Tolerance and Acceptance

The nation is reeling from an ugly election season that seems to have been nonstop for the past 24 years. That’s bad enough but when the most recent season harps on emotional weaknesses and biases, then things really do turn ugly.

America is a diverse nation despite what many think. We are not a Christian nation by culture, practice or decree. A lot of our people and their families were raised in a Christian tradition home. That does not make us all believers or faithful practitioners of Christianity.

Although our history is mainly of white races, we are not all white. In fact we are less than half white statistically. And the rest of the population is comprised of racial, ethnic and blended families for a very long time.

We are an immigrant nation – built by them, for them and of them. That is the cornerstone upon which America rests.

Looking at our masses we are also made up of men and women in nearly equal parts as one would expect. We are also straight, gay, bi-sexual and transgender; like it or not, it is true, and each of us knows or loves someone who is not straight. Each of us. If you think not, then some of your closest allies in life are too afraid to share this information with you for fear of your reaction. Think about that. Just think about it.

Someone long ago asked if I were a feminist. And I said yes. Why wouldn’t I be? I have a mother, two grandmothers, 5 aunts, many grand aunts, a sister, and now a wife (then ex-wife), daughter and two granddaughters and a daughter in law. By marriage I have the same in the extended family units. Why would I be against the well being and just and fair treatment of the women in my life? I must stand up for them. It is a very simple fact of life.

Immigrants built our nation and each of us is in one form or another an immigrant. The only differences among us is when we or our families became American, and under what circumstances. Our cultures have become merged with the rest of us and we have become one America. That is as it was designed to be and why our Constitution is such a marvel.  Not perfect, but still a marvel.

If I cannot accept or tolerate someone different from me than I am actually not tolerating myself. This may sound illogical but if you ponder it long enough it will make sense to you.

It is hard to accept or tolerate an angry, hard nosed bigot staring me in the face. It is hard to accept or tolerate a smug, wealthy know it all who makes light of the hardships of others. It is hard to watch people who abuse women, children, the poor and the lame for their own financial gain or elevated sense of self.

It is even a fearful realization when one considers those same people mean you harm and/or death. If you are a Jew from the World War II era, I know you know what I mean. If you are a Jew today, I know you know what the past has taught you, and us.

I am gay. Do you think I feel safe all the time? No. That would be unrealistic. Do I feel intimidated now? A little, but not a lot. But then we just won the right to marriage and have had the wedding. Now it could be taken from us. And it will if enough of America doesn’t stand up and stop that from happening. Just like the Jews and the Holocaust.

My son married into a marvelous, Hispanic family. Enormous (to us!) but loving and caring and bright and forward looking. They are treasures. And they have the same problems and issues that the rest of us do – the fight for good and stable jobs, careers, a just economy, gender issues just like our own and so much more. We are one and the same.

My daughter married into a family of eastern European origin. It is large, complex and extended beyond our wildest experiences. All nice people. All with hopes and dreams like our own. There are no differences among us. We suffer and emote the same. We have similar problems and successes fighting them.

Accepting something makes it a real part of our life. We may not understand everything or like it but we must accept it. Then we can deal with it. Then we can internalize the differences so they mean something – good, bad or otherwise.

The move of America to an era of Donald Trump carries a message of change. Whether the change will be administered with kindness and love remains in doubt. If you are female, gay or foreign, you have a right to be worried, even frightened. The rhetoric of the campaign was stark and hideous. Violence was waged in many places. Violence is threatened today in many places.

But if we allow fear and intimidation to control our lives, we will have given into the bigots, misogynists and ignorant. Please don’t let that happen.

Mr. Trump seems to be unaware of what he has unleashed all the while stirring it up to win the Presidency. It is now his job to quell his supporters and make peace. That is what a leader does. This will be his first task to accomplish.

Time will tell if he and his team are up to the task. Meanwhile the rest of us have our usual jobs to do to earn a living, and our jobs as citizens to watch those in authority to do their jobs by the law.

