J.J. Peller, a business coach, says: “Leadership is setting a higher standard for yourself and modeling that standard.” As the presidential election draws near, controversy swirls around the country as we struggle with fears of outside intervention, voter suppression claims, and mail-in ballot controversies. There are even fears of a constitutional crisis whether it is a close race or not. We’ve already seen street-level violence in Charlotte, Minneapolis and Portland with splinter groups on the left and right jousting for authority.

“Signs, signs, everywhere signs, blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind.” – The Five Man Electric Band, 1971

We can no longer “agree to disagree.” That puts us in a dysfunctional position where compromise is impossible.

David French in Time Magazine says our current form of politics has created a “cold civil war.” “The assumption that one side or the other wins is a possibility, but not a certainty.”

The United States is becoming less united as we speak. Those signs I mentioned earlier mostly say “hooray for our side.” I have seen few of a conciliatory nature.

Election day has always been filled with tension and anxiety and party politics, and political action groups of unlimited funds and no restraints taint a system that is meant to unite, not divide. George Washington used a quote from Micah many times in his personal letters: “Everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.” A noble thought.