I am weeping. I am watching President Jimmy Carter’s funeral. He may not have been recognized as the good leader he certainly was, and that is a tragedy, for he quietly accomplished a lot. It would enrich you personally to look it up. I always thought his life after the presidency was his amazing legacy but his many accomplishments were life changing. He was a man who lived his faith every day of his life. He was and is greatly loved and respected, deservedly so. I don’t believe we will ever see anyone like him again.
In the midst of watching Democrats and Republicans eulogize him, two the sons of a former Republican president and Democratic vice president, I found some pity for the new president-elect. Pity because he will never hear honest words of praise for his accomplishments, if he has any that don’t only enrich him (and his other billionaire supporters) personally.
This opened up thoughts about All that he, the president-elect will never experience. He can lie to himself, and others, that he is the biggest and the best and it may never have been as great for anyone else as it was/is for him. All we can hope for is that somewhere, in a quiet moment of rare clarity, he may acknowledged the real truth. Because I feel “punishment” for the chaos he brought and will no doubt continue to bring to this country we love, will come from what he will never know.
He will never know:
The pride of grandchildren and great-grandchildren that their grandpa (however I imagine they must call him Grandfather) was once the President of the United States. For the truth of who and what he did and said and “tweeted” will be public knowledge. It will be taught in school and written in history books. It will be spread by classmates, there will be no hiding from it. And while the grandfather may tell them he was victimized by too many people to even itemize and the crooked media, when you hear the same story over and over again, even the most loyal begin to question, if not doubt, “the real truth”.
He will never know:
Being loved or even liked just for himself. For being a good human being. For being a good man who cared more for his fellow human beings, country or anyone other than himself. Who strived to make the country and the world a better place than when he took office. Even when given a second chance.
He will never know:
Having the respect of colleagues, peers and friends. Inducing fear is not respect. I believe those who demand fear rather than respect do so out of their own insecurities. Afraid someone may see behind the green curtain only to discover the small, insignificant being just praying no one will see who they really are. A small minded, under-educated, unqualified person who has to bully and spew vitriol to keep anyone who might discover the truth away; as far away as possible from the facts.
He will never know:
Even a positive spin in the history of his presidency(s) unless I am completely misreading his pre-inauguration rantings about Panama, Greenland, Gulf of Mexico, etc. We usually only get one chance to make a good first impression but this man is getting at least another chance to correct mistakes of his past. But he’ll never know the power of redemption because he’s always above it all.
Finally, when the time comes for a national funeral for him, he won’t experience the genuine love, respect or honest accolades for a job well-done that former presidents get. The crowds won’t be the biggest ever. He won’t be compared to Lincoln or M.L. King. He won’t be eulogized by former presidents long dead. World leaders might “tweet” out condolences to his family. He won’t have even a week of memorials. No long lines of mourners while he lies in state regardless of what he may tell himself. He’ll only be a footnote to a dark time in United States history.
For these reasons, and many more, he is pathetic and what he will never know, a true reason for pity.
Soosey’s Ruminations 