New Year 2021

‘We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.’

John Dewey

Before we finally close the door on 2020, we should take a moment to reflect on the year.

We need to remember all those we lost this past year. Whether from COVID, or cancer, or heart disease, or stroke, or violence, or other diseases and natural causes, we have lost far too many people.

We need to remember all we have learned in 2020. 

We always knew that our first responders and health professionals were essential, we now know that delivery drivers, pharmacists, grocery store workers, janitors, truckers, and so many others are the ones who kept us healthy, clothed, fed, and secure.

We learned that teachers are even more remarkable than we ever gave them credit for.  They pivoted on a dime from in school to virtual learning to hybrid and every combination thereof.  They created new lessons, found new ways to engage and interact, and keep children curious and educated.

We managed to live without sports and entertainment and found new ways to connect with family, friends, nature, and our communities.

We saw a successful return to space through private company launching from American soil.

We managed to safely and successfully fast-track a vaccine to change the course of this pandemic and bring a sense of normalcy back to our chaotic world.

There have been other medical advances that have improved the lives of patients around the country and around the world.  We must continue to invest in research to ensure this momentum continues.

As we welcome in 2021, I remain hopeful and optimistic that we can take these tough learned lessons and create a better tomorrow.

That we learn to be respectful and civil to our neighbors and fellow countrymen.  We do not have to agree with each other, but we do have to live together.  Our differences should not divide us, but provide opportunities to collaborate and to improve.  We all want a better world for our children and for each other. Kindness does not take an additional effort but makes a huge difference in how we interact.

We need to continue to remain engaged in politics and policy, to stand up for what we believe in, and to vote those beliefs.  Individualism remains much more important than party loyalty.  We need to continue to improve the processes to make it easier and more secure for everyone to cast their ballot.  Government works best when ALL voices are heard.

We have learned how important our health is and access to care.  It is time we put aside the politics and find a way to ensure everyone has consistent access to quality, affordable care.  No one should have to choose between medicine and food, or choosing between losing their home or losing their child. 

We must continue to fight for equity and equality across the country.  Our ‘freedoms’ are meaningless if they’re not applied equally.  As good citizens, we have a responsibility to ourselves and our country to do better.

Finally, we must prioritize education and ensure that truth and facts are the basis of our national discourse.  We need to encourage investment in science and technology, not just to improve medical outcomes, but to ensure our assets are protected in ever-increasingly connected digital world. 

If we can launch a rocket to space, we should be able to do so many simpler, yet important, things.  We just have to put our collective minds and efforts behind it.

Thank you for the friendship, the debate, the support, and the commentary.  Whether we agree or not, my life is richer for each and every one of you.

My wish, as always, is for a healthy and happy New Year to you and your families.

Memorial Day 2019

As I pay my respects to those who have given all in service to this great nation, I pledge to do more and ask each of you to join me. Each action we take, regardless of how large or small, honors those who have sacrificed.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Since those words were written in 1776, soldiers have fought to defend the ideals defined in our Declaration of Independence.  They have fought not just for that independence, but for liberty, freedom, and equality.

These are more than just words on a page, they represent our unalienable Rights.  They define who we are and what we are as a people.  These Rights have been worth defending since before we were a country and then enshrined in our Constitution after we won the Revolutionary War.

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

For 230 years, men and women have put on the uniforms of our armed forces and sworn an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

Throughout that time, millions have served, and thousands have died.

Today, we honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our Nation and all that we stand for.  Several years ago, I wrote that it wasn’t enough just to remember, we must honor the memory.

As hatred and isolationism grow in the United States and around the world, as the press more frequently comes under attack, as our institutions are circumvented, and our very Constitution is questioned, I wonder if we’re truly honoring the memory of all those who have served and sacrificed.

We are still more divided than united when it comes to politics and policy.

Our armed forces do not represent red or blue states, they represent the United States.  There are no Democrat soldiers or Republican soldiers, there are American soldiers.

Today, as we reflect with respect on the service and sacrifice of so many, we should pledge to either put aside or embrace our differences and work to uphold the ideals of unity so many fought and died for.

If we are going to honor their memory and their sacrifice, we must adhere to the same ideals, pledge the same allegiance, and respect the same Constitution.

We honor their sacrifice not with ceremonies and celebrations, but with actions and words.

We honor their sacrifice with a commitment to truth, knowledge, and fact.

We honor their sacrifice with respect, empathy, and care for each other.

We honor their sacrifice by being informed, engaged, and holding ourselves, and each other, accountable.

We honor their sacrifice by continuing to form a more perfect union, not by dividing and demeaning each other.

As I pay my respects to those who have given all in service to this great nation, I pledge to do more and ask each of you to join me.  Each action we take, regardless of how large or small, honors those who have sacrificed.

Words can never convey the deep respect, admiration, and appreciation I have for those who have defended our country and its ideals.  I am thankful for everyone who has ever worn the uniform and sworn the oath.  Today, as every day, I’m humbled to recognize those who gave all in service to the United States. 

Today is Memorial Day, but we should live as if every day is.

May god bless each and every one of you, and may god continue to bless the United States of America.