As the run-up to the November 2020 election unfolds; and as we witness the dark divide becoming wider, deeper, and darker, a merging of the Democratic and Republican convention planks into a common vision—an alternate reality—and contrasting the two candidates for President bears fruit. It appears the critical decision is to select the candidate who can best move us closer to the vision.

VISION

Strategies

• Limited government.
• Fiscal responsibility.
• Public safety for all Americans.
• No one is above the laws.
• Business ethical issues: Federal intervention after two written Federal warnings.
• Avoid war with strong military and space forces and alliances; and stand up to dictators.
• Helping others: Churches, individuals, groups, and the government.
• Judges: uphold the Constitution and guiding principles; and satisfy evolving cultural needs.
• Marriage or children: Citizen’s choices, current need, and level of culture’s evolution.

Core Values and Guiding Principles: The Constitution is sacredly obligatory upon all. Our core values are truth to power, honesty, integrity, hope, love, and morality; and we put quality in all we are and all we do. We do not lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate those amongst us who do; and we respect law and order. We are committed to “walk the talk,” to action, and to the concept of 100% responsibility. We are objective, not self-serving, and make decisions in the best interests of The United States of America.

Leaders: are trusted, have a track record of compassion, loving-kindness, and building coalitions; understand that great leaders have been good followers and that leadership is an influence relationship that energizes earned power and willingness to achieve mutually defined goals; are master of the self, mind”full”ness, awareness, and integral life practice and model the way as persons, in relationships, socially, institutionally, and by helping others; have high standards with respect to morals, ethics, guiding principles, and core values that are plainly manifested in candidate’s personality, character, mentality, and magnetism; have learned self-restraint and 100% responsibility; are visibly committed to health, wellness, and well-being personally and for all Americans; are well-qualified, listen, inspire hope, have faith, are empathetic, and who know where the country is and what it needs; will be surrounded by exceptionally well-qualified associates; will diligently work to create and maintain a compelling worldview vision and action strategies and plans for the country; and will lead the development of policies and programs to evolve this country for all Americans. Essential policy, program, and process ingredients are:

• Leadership, management, and control of pandemics through the Centers for Disease Control coupled with state public health entities and active support and interface with the World Health Organization.
• Voting integrity with a viable and well led United States Postal Service.
• An economy for working, middle-class families that is teeming with jobs, union solidarity, small businesses, agriculture programs and processes, essential childcare, and sound trade relationships.
• A globally envied education system: facilities, teachers, curriculum, and schools of choice.
• Racial and social justice, diversity, and anti-racism policies and programs that dismantle the pillars of racism in the country: prison reform; human dignity and respect, all colors, all genders, all religions-integral spirituality. Civil rights are a must.
• Communities are safe and teeming with peaceful activities, including protests; citizens and police are mutually respected, masters of the Self, and model the way as persons, in relationships, socially, institutionally, and by helping others. Violence on streets is not tolerated is dealt with sanely.
• Global climate change and environment
• Affordable healthcare and viable public health outreach (integral physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health, wellness, and well-being) coupled with honored per-existing conditions, decreasing drug prices, and necessary integral psychological health processes, including resolution of opioid addiction. Medicare and Medicaid are sacred norms.
• Leading-edge military and space force, visits to military deployment areas, exceptional veteran and veteran spouse-family-children benefits, outreach, integral psychological health and combat veteran re-entry-transition program.
• Intelligence and technology
• National security and foreign policy with inspired allies: underwater, space, and military; and coalition building facilitated by trust, respect, and mutual goals.
• An infrastructure re-building program: maintenance, re-building, and evolution.
• Sensible gun laws.
• Immigration reform and sanity.
• Programs for the empowerment, advancement and placement of women.
• Abortion legislation recognizes women’s rights to choose.
• Tax equity and sanity; and Social Security and programs for seniors are sacred norms.
• Freedom of religion.
• Media tell the truth and are respected.

How one chooses to “show-up” in the world can be critiqued by examining and witnessing talents, skills, and experiences; making observations; and scrutinizing character, personality, mentality, and interests. (Webster offers that character is the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual; personality is the characteristic sets of behaviors, cognitions, and emotional patterns that evolve from biological and environmental factors; and mentality is the ability to think and learn.)

