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Hug the tree.
What began as an expression of childhood amazement blossomed into a gesture of reverent gratitude for the gifts of beauty, shade and kinship offered by the majestic sentinels of time and place.
In a more kind world, hugging a tree would feel as natural as shaking the hand of a respected colleague or giving a loved one a warm hug. The selfless act of embracing is often despised.
Of all the disparaging labels directed at empathetic people, “treehuggers” have stood the test of time. Calling someone a ‘treehugger’, like their modern counterparts ‘snowflake’ or ‘awakened’, implies that the person is emotionally unstable, someone who cannot be relied upon. .
American political leadership is defined by a decisive, often confrontational, self-righteous attitude that finds sympathy derisive and tiresome to conquer. Considering emotions means weaknesses that are irrelevant to the work of the state.
Enter President Joe Biden.
Unlike his carefully scripted near-best predecessor, Biden wears his personal tragedies and triumphs on his sleeve. Fueled by faith, family and perseverance, this great-grandson of Irish immigrants overcame his childhood stutter and mourned his young wife and young daughter who died in a horrific car crash about the traumatic experience that changed his life. , speaking freely and deeply. , and is saddened to lose his eldest son Beau to brain cancer at the age of 46.
By leading with all his heart, Mr. Biden laid common ground among various factions under the big tent of the Democratic Party, bringing to mind the long-standing Republican provocation of “liberals with bleeding hearts.”
Biden, who stares at a very thin Democratic majority in the Senate and House, is a military veteran (Senator John Tester of Montana), a working family (Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York), and gun safety. I sympathized with the frontline political advocates of advocates. (Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut), members of the LGBTQ community (Senator Tammy Baldwin of Minnesota), semiconductor chip makers (Senator Mark Warner of Virginia), environmentalists (Sheldon Sheldon of Rhode Island) White House Senator) victory in the first two years of his presidency.
Cooperation and compromise are the common threads woven throughout the fabric of these sweeping legislative packages, with a handful of passages with bipartisan support in both houses. ) Act, American Rescue Plan, Safer Communities Act, Respect for Marriage Act.
Compassion is President Biden’s secret weapon on the battlefield of ideas. As a kid teased on the playground and reprimanded in the classroom for living with a stutter, he understands that labeling people derogatory is the go-to tactic of schoolyard bullies. doing.
Through the second half of his four-year term, Mr. Biden will live on in the light of his formative life experiences, with the battle for the soul of America as his North Star. The president’s bipartisan campaign for kindness and civility calls on Americans at all levels to harness our transformative power.
Standing up and working together, we will make America grateful again.
Molly Bowman-Styles is a second generation San Diegan nonprofit consultant and president of Windansea Communications.
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