voting, character, and failure to communicate

the last twenty-four hours in thoughts

The point of this column, about to celebrate its second birthday, is to generate civil, measured conversation. I am ecstatic half a dozen responses Saturday on several recent topics did just that.

Two notes merit particular clarification. First, while one reader noted that Puerto Ricans can indeed vote in federal elections if they are registered/live elsewhere (not in their Commonwealth), I am unaware of that condition pertaining to other U.S. citizens in any specific locality other than Puerto Rico. I stand by the fact as peculiar. But the eagle-eyed reader is correct that as citizens the issue is voting as Puerto Rican residents instead of as residents of Ripley, Tennessee or Watkin’s Glen, New York.

My neighbor Jim pushed me to be more explicit about my column on character, opining

“In your post about ‘the Maryland State House’ you mentioned character a number of times.  But, why is character so important?  None of us can foretell the future, none of us knows what decisions the President of the United States is going to have to make in the next four years.  We can look at past actions, we can listen to what candidates tell us, we can try to interpret their directions, but, in the end we can’t predict the conditions or circumstances that will exist 2, 3, or 4 years from now.  So, we have to look at the character of the individual and ask ourselves, “based on that person's character can I trust future decisions to be ones I can agree with?  

We must build our interpretation of a persons character based on the person's past actions, how the person reacted under a given set of circumstances.  Did the person have the integrity, honesty, faithfulness and other descriptors of character that I value?  If the answer is yes, then that person deserves your choice as a representative of you.  If not, keep looking because character will come into play during the next 4 years.

Ultimately, character means more than speeches, slogans or promises … more than gender, race or experience because character will define the parameters used to make future decisions.

Just my two cents worth, but the standards of judgement and decision making by which I have tried to live.”

I most definitely failed to state explicitly that I agree entirely that we cannot ever know how someone will respond to a particular challenge (“history does not repeat but rhymes”) but our best clue is how the individual behaved in the past. The past does not determine the future but it informs us about that possible future. Jim eloquently asks ‘[d]id the person have the integrity, honesty, faithfulness and other descriptors of character that I value?  If the answer is yes, then that person deserves your choice as a representative of you.  If not, keep looking because character will come into play during the next 4 years.’ I thought I was making that clear but wasn’t. His question is precisely what I believe character implies for decision-making but I should have told you that without equivocation.

Additionally, speeches, campaign rallies, and hypothetical discussions in the sanctity of the abstract don’t tell us much because they are intentions, divorced from the pressure of action. That part again seems obvious yet it is the device by which we make our choices most of the time. I did not clarify that, either.

This is why I welcome each of you to respond to any of these discussions. I may not cite you in a column but think about your points at length. Thank you every single one. Please keep those responses coming my way as I am aware my thoughts are simply one person’s musings rather than some repertoire of answers fully formed. Thank you for taking time to read this, circulate it, and respond.

Some of you may know my husband is an artist of great skill. He enrolled in a water colour class across the Bay this weekend. The transit between Annapolis and Easton, Maryland affords me ample driving time to ponder the several notes I happily received this week on various topics. My camera and I spent Saturday in two bucolic towns on the Eastern Shore. While we are having a muted autumn, likely due to the dry conditions, but it was a charming day.

If you have the chance to spend time in Tilghman Island, you won’t be sorry. It’s adjacent to a peninsula off the main DelMarVa peninsula but quite a throw back to another era. One hamlet had such a sense of community. As I walked back to my car, I exchanged greetings with a man watering his lawn. I complemented him on such a welcoming place. He smiled before responding “And they are nice people here, too”.

Saturday afternoon I found Oxford about as charming as any place I ever travel, with its lovely leaf-strewn streets, Scottish Highland Creamery (made me think ever so briefly about eating ice cream again after 29 years), and surrounding waters where sailors still frolicked even if this year’s ferry season is over.

I start today paying the ultimate price for having a cat. Have you ever tried to explain to an eleven year old cat why the shift from Daylight Savings Time to Daylight Standard Time means it’s really an hour earlier than he thinks? Suffice to say it’s a 100% failure to communicate.

Be well, vote because it’s our privilege if registered, and be safe. FIN