We are in this together. So act like it and support the dream of what we know America can be.

November 18, 2016

Making Sense of the Incomprehensible

Wednesday nights I meet with teen addicts. These are kids who are using drugs and maybe some alcohol to alter their reality for some reason or another. This week’s session was eye popping; I missed the previous week due to family medical reasons; at that meeting one patient ‘graduated’, and three new youth joined the group; this week two more joined in. We now are working with 10 young people.

They are all intelligent. They come from good homes, mostly stable, some divorced parents, but decent household incomes and hopes for the future. But they are using drugs. Some have been caught by law enforcement and are in the program by court decree. Others were corralled by their parents and placed in the program. Most have been nabbed in a serious drug induced state or near death moment; those have been relegated to lock-down rehab facilities in another northern Illinois city. From there they come to our rehab program.

Making some sense of their individual circumstances is not easy. What led them to their use of drugs? Why did they persist in their use of drugs? Do they see where this may lead – their impairment, physical decay, or death? Do these ends alarm them in any way? And if they are alarmed, do they willingly display the alarm?

Who is in denial here? The patients, the staff, the family, the courts or society at large?

That’s a good question. And although many answers are quickly offered the truth is that no one has the real answer at any one time. This is a crap shoot most of the time. We don’t know for sure what we are dealing with because each patient is unique. Norms exist, we measure the state of their health both mentally and physically, and draw some conclusions from those indices. But in the main it is a person who strayed into the drug world for a reason.

What is the reason? How do we help them solve, placate or ease the reason enough for them to get on with their lives? That is what our volunteers are there for: help bridge the patients from rehab support to the real life outside so they can self sustain their lives with purpose and future.

In many cases the kids don’t admit they have a problem. You cannot build a bridge for them if they don’t recognize the shoreline exists. Or the gulf over which the bridge is to be built!

Parents are our allies but we never meet them. Our allegiance is with the kids. But parents are present in attitudes, fears, love and mistrust. The environment is heavy with the homes from which these kids come. And with good reason, because it is back to those homes these kids return to each night.

I told them this week that they keep me awake at night. My mind tries to piece together the reasons and logic of each kid. What makes him or her tick? Why do they act the way they do, did and will? Why the quiet, somber faces? Why the silly grins with no substantive comment? Withdrawal, too; and distracting antics at times. But oh so much pained silence. Like being in church when they don’t want to be. Very similar situation. They are there because an older person or authority said so. It is up to them to make sense of the interaction; or not. And mostly not.

In time – if they give us enough of it – most of the kids recover well enough to return home and school, finish high school, and begin their lives with a bit more purpose. Hopefully enough purpose to build an education of value and a career with utility and happiness included.

I would rather hope that they return to the real world as engaged, creative persons who build interesting and soul searching lives that matter to everyone else, mostly to their own credit. They have worth. They don’t know how to value that at this point in their life. But it is up to us to help them see life as a process and journey that only pays off when engaged and struggled with.

We learn about our inner selves under such circumstances. Me too; that’s why I do this volunteer work in the first place – not because I know, but because I need to. So do the kids need to experience this and process what they learn into their lives as a tool for successful living later on.

Well that sort of sums up what we do and why we do it. The results are not conclusive. Often they end in tragedy as a young life ends quietly one night. That leaves us wondering what we could have done differently. But the lesson is not lost on the survivors; they are sobered and contemplate the meaning. It is writ large on their face for all to see.

Not all of adult life is this laid out for us. Most of it is accidentally encountered, dealt with or ignored. We take from it what we can at the moment and move on to the next challenge.

These kids, however, don’t have the tools for that yet. Maybe next session?

November 17, 2016

Building on Rubble

So, the election is over. The dirtiest, most awful Presidential Campaign season I have ever experienced. And I know I am not alone in celebrating its passing. Thank God It Is Over!

But now we face the inevitable building of workable teams in government. The two parties will regroup and consider what their future plans are. They will either lick their wounds or celebrate victories. But both parties now stand wounded. In front of their own people. In front of all American citizens.

