ACTION SPEAKS LOUDLY, THOUGHT IS QUIET

The words action speaks for come in two flavors:

“Do this thing, but don’t tell anyone.”

And,

“Do this thing so others will do it too.”

What’s the difference, you ask? See if this helps:

Civil disobedience starts with civil, as in be civil in your disobedience to show you understand how it works.

For example, a man took his ailing father in law to a doctor’s appointment. It was more complicated because the old man was in a nursing home and he needed patient transportation.

(Before continuing, yes, he was my father in law, but let’s move along without the guilt.)

So the man met his father in law at the doctor’s office for the appointment the doctor didn’t ask for. He wondered why it was necessary.

“He’s not scheduled for a regular appointment until next month,” the doctor said.

The old man had moved to the nursing home after a fall in foster care. And he was foster care because his home caregiver son in law needed some time off from the 24/7, year after year schedule, according to his wife.

“I’d like you to take a look at him today, then call the nursing home and ask them to release him back to home care,” the man said.

Doctor Action Speaks

He made the call and learned that the nursing home considered the old man too frail for home care.

Son in law visited the nursing home the day before and found the old man jack-knifed with his chest on his thighs in a wheelchair at the end of a hallway. It was a summer day. The front desk had good AC, the hallway with the old man had to be ninety degrees. It was a mess.

“Doctor,” the man said, “If you can’t get a release from the nursing home, then I’d like you to call the police and have me arrested so the old man can see I tried.”

“That’s not necessary,” he said.

“Then call the parking lot security, the janitor, someone in a uniform so this old man knows someone gives a damn about him. I want him to see it, and I’ll keep quiet so your waiting room won’t be disturbed.”

Eventually, a few calls later, the old man got released from the hot stink of the nursing home, back to his family.

Care Action Speaks

This is the hard part after watching policemen work the crowds of unrest across the country.

People are on edge, disturbed, and want a change, the same as you’d be if America was your home and you saw a man die on video from a knee on his neck.

For all of the violence and destruction, there have been moments of grace, but the senseless violence sticks.

Protestors getting mowed by a police SUV in New York.

A young woman sitting on the ground until a policeman walked up and kicked over her with his boot.

An old man in Salt Lake City didn’t move fast enough with his cane. A policeman helped by shoving him with is riot shield. That old man fell to the ground and a different cop stepped in to help him up.

People in pain need help, but not the sort of help that comes from the outside and makes things worse.

Minneapolis mayor says most of the arrests made on rioters showed they came from out of state.

People in pain are not opportunistic targets, a chance to join and create mayhem.

I saw a video of a bunch of white guys breaking store windows while a black guy yelled for them to stop, since he knew where the blame would land.

Leadership Speaks

The voices I hear are the ones not speaking, the words not formed. My better side says the man in the White House is thinking hard about the best response he can deliver to calm the fires.

He’s quiet and thoughtful, waiting for the right moment.

He’s quiet, yes, but not Twitter-quiet. On that platform he stokes the fire set and waits, waits, waits. What is he waiting for?

You can find another blog to shit-talk leaders, this isn’t that site. But take this for what it’s worth:

If you assumed the responsibility of the Office of the President of the United States, what would you do differently, starting today?

Here’s a starter kit: Call for an Oval Office speech covered by any and all networks. Tell the nation’s policemen to stop targeting the press. Explain how the free press is essential to democracy.

Look into the camera and tell the people you understand their pain, and that a remedy is in the works. Then give an outline on just what steps you will approve.

Rise above the question of why the police have tremendous assets in the field, while frontline doctors and nurses struggle to find protective gear.

Rise above the questions about about looting and shooting, about the secret service dogs’ job, and the pep rally you called for on a Saturday night.

Explain how rebuilding America is better than tearing it down.

Leadership begins by standing up for the weak and under-served, by convincing big money donors to direct their funding hose to community resources that work to lift the bottom line.

Reagan said, “Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall.”

George Bush I saw the wall drop.

Clinton said he could feel the pain.

Bush II said mission accomplished.

Obama navigated between a stonewalling senate and a birth certificate issue.

If you had the job, wouldn’t you seek a way to calm this roiling sea? Think first, because action speaks volumes.