This is about as political as I’ll get…
Will you root for the country’s success even if your guy doesn’t win?
Normally I just write movie and television reviews on here. In my day to day life, I’m married to a woman who is way out of my league, I have two sons who I could not be more proud of, and I own a video and media production company. I am blessed beyond words, and am so thankful for what I have and who I get to live my life with.
Like many of my fellow Americans, I have sincerely held political beliefs, along with a faith in God that sustains me in all that I do. If asked, or the opportunity arises, I will share my faith in Christ and all that He has done for me. I believe it to be just as, if not more important, to live the life He has asked of me for all to see. Politics, however…Well, that’s a different matter. I generally don’t share those beliefs unless I’m very comfortable with who I’m around, and trust that if we happen to see things differently, we can agree to disagree — without being disagreeable. As much as I think it’s extremely important to educate yourself, understand who and what you’re voting for, I don’t think it’s worth losing friends and family over, so in most cases, I just keep my mouth shut or politely excuse myself from the conversation. I’ve watched people who have known each other for years, abandon their relationship over Presidents, Senators, and the like. On social media it’s even worse. When hiding behind a keyboard, talking to someone they may or may not know — people become downright despicable. It’s hard to understand. After all, in America, once the elections are done and over — we’re all on the same team.
With that in mind, I offer these political thoughts…I’m not going to endorse anyone, or say one side or the other has it right. All I’m going to ask you to consider is who do you root for? Is it your country, or the party you align with? For my part, I always line out the issues that are most important to me, then I educate myself as best I can on the candidate’s stances on those issues. Whoever gets the most “checkmarks” gets my vote. I don’t vote for the person necessarily, as much as I do for the issues. Not one candidate has ever checked all the boxes for me, and since I don’t really know them, I can’t say as to whether I really like them or not (though some have more appealing personalities than others). That’s it. Again, I might talk to close friends or family about the issues — heck, we might even get heated on those topics, but I know when we’re done, we can get back to loving one another, or back to being friends. I try to believe, even if they think differently than me, they want the best for the country, just like I do. Over the years, though, I’ve started to wonder if that’s what the rest of the people in America who might disagree with me really want. Do we all want what is best for the country? Or are we just rooting for the “R” or “D” that’s beside the candidate’s name?
Here’s my hope for our country after this election is over, and I’ll use a sports analogy to try to make my point.
I’m a Kansas City Chiefs fan. In the KC area, most everyone is. That team (along with the Royals from time to time), can unite this city like nothing I’ve ever seen. We have people around here who are die hard KU Jayhawks fans, and people who are die hard Mizzou Tiger fans. Throughout the college football and basketball seasons — they really go at each other. But on Sundays, those same fans who were at each others’ throats about the Jayhawks and Tigers, will sit next to each other at Arrowhead, and act like long lost family members as they cheer on the Chiefs. When the Chiefs are going strong, as they are now, you can walk up to any stranger in the city, and strike up a conversation. It’s a great time.
In my illustration, let’s equate the Chiefs with the good ol’ USA. We’ll say you root for them, and so do I. We’re both Chiefs fans. We love them, want them to win, and hope and pray for their success. For the purposes of this illustration, let’s say head coach Andy Reid decides to retire (please God, don’t let that happen anytime soon). When he steps down, obviously, there is a vacancy at the leadership position for our beloved team. As the organization begins to scour the Earth for a new coach, two names begin to emerge. One of the candidates is your favorite, and the other is mine. As it gets closer to the time to pick one and move forward, you and I begin to debate with each other who should take over the reigns of our Chiefs. You outline all the reasons your candidate should get the job. He’s got an impressive resume, he knows the personnel, the town, and you believe he can keep things moving in the right direction. Now it’s my turn. I tell you why my guy is the “one.” Perhaps his resume isn’t as long, but he’s an innovator. I believe he can take Patrick Mahomes to another level, and he’s a known winner. In making our cases to each other, we might yell at each other, we might call each other names even — but what is clear is that we both love our team.
Now the day comes, and the team is ready to make a decision. The announcement is made…And it’s your guy who gets the job. I’m devastated. I just couldn’t disagree more with the decision. I believe it’s not a good fit, and that the team will suffer. You on the other hand are elated. You’re sure this will fix everything and get the team back to the Super Bowl. Perhaps we argue a bit more, but as the days pass on — what’s done is done. The team has a new leader, and it’s time to get to work.
As the guy who didn’t get the leader I wanted, what am I supposed to do? I love the Chiefs, but I really feel that this was a bad move, and we are headed for dark days. Keeping the Chiefs are America as a metaphor alive here, if I were to follow the example I’ve seen from both sides of the aisle in our government, I’d begin a campaign to get the new leader out as quickly as possible. I’d stop at nothing to keep him from succeeding. I’d trash the team, the city, the fans, hope that free agents wouldn’t sign and that other players would leave, and perhaps go so far as to make things up about the people in charge — all in an attempt to get the coach and his staff, so the next go around — I get my guy.
