Yesterday, I read that the governor of South Carolina said that one prominent Presidential candidate is “everything we teach our kids not to do in kindergarten.”
Her comment amused and pained me because, in truth, I’ve been thinking the same thing about most politicians for a while. Optimist that I am, I believe that tolerance, respect and open minded debate are the hallmarks of a strong, democratic society. So I admire leaders who are willing to listen to different opinions and find common ground for the good of all. But somewhere along the way, many of our elected, or would-be, elected officials have replaced healthy public discourse with bullying, intimidating, lying and name calling.
I’m not nearly old enough to be the mother of any seasoned elected official, but I am alarmed enough to say that if I were the mother of most of the politicians in our national and state capitols, I’d be ashamed. Since I’m not in a position to give a collective “time out” to every unapologetic, badly-mannered politician, I will only remind you of the wonderful wisdom of Robert Fulghum, author of All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, who wrote: “All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School.”
Here are my favorite things that Robert Fulghum, and all of us, once learned:
- Share everything.
- Play fair.
- Don’t hit people.
- Put things back where you found them.
- Clean up your own mess.
- Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
- Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
- When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
- Flush.
Mr. Fulghum also says: “Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm.”
Every day for the rest of this election year, the news will be filled with talk about politics, politicians and the future of our country. Now I have a new benchmark for evaluating our elected officials and candidates. I’m going to be paying close attention to and vote only for people who best exemplify “kindergarten politics.” Those are the politicians who remember how to get along, listen, share, and be responsible. They go into the world, watch out for traffic, hold our hands and help us stick together.
Sorry, but everyone else, I’m just going to flush.
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