DONALD TRUMP

Talents, Skills, and Experiences (Resource list is available with email request to JohnDeVore@aol.com)

• A track record of failures, and chaotic disasters: personal business endeavors including several bankruptcies; foreign policy has been destroyed; pandemic management and leadership is non-existent; enlisted foreign interference in elections (Russia and China); several obstruction of justice charges; numerous lawsuits; impeachment proceedings; accepts payoffs for positions; and has numerous Trump party cronies—Lindsay Graham, Mitch McConnell, Steve Bannon, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, Michael Cohen, Carter Page, George Papadopoulos, et al—who are lost souls in search of a tribe and chief. As Bernie Sanders has eloquently noted, “Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Trump golfs.”

 Observations

• Fear and show are the foundation for his rhetoric.
• Protected by political party sorted, partisan, power worldview associates of the Federal government institution he and his cronies have chosen to deconstruct and destroy.
• Conspiracist: example QAnon.
• Racist: a person who shows or feels discrimination or prejudice against people of other races, or who believes that a particular race is superior to another.
• Dishonest, arrogant, and narcissist; uses position and financial power for personal gain.
• Creates martyr, irrelevance, and distractions; misleads, boasts, is egotistical, blamelessness of self, never wrong, and anxious to criticize.
• People mistakes.
• Lies, denies, blames, and spins; egotistical and self-serving; unqualified for the position and has not grown into the job because he cannot.

Character, Personality, Mentality, Interests.

• Low-functioning: includes persons who “… do not exhibit polished and polite behaviors as a mask for their manipulations…may lack the education or interpersonal skills to control and deceive. Instead they might use threats, coercion, or intimidation to achieve their desired outcome.” (Source: Dr. Timothy J. Legg, “What Is a High-Functioning Sociopath?”, 5-28-2019, https://www.healthline.com, 1-3.)
• Sociopath: one form of antisocial personality disorder and is the result of environmental factors such as a child or teen’s upbringing in a negative household that resulted in physical abuse, emotional abuse, or childhood trauma. (Sources: Mary L. Trump, Too Much and Never Enough, 2020, Simon & Schuster; https://psychcentral.com, Dr. John M. Grohol, “Differences Between a Psychopath vs Sociopath,” 5-20-2020, 1-5; Dr. Tarra Bates-Duford, “Psychopath vs Sociopath: 16 Key Differences,” 9-7-2018, 1-3; https://www.health.com, Rosie McCall, “9 Ways to Spot a Sociopath,” 10-4-2019, 1-7.
• Gangster, corrupt, and behaves as if above the law

JOE BIDEN

Talents, Skills, and Experiences

• Eight years as Vice President of the United States.
• Thirty-six years as a United States Senator.
• Track record of leadership, leadership successes, and building winning teams—coalitions; understands that great leaders have been good followers and that leadership is an influence relationship that energizes earned power and willingness to achieve mutually defined goals.

Observations

• Master of the self, mind”full”ness, awareness and integral life practice; and models the way as a person, in relationships, socially, institutionally, and by helping others.
• High standards with respect to morals, ethics, guiding principles and core values that are plainly manifested in candidate’s personality, character, mentality, and magnetism.
• Has learned self-restraint and 100% responsibility; and is visibly committed to health, wellness and well-being personally and for all Americans.

Character, Personality, Mentality, Interests.

• Core values: dignity, compassion, non-partisan, passionate, insight, empathy, love and loving kindness, respect, honesty, integrity, and morality.
• Guiding principles: objective, not self-serving, and makes decisions in the best interest of the country.
• Purpose: give people light.
• Anti-racist.
• Spiritual, sane, and competent.
• Family values.
• Presidential Medal of Freedom.
• Husband and wife are a good team.

Partisan politics is a dangerous duel of limited and partial truths; and binds party sorted folks to fixed, literal or otherwise limiting beliefs and frames of minds. The trans-rational contrast is quite clear: a fresh breath of hope, empathy, core values and guiding principles, trustworthiness, leadership, “light,” inspiration, and democracy; or a stale breath of death, hate, narcissism, chaos, fear, conspiracy, norm erosion, “dark,” institutional deconstruction, and neo-facism. It is not possible to create a silk purse from a pig’s ear. W. Edwards Deming remarked, “If a person is not performing as expected, it is probably because they are miscast for the job.” In Destiny, Maggie Shayne writes, “…we must each face the darkness within us. But Inanna emerged from the darkness-proving that we can do the same. Meet, embrace, accept, understand, and in the end gain mastery over our own shadow side.”