If I followed the examples of our country’s leaders, what would that do to my team? What if half of the city of Kansas City agreed with me, and went along with what I was doing? Would that make the Chiefs better? How would they do playing at home, if half the audience booed them each time they took the field, or didn’t even bother to show up? My guess is it wouldn’t make the new coach’s job very easy. He’d have a hard time implementing any plans, getting players to buy in to his system, and no matter how hard he tried — eventually it would alienate him from his team, as it was clear many wanted him to fail. Before long, the inevitable would happen, and the Chiefs would suffer. Maybe after four years of trying, things just aren’t working, the teams begins to lose, the future looks dim, and ownership decides to part ways with the coach. For me, and all the people who didn’t want him in the first place — it’d be a great day. We’d be celebrating his departure, and heralding in the new coach. Maybe it’s the guy we wanted in the beginning, or someone who shares his philosophy. We can’t wait to show all those who doubted us — we were right.
The problem is now, all the people who wanted their coach to succeed, now hate our coach, and hate us. So they decide to go out and do exactly what we did. Discourage the new coach, block anything he tries to do, and attempt to turn the city and players against him. For our part, though we love our new coach, he has to dig out of the hole the old one left. Four long years of mediocrity has left the team in shambles, and this new coach has to spend most of his time and effort just trying to correct the direction of the team, rather than just trying to win — all the while battling those who want him gone. Even if he’s great, the team will have its struggles, and chances are they’ll never reach their full potential. And so it continues — the team struggling against itself, just sinking lower and lower each time this process repeats.
Does any of this sound familiar?
It does to me. I watch every two to four years, our great team — America — fight for a new coach, new leadership. Both sides make their arguments, and each time it gets a little uglier and uglier. People get nastier and nastier, and the leaders we vote for oblige them and jump right into the mud slinging and name calling.
Here’s the difference I see in the Chiefs and America right now. If Andy Reid should retire (again, God, this is just an example…Please keep him young at heart, sharp in mind, and full of many more Super Bowl victories), the organization would begin the search for a new leader. For days on end, we’d read articles in the paper and on the internet, see people commenting on social media, and the sports shows on the radio and TV would be full of speculation as to who it might be. Eventually, a few names would begin to emerge as the favorites to replace Big Red. People would have their opinions and favorites. But in the end, once the coach is chosen, even those who weren’t rooting for that person to be hired — will set aside their differences, and get behind their beloved Chiefs. They’d give him and his staff time to implement their plan, and even if they didn’t want him hired, they’d root for him to succeed — for the good of the team. Now don’t get me wrong, if after a couple of years he and the team aren’t fairing well — people would start to turn — but even in that they would still root for the team, and hope beyond hope that things would begin to turnaround.
For the country on the other hand, there is no coming together to root on the team after the elections are held. Powerful politicians of the losing party immediately start working toward the next election, and do everything they can to block and hurt the person who won. People across the country follow suit and openly root for the country and the new leaders to fail — no matter the cost, or how many will suffer. It shouldn’t be this way. Over the course of my life the elections have gone to the person I voted for and the one I didn’t. There has never been a time though, when I wanted the person who won to fail. I pray for them to succeed — even if it’s someone I didn’t vote for. I want them to prove me wrong, show me why I should have voted for them. If they succeed the country — our team — wins. We all benefit from it, just like Chiefs fans do when the Chiefs win — no matter who is leading the team. It makes life in Kansas City during the bitter winters a bit more bearable. When the team is winning, people smile more, there is a buzz across the city, and because we’re almost all Chiefs fans — life’s just a bit better, because they next game is just around the corner.
This is what I want for our country. I want us all to understand that whoever wins, we need them to succeed. We should want them to — whether they are Republican, Democrat, or perhaps a viable 3rd or 4th party. If people began to see we’re all fans of America (hopefully), then it would make perfect sense to want the country to do well — because we all live here, and should want that for our families, friends, and future generations.
So in November, the day after the election, if the person you didn’t vote for wins — ask yourself, are you rooting for them to succeed? If you aren’t — why? Do you want America to fail? Do you want your country and its people to suffer? If you’re really part of the same team as the rest of us — don’t you want our “coach” to do well? Or would you rather the entire nation hurt, just so you can have a person in the White House with the proper letter by their name?
For me, I know who I’m voting for, but whoever is declared the winner — I will be praying for their success, because their success is the country’s success, and thereby my success. If the person I didn’t vote for wins — I’ll be praying for them to do well. I’ll be praying that they are the best President this country has ever seen. We need that, we should all hope for that. Find me any team anywhere, from anytime, where the people in the organization hated each other — and they succeeded. It just doesn’t happen, and if it does — it doesn’t last long. They will eventually tear each other down over their selfishness, pride, and greed — and then they will fall.
If things don’t get better in our country — that’s where we’re headed. We, the citizens of this great nation, need to come together in spite of who is elected and hope our team wins. Go America (and go Chiefs)!
