizens. Take politics out of the equation for a minute.

What makes a leader to most people you know? Someone who is crafty, clever and manipulative enough to fight the fights that need to be fought and win at any cost, right? Well, that's what we've got, people. And it ain't doing us a whole lot of good.

When did we become so blindly ambitious that we forgot the things that make a good leader are humanity, selflessness, someone who can put the interest and protection of others before themselves and someone who does the right thing no matter if it is win, lose or draw.

If we want to change the world, we have to start with the self. Our country's leadership will change when our personal definition of it changes. The majority of the American public handles their confrontation, their career climb, their daily struggles in the exact same way that our President has handled this war -- with a blindly agressive nature that will stop at nothing for personal gain.

We believed whole-heartedly in 1995 that the President of the United States would lose sleep over a janitor working the late shift in a building he might have to invade.

In 2007, our troops -- bless their hearts, trained to do only as they are told and not ask questions -- have killed nearly 70,000 innocent civilians in Iraq with two thumbs up from the man atop an administration that has destroyed everything from the previous President's plans for the environment to the American economy.

70,000 civilians dead in a country that NEVER attacked us.

And in 1995, we thought we would all lose sleep over one.

It made me sob like a freaking baby.

Reality check: America was not always the super power of the world. It wasn't too long ago that it was Russia. And before that, it was someone else. Super powers change. And at the rate we're going, if something doesn't happen soon, we will in our lifetimes see that crown handed over to another country. We are not immune. We are failing miserably. It was one thing when the rest of the world just thought we were stupid, but now they think we're the enemy and how anyone thinks that won't lead to an attack on domestic soil I'm not sure. It's fucking scary. And I wish more people would join me in pulling their heads out of their asses and believing they could really do something about it.

Change the world. Change your definition of leadership. What's it to you in your every day life?

Song of the Week: "Yo George" (Speedbliss Remix) - Tori Amos