Yes, you Mr. and Mrs. Democrat and Republican. Both parties are wounded now. They do not represent the sensibilities or values of our nation. We are better than the face they placed on our nation during the campaigns. We are kinder, gentler and more inventive of solutions to our shared problems. We care about each other more and work hard in silent, unheralded organizations and charities. We do the work of America. We really do.

A political party does not do the work of the nation. It merely assembles leaders who they think can get things done but first they must have the reins of power to make things happen. So the money bags come out; ads are bought. Skulduggery teams are built and they go to work. They research the polling data and they identify countless issues in countless communities to determine where the strength of voters will make a difference in the next election. They will team up against imagined or real political enemies and cut them off at the pass. They will ambush them and taint them and otherwise destroy their reputations so the candidate field in the future is simpler and clearer for them.

The only problem is their opposite party is doing the same thing. So it is a wash or at least a tie on the old gridiron of play! And so it goes. Another election, another generation, another era of lost opportunity and possibility for building something positive. Negativity wins the day yet again. And the cycle starts all over again.

Or, we could agree among ourselves – just you and I – that this past political season was the absolute worst and must never again occur. We must set the standard high for a return to principle and purpose. So I’m suggesting we look at the following as a possible framework to use in this struggle into the future.

First, decide to actually discuss the big issue in front of us: Is our society to be a big government or a little government society? Indeed, what do these terms mean and portend? My hunch is that a full discussion of this issue will lead us to a better position of agreement, something like this:

1. Government has purpose and needs to be allowed to do its job
2. Government should be funded and managed to do its tasks efficiently and with excellence of output
3. Watchdog controls within government should effectively guarantee the latter two points.
4. The size of government will fit the task it is being asked to do:
1. Military establishment must be up to the task of defending the nation
2. Social Security is the largest and most effective safety net of its kind and must be retained and kept healthy for future generations
3. Medicare is the largest medical care safety net of its kind and must be retained and kept healthy for future generations
4. Infrastructure standards must be set and supported long into the future

                                                              i.      Size and health of electrical grid

                                                            ii.      Size and health of natural gas distribution system

                                                          iii.      Energy policy that minimizes international threats to stability on a global basis; research and develop non-fossil fuel energy base

                                                          iv.      Highways and bridges maintained to national standard

                                                            v.      Dams and storm water management engineered and maintained for maximum public safety

                                                          vi.      Water and sewer systems maintained at the highest standards of quality and safety

5. Education standards must be set and maintained to support

                                                              i.      Research and development of science, math, and technology that leads the world in manufacturing, education and public services

                                                            ii.      Increase access to all education levels for each citizen so they maximize their value to themselves and society

                                                          iii.      Control costs of access to education so individual citizens can afford such access

6. Maintenance of National Commerce system to meet world competition

                                                              i.      Banking system strong and without fault lines within its structure

                                                            ii.      Inflation controlled so as to do the least damage to the quality of life for the entire public

                                                          iii.      Trade agreements engineered that protect labor and capital assets fairly while allowing breakthrough developments in international trade and competition healthy for the nation and global village

7. Environmental protection for continued healthy living quality long into the future: protect the planet for future generations now and always 

Second, develop a prioritized list of these issues that must be worked on for long term health and prosperity for the nation. Not all issues can be effectively addressed at the same time. They must be taken in order of their underlying support for a social system that functions well. Education is certainly one of the highest priorities. Without investment in our people and their minds, we will surely be lost! But of course, military issues are probably even higher than education. And other issues, important of course, even vital, must take their place in an orderly set of priorities so that we eventually address all issues. Just not all at once. Some we can do concurrently with others. Many of the issues of importance are not in collapse but well along in development. We continue such work while more important issues are managed to higher levels of performance.

We are not a nation of unlimited resources. All of us have limits. Time, energy, spirit are among the rarest of resources. Money is much farther down the line in importance. But our collective intelligence and will make a huge difference if we use them well.

Without the self imposed misery of political parties perhaps we can actually get at what is important to us?

