It was inevitable that former Vice President Joe Biden selected Senator Kamala Harris as the vice presidential candidate for the Democratic Party for the November elections. When you walk through all the pros and cons of her and the other candidates she was clearly the best candidate. She has national experience as a senator, national exposure as a candidate herself, experience as a prosecutor and Attorney General which will bode well in today’s environment of demands for police reform. She is not afraid to call people out as she did to Biden during the Democratic presidential debates. Most of all she is a proven fund raiser which will be critical between now and November.
It was also inevitable that the BiG was going to cancel football and all fall sports, which officially happened today. As I previously wrote about in prior blogs, I could not see how univeristy presidents could justify asking students to distance learn and also justify asking student athletes to be on campus and participate in sporting activities. These are not professional athletes who are getting paid. This is not the NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB or any other professional sport. These are young adults still living at home with their parents or other family members when not in school. Only a very small percentage of the student athletes will ever make a living playing sports. They have their whole life in front of them. It never made sense to me that the presidents would risk the health of the student athletes by allowing them to participate in sports during this pandemic.
The Petoskey area is a special place during the summer. The temperatures are comfortable during the day and cool at night. The sky is bluer and the air is so much cleaner than SE Michigan. Noise and traffic are non existent. Then there are days like today. A day that was absolutely spectacular from dawn until dusk. A day that was best spent outdoors for every minute possible. This evening I saw an eagle fly in front of my car on US 31 near the entrance to Crooked Tree and then I rode my bike up to the Crooked Tree pro shop to watch a spectacular sunset. I love this place.
This evening while watching the sunset, I was talking to a friend who is Vietnam Vet, an audiologist, and a conservative republican. We were talking about how this country is missing politicians working together for the betterment of the country. We both talked about President Ronald Reagan and Speaker Tip O’Neill and President Clinton and Speaker Newt Gingrich. These guys disagreed but were never disagreeable. They respected each others opinion and worked to find a middle ground for the betterment of the country and the world. Here are two you tube clips which speak for themselves. Leadership at its finest starts with respect. Respect for yourself and respect for others. Take the time to review. It is worth it.