Intermezzo: Condoleeza Rice for President? 😉

Somewhat tongue-in-cheek as the former Secretary of State acknowledges at the end of this CBS interview that she is not currently interested in the political arena.  However, her demeanor, her unifying words and gracious acknowledgement of individual responsibilities to make a difference in our society raises my esteem for her, and raises the question of who I would like to vote for in 2020.  She would definitely be at the top of my list as a woman of color who speaks with wisdom, compassion and forward-looking vision.

“I would ask the president to first and foremost speak in the language of unity, the language of empathy . . . I’ve heard the president talk about the resilience of Americans. I’d love to hear more of that.
“Twitter and tweeting are not great ways for complex thoughts, for complex messages.  When the president speaks, it needs to be from a place of thoughtfulness, from a place of having really honed the message so that it reaches all Americans.
“And by the way, not just the president.  I would love to hear this from our leaders in Congress on both sides of the aisle.  I would love to hear from mayors and from governors and from others.  Leaders at this particular point need to do everything that they can to overcome, not intensify our divisions.”

The interview with its transcription at the link here is worth your 13 minutes to hear.
https://news.yahoo.com/face-nation-condoleezza-rice-dr-162643202.html

Further, take a look at the excellent movie, Just Mercy, based on the true story of Bryan Stevenson’s search for justice for death row inmates in Alabama.

This movie does not condone those who are guilty of crimes, but addresses the reality that Ms. Rice spoke of growing up in Alabama during the era of Jim Crow:  “But I will tell you, as somebody who grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, Jim Crow Alabama, when if a black man was shot by a policeman, it wouldn’t have even been a footnote in the newspaper.”

These are complicated problems and require more than a Tweet or photo-op to resolve.  We need more leaders like Condoleeza Rice with desire to unify, heal and advance conservativism in American politics.

So, Condoleeza Rice for President?  We can dream. 🙂