If so, let’s demand this form of leadership of all of our elected officials. If they don’t perform or demonstrate the necessary discipline, then mark them for removal at the next election. We don’t need a party structure to make this happen. We just need common sense and engaged citizens to make this happen.

Please consider all of this within the next several weeks. We have the opportunity to make a difference. The only question is will we? And that is up to you and I.

November 16, 2016

Finding a New Normal

So much has happened in recent years we have all mumbled many times – “when are we going to get back to normal?”  I understand the sentiment; I’ve muttered this phrase many times.

Going back 10 years was the start for me. A whole rash of ‘what’s normal?’ exclamations poured from my mouth! It began with the George W. Bush administration in Washington, DC. At the time his administration and congress were allowing regulations to tumble into oblivion, industries to run as fast and in as many directions as they wanted, all to make money and gain power. The inevitable road block loomed only they didn’t see it.

Policy wonks, like me, just knew in their bones that a serious recession was on its way if not already brewing in the recesses of our daily lives. And sure enough! There it was, finally in 2008 we realized that 2007 was the onset of the actual statistical recession. But its roots were nurtured in policy missteps for a few years before the explosion was heard.

By 2008 it was clear we were in a serious recession and by 2010 we understood fully how desperate this recession was in comparison to all the others. This was the big one that could have slumped into a great depression. Only quick action (reluctantly at that by the republicans in congress trying to hamper then President Obama’s work) saved the US financial system from crashing completely. International repercussions were enormous. And the global village was humbled and sobered by the seriousness of the calamity just missed.

Still there was much pain. Exactly what happened, in what order of time, and because of what causes will never be fully known. The world is a complex place. But the interaction of all things is systemic and holistic. Screw it up and it will bite you in unexpected places. We know that is true. We’ve lived through it these past 10 years.

The normal we pined for never came back, did it? Wages and salaries remained at historic lows in comparison to GDP, careers shifted in content and skill sets, tens of millions of people were displaced from their jobs and their careers, never to see them return. No; they needed to change their skill sets and their career definitions to return to meaningful employment and a reasonable household income. This was a slow go for most of us. Not all were affected in the same manner. But most of us were.

Retirees were heavily hampered. Middle aged workers were decimated. Early retirements abounded. Living on small and fixed incomes was the new standard people were struggling to get used to. The entire social security safety net was in doubt, but managed to survive. Same for Medicare and Medicaid. Both severely challenged to maintain some form of normality.

Social benefits down, employment down, bankruptcies up, foreclosed mortgages soaring, homes lost, nest eggs dissolved, retirement plans kaboshed. These were the markings of the new normal we desperately fought to get out of. It was a mire then, and still is, but things are improving.

On the cusp of this we get the Presidential Election of 2016. Half the population was sold a bill of goods that one candidate was a liar and dishonest. The other half believed that their country had failed them and someone was to blame. So they supported a candidate who didn’t know how to govern but had a big mouth ready to spew whatever he felt others would embrace because it made them feel good.

And the race was on.

I say no. This is one race that had a false start. To follow it to its end we would have yet another horrible crash of another sort from which we would fight to define another ‘new normal’. But here’s the thing: the new normal is what we make it. It will be what we the people want it to be.

There is much more positive alive and well in our American society than negative.

Oh sure, there are those who are worried and down at heart, but they need a hug and a pat on the back to get back up and see what’s good in our own land. And from that we can re-start this race to a new normal on a better footing.

Stop blaming others. That’s the first step in this process. The second step? Start imagining what we want as the normal we can aspire to. We have done it many times in the past 400 years and we can continue to do so. It’s in our blood and DNA. We know how without thinking. Just do it.

So list what’s important to you and the one rule that remains – Don’t take anything away from someone else. This is about building up our nation and our people. It is not about power over other nations or other people inside or outside of our own borders.

Education important to you? Then make it a high priority for you and yours and the nation will benefit.

Access to affordable healthcare important to you and yours? Make it a priority.

