1) The key
to Arthur's political success is not found in the usual kind of political
marketing we know today. This automatically distinguishes
him from all the other candidates, and endears him to the people.
No Spin. No deceptions. Just open and honest communication. He
is more concerned about the welfare of the people than about himself,
and this is apparent in everything he says. He politely listens
to lobbyists, weighs the merit of their arguments, but never bases
his decisions on contributions or personal gain.
2) He is leader
in the finest sense of the word. Not by dictating or micro-managing
the way he wants things, but by inspiring the best from everyone.
By not seeking credit for himself, he receives praise for the
works that others accomplish in his name.
3) He cherishes
his allies, and works hard to keep their friendships alive,
constantly acknowledging their worth. In this way he earns their
loyalty without buying them off. He tries to understand the
world from their perspectives to expand his own mind and genuinely respects their concerns.
He treats them in such a way that they are inspired to add
their own personal worth to his global dream of cooperation.
4) Surprisingly,
he looks upon his enemies in much the same way. Instead
of labeling them as evil, thereby setting the stage for vigorous
conflict, he works to change their hearts, to make them worthy
to become our allies. He recognizes and challenges their dignity
as leaders in order to instill dignity in their acts. He leaves
the door open to reconciliation from which both sides benefit.
He knows that when all the peoples of the world respect him not only as
president, but as a moral leader, and admire his results, errant despots
will no longer benefit by contending with him. Instead, they will
try to emulate him.
5) He would
have responded to the events of 9/11 in a wise manner.
First of all, he would not have responded in fear, or for revenge,
or for ulterior motives. That would be playing into the terrorists'
hands. He would have rallied his allies, struck al Qaeda at
its heart and stay there until the job was done. Afghanistan might
then have become a valuable ally of freedom and sanity in the
world. He would have studied their culture and religion
in order to build bridges of understanding and cooperation. He
would have won the hearts and minds of the people through his
personal qualities—rather than buying them off, or bullying them into
submission, which would create nothing but distrust, resentment and
trouble on ahead. He would have hunted down Bin Laden without
mercy, throwing the combined might of the United States and its
allies against him until the threat was over. This would
have stood as a lesson for other would-be enemies.
He would certainly
not have invaded Iraq, where sectarian tensions
and religious beliefs made the possibility of a peaceful democracy
slim if not impossible. He would have had the foresight of knowing
that an invasion of Iraq would only make things worse for the
people of Iraq and the world in general. He would have known that
he would be playing into al Qaeda's plan, portraying the United
States as the evil aggressor that our enemies claim.
6) If Arthur
found himself in a situation like we have in Iraq, while simultaneously
fighting a war on terror, he would understand that the basis of
both conflicts is really a clash of cultures. Knowing this, he would first get his own house in order. His beliefs,
his ideas of freedom, democracy and equal rights, have to be more
than rhetoric—not something based on money or power, or hidden
agendas. It has to be pure and compelling, rejecting anything
that smacks of hypocrisy.
He knows that
Capitalism is an economic philosophy and should not be confused
with a moral philosophy. We have high ideals in this country.
The highest in the world. We need to respect and be inspired by them again.
Each one of us needs to make goodness, fairness and concern for
all people part of our everyday decisions. We cannot hope to be
competent leaders of the world when so many of our own people
fall behind, live in poverty, and drop out of school. We cannot
proselytize the benefits of freedom when our courts are congested,
our prisons filled beyond capacity, and chemical escape remains strong in many people's lives. We cannot speak of family
values with so many of our families in crisis. We cannot proclaim
democracy as the ideal form of government when our political leaders
care only about raising money, catering to special interests,
and personal gain.
If we do not
repair our culture, here and now, we lose the war of ideologies,
no matter how many people we kill.
Arthur
understands that.
7) Arthur
knows that not communicating with our enemies only emboldens them.
We cannot positively influence a nation we do not communicate
with. Cuba, after all these decades, is a prime example. But so
is Iran and North Korea. Why should we allow our world image to be shaped by
our enemies? History is very clear on this. Our present
policy contributes to our problems immeasurably.
8) Arthur's
strength comes from winning people over to what is right and good. One does
not do this by constantly and blindly contending with the opposition party. He understands that
a voter mandate based on 1 or 2 % is not a mandate at all. By
ignoring the wishes of half the population—indeed, by blatantly
defying their wishes at every turn—the stage is set for eventual
failure. No one profits in the long run by fueling partisan bickering—other
than talks show hosts and political consultants. The people
always lose.
9) Arthur,
through the leadership of truth and example, works to raise the level of political
discourse and cooperation.
10) He responds
heroically to the suffering of foreign peoples like those in Darfur.
Genocide, poverty, diseases like AIDS, are the metaphorical dragons
that the legendary Arthur and his knights always confronted and
defeated.
