The Next Eight Years

It seems to me that our next president needs to be a two term president. I say this because I believe it will take at least eight years of stability in our administrative branch to heal the wounds made in our relationships in the world community. The deeper distrust of US voters created by the election of Donald John Trump as forty fifth president will take much longer to change.  That distrust is now part of our world reality and national psyche - one of the unintended consequences of our actions.

With all that said, my choice for our next president must be a statesperson and be able to survive two terms of globe trotting, staying calm, and being the target of vicious mud slinging. While national health care, leveling the existing economic disparities among Americans, and reducing student debt are all important they are better addressed by Congress than a president. In addition those issues will not heal the wounds mentioned above nor will they provide salve for the internal festering sores of skin color bigotry, regionalism, nationalism or  religionism.  The next president must convincingly explain how Americans can maintain a sense of national pride and at the same time successfully participate in a global economy.

If Trump is re-elected the best thing that will happen to us is that we will become the laughingstock of the free world.