Infrastructure we all rely on healthy and prepared for the future? Make it a priority.

Elections held without big money influences and special interests? Make that a priority.

Peace within the global village everywhere? Make it a priority.

You see the pattern? List what you feel are important elements of an America that makes you proud. You might consider tolerance for those who believe differently than you, but that’s just my bias talking.

Have at it people. This is your land. This is your future. Make it happen!

November 15, 2016

Feeling the Peace?

I wrote this post on November 4^th. I titled it the way I did because I’m hoping that once the election is past us on November 9^th, the political ads will go away, news will be focused on other things than the election, and personalities will have begun the process of calming down. What a relief that is. Or will be since I am writing this for the future!  [Note: If you go by the temper of Facebook, the nation is not yet at peace!]

After the election these things will begin to occur, I think and hope:

• Presidential Transition Team will be formed to help the President Elect prepare for action on January 20, 2017. Forming a cabinet and lining up issues high on the agenda to manage will be the primary actions in preparation
• Election losers will have faded into the background while winners are busy preparing for their new jobs or a continuation of their duties retained in the election
• Congress will be analyzing its new reality based on party affiliations that will be represented in the new congress in January; hopefully the Senate will switch to Democrat control; and also hopefully, the House will be more evenly divided and capable of compromise in the next two years
• Families will lick their political wounds and prepare for gatherings on Thanksgiving; this is the family holiday of the year and one that is the most neutral emotionally. That is why it is the best holiday of the year in my book!
• At Thanksgiving family plans for Christmas will be discussed
• Weather will turn chilly and threats of snow will increase. With that snug, warm indoor life will be welcomed
• And thus calm will slowly be restored to the American family scene 

Now do you feel the peace? Or the hope that it will come very, very soon?

At 73 years of age and an observer of the political scene for most of my life, I can tell you this was the worst, most nasty election cycle in my experience. Nothing before it compares with this cycle. I say cycle because presidential elections are now run non-stop for four years between elections. It is pathetic.

Too bad the nation can’t get itself organized well enough to focus its energy on getting things done rather than messing up political leaders in preparation for the next election. It’s been this way since Bill Clinton was elected. Such nastiness at that time and it ran without break throughout his 8-year term. When it looked like Hillary would run all these years later the same nastiness cooked up and now they are threatening to impeach her and she hasn’t won the election at this point or taken the oath of office! Does this tell you something? It ought to.

Seems to me that America needs to spend more time figuring out problem definitions and inventing/creating solutions to those problems on a serious basis. That would be purposeful and of value to the rest of us. And it would remove us from nasty political rhetoric. After all, we are in this thing of life together. It matters that we strive to make the best of our life together, not make the worst of it.

Why people in politics think this is acceptable is beyond me. It is not acceptable behavior from anyone. We discipline our kids when they act this way in the home. Why not discipline public officials and politicians, news anchors and pundits when they act this way? Now there’s an idea in need of development!!

Deep breaths. Cool outdoor air. Crisp morning weather patterns. Cool to cold nights for sleeping. Winter is approaching and with it the need to calm down, find peace and restore clear thinking. Best if this thinking is on pleasant things like Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Of course that’s my cultural background – Christmas and Thanksgiving. In whatever land you reside, celebrate your calm and peaceful seasons, too. Whether that is in a Christian tradition, Jewish or Muslim faith tradition, celebrate what matters to you. Also Buddhism and Hinduism! And others I am even less familiar with! You get the idea. We all have a core belief system and we need to be true to it in peace and calm with other belief systems. It will keep our world community at peace as well.

As this season moves on toward other agendas and activities, let us support a kinder and gentler time among us all.

Peace to you. And prosperity as well!

November 14, 2016

Coping; Control?

So many phrases run through my mind these days. All of them come down to this – How do I maintain control over my life when others around me clearly aren’t in control of theirs?

I get it that people are happy with the outcome of the election. They think Trump has the guts to say it like it is. He reflects their frustration and loss of control in their lives. They feel neglected and at a loss over their derailed careers, job loss, economic decline and all the rest. They are at sea in the midst of much loss and along comes a guy who seems to speak to those feelings.

A win for Trump is a confirmation of their pain. So they are happy. And they elect him.

For the others whose candidate lost, their pain is real as well. They too have felt loss in the past several years totally unrelated to the election. It is the election they were pinning their hopes on to stem the losses felt over the past dozen years or more.

What are those losses?

Change in jobs. Stagnation in household income. Career change without happy endings; lack of fulfillment and appreciation for the work done. Social reliance on fun and games rather than substantive meaning, value, mental fulfillment.

Oh there were other losses as well. Include pleasantness of social contacts. Undercurrents of anger and incivility. Chomping at the bit for a voice, the sounding of an opinion you hold dear. Ignorance and lack of caring on the part of others. A sense that my community is not whole and slipping away from me. Similar feelings in family circles, too.

Things are changing over which I have little or no control. Impact on my life, yes; adjustment to them, slow and imperfect. How will these changes affect my life in the longer term? Will these be pleasant or painful?

How much of my life do I have control over?

This overriding doubt becomes a larger presence. Nagging and energy sapping.

And so we begin questioning our associations. Are they positive forces in our lives or are they negative? Who do I trust? Who do I care for? Do they care for me? Not love, care. Simple caring. Do they? Do I?

And so it goes. Trailing down a spiral of doubt toward fear and terror.

Somewhere along that line we stop, take a deep breath, and restart our thinking. Perhaps this is not as bad as it first seemed. Maybe I am overreacting. My emotions are getting the upper hand and I must resist that. What are my options now? How else can I think of this complex of feelings and happenings? Can I do something different?

I walk into a meeting and tensions are high. Good colleagues working on difficult issues but also affected by the outside world. We are a part of it. It is a part of us. We carry the baggage with us into many arenas. So do others – carry baggage. Some are happy while others are glum. Surface tension is broken and Trump gladiators preen while Hillary losers wince. Campaign sound bites are sounded. Inappropriate. Reaction is swift. Uncivil response rapidly follows.

How much more of this will we experience in the coming days? Less and less, hopefully. But the pain remains. The nation is unsettled. This was not between Trump and Hillary. Finding a common theme as reconnection to one another is faulty and hesitant. The face to face is real; the connection is not yet apparent. When will this resolve? And is this the essence of healing?

Basics first: one side is about moving the nation forward in equality and kindness and fixing problems erupting from rapid social change and dislocation.

The other side is about being respected because they experienced loss as well and they want some of that back.

The latter is emotional; angry and frustrated at past happenings. The former is hopeful and practical, finding solutions to problems they are aware of. But do the two parties see clearly that they are suffering from the same thing?

It is only their answer to the upset that bothers them in the first place that is the difference between them.

What is the desired outcome for each party? Are they similar in nature? If so why the chasm between them?

Here’s what I’m afraid of: angry people striking out against perceived threats from others they see differently than themselves and doing damage to the others. Don’t understand gay people, or Blacks or Hispanics or immigrants, people of different religions, etc? Do these people mean me harm? Are they taking something away from me? Are they an enemy that endangers me and requires defensive moves on my part?

Anger yields to bigotry. Bigotry yields to actions. Actions lead to threats. Threats lead to violence. Soon there is chaos and rioting in the streets.

Over differences of opinion? No. This is over powerlessness. And Trump is seen as power and thus got votes. He knew this. He manipulated it to his advantage. The rest of us ignored him as a hateful bigot but the last laugh is on us; he won the votes of those who felt disenfranchised, marginalized.

But those same people don’t get this: I feel marginalized and powerless too. I feel my nation has abandoned basic fairness, kindness and decency. I fear that women are undervalued and made into sex objects. I fear that gay people are viewed as evil and worthy of erasure. I fear popular religious views will trump others and create a power wedge in government circles favoring people of one belief over others.

Violence against others is not always of bone and sinew. It is most often of emotion and belonging.

I get your pain. Do you get mine?

November 12, 2016

Policy Art; and Why

So the FBI in the person of its director James Comey entered the fray of the Presidential campaign. And people wonder why this is a big deal. Whether you were on the side of Trump or Clinton, it doesn’t matter. But I’ll bet Clinton understands this major goof by Comey better than Trump.

Trump seems to be a literalist in all things related to government. It is a black and white issue for him. But we all have come to learn that if Trump thinks something is good for him, then it’s true; if not, then it is not true, rigged, maybe. You get the idea.

But Clinton knows that what people say in government can be construed in many ways. That’s why policy in and of itself is truly an art.

Policy. It is a statement or written protocol that guides use of government power so it serves the most people, not just special interests. It can do the latter, but not as an intended action.

Justice is to protect the innocent and punish the guilty. But in this complex world there are many shades of gray concerning any event. It is not always black or white. Did someone kill someone intentionally, that is, murder another human being? If yes, then the next question is why. If there are mitigating circumstances – such as self defense, fear for one’s own life, etc. – then murder may not be the charge. Involuntary manslaughter might be the case, but then, full on self defense in which the slain person was the aggressor, the killer will most likely escape any charge. And that would be a correct call.

Once while I worked at the University of Illinois at Chicago, I encountered a student who acted very oddly. In further interaction I developed the sense his emotions were like a powder keg likely to explode at any moment. Calming him down, I questioned his situation to determine the cause of his upset. I could find none, at least none that he admitted to. So, I made an appointment to see him later in the day to share some research on another matter, and then went straight to the Dean.

We discussed the haunting thought that he might be a danger to himself – suicide – or to others – assault or worse. We examined our options. The Dean and I thought we had a responsibility to protect both the campus and the student from possible harm. We were not certain we were capable of diagnosing his situation or cause but then we had the tools available to have that brought to the situation (we had a full counseling service and a psychiatric student health service under our division’s management). So we contacted the Chancellor’s office and asked for legal assistance in the matter.

Joint discussions in short order guided us to declare the student a threat to himself and/or others and required involuntary detention for mental health assessment. Later that day when the student returned for his appointment with me, we informed him of the situation, and had a campus police officer ready to escort him to the psychiatric service. We had written notice for him and his parents informing them of the situation and his and their rights to easily take control of the situation.

In the meantime we protected the student and the rest of the campus from a potentially volatile personality and incident.

There are personal rights – both legal and constitutional – that we had an obligation to protect, but also to protect the student and the campus population at large. Not an easy situation to work through, but we did.

That was a policy decision, policy development opportunity, and policy action.

It is not easy to navigate. Not before being called upon to do so, or while doing it, or in any other manner. It is hard work to protect everyone.

But that’s what public policy is all about. It doesn’t protect the government or the employer or the citizen. It protects everyone. And that takes a broad view of reality.

In Trump’s case he is experienced with protecting himself or his business interests. A corporate policy is not like a public policy. The former is mostly one dimensional while the latter is multi dimensional.

Clinton has vast experience with public policy and she understands the complexity of setting policy and implementing it. Very ticklish. Think foreign affairs. Think US Justice Department affairs; think hostage negotiations (Waco, Texas memories, anyone?). Not easy matters to experience and manage.

Comey should have known better than to mix with politics. The Clinton emails issue was a political time bomb easily manipulated by everyone, especially political enemies. Still, no fundamental law was broken. Most elected officials and government agency staff have managed their routines using emails. Past Presidents have; and Vice Presidents, and past Secretaries of State. Where were the calls for justice in their handling of emails, and the deletion of millions of them to escape examination? And Comey knows this better than anyone. His career has taught him the fine points of policy and practice.

But he failed the big test. And now the reputation of the FBI is in question going forward under his leadership.

The FBI’s reputation for fairness and justice has been badly bruised. Sad but true. How will they and subsequent Presidents handle future relationships with the agency?

Keep your eye on this for the answer. It will become apparent.

November 11, 2016