I'm going to say this one more time. I said it more than four years ago, and he turned down the possibility. He can't turn it down again. The country's in too much trouble.
William McRaven should be our next President. And indirectly, I believe more than one person would agree with me.
One may be Messa Gassen of the New York Times. In an article that ran a few weeks ago she analyzed the campaign of Peter Magyar, who buried Viktor Orban in a huge upset that will change the dynamics of the political landscape in Hungary, putting an end to "illiberalism," as those ensconced in it will admit. She gave eleven hints about how he did it.
But one caught my attention: it put the other ten into perspective. To wit: "The person best positioned to break the power of [47] would not be an anti-[47] Republican but an outsider to the Democratic establishment, someone who can credibly claim that [47] didn't happen on his watch."
That someone is William McRaven. Hands down. He has consistently turned down any notion of running for any political office, much less the presidency. But it is time for him to come in from the sidelines and re-arrange this country, tighten the ship, so to speak, and bring us back into sanity and something akin to stability.
He hasn't exactly hidden from the public. He's published five books, including his best known "Make Your Bed." He'd served as president of the University of Texas. Beyond that, he's distinguished himself for being a public servant without scandal and without controversy. I'm not sure why that is, exactly, not being a resident of Austin anymore, but I would bet it's at least partially because his rhetoric is moderate and remains that way.
Fareed Zakaria, moderator of the excellent CNN show, "GPS," which gives you the best impression of world affairs you can possibly have (on Sundays in Milwaukee at 9 a.m.), had McRaven on his show not long ago. After an intelligent discussion, Zaharia thanked McRaven and commented that he would like to mention that he was running for president.
That's the impression McRaven gives you: Distinguished, articulate, measured, thoughtful, still in good physical condition (instead of the fat, repugnant slob we have now), and not given to extreme statements. Add to that his largely military background (He oversaw the raid that brought down Osama bin Laden in 2011), and you have a candidate that can withstand the obvious attacks that either 47 or one of his minions will unleash on him.
Some things have to be as true of the USA as was true of Hungary, though: Namely, that people got pretty tired of the enforced drudgery of power, politics and hopeless lies and bombast coming from the top office. Add to that deteriorating conditions everywhere you look:
- prices going through the roof; incredible incompetence;
- unprecedented corruption for which 47 should have been rousted from office long ago;
- a useless new quagmire of a war that could easily have been avoided;
- wreckage to the reflecting pool adjacent to the Lincoln Memorial and the now destroyed East Wing of the White House--symbolic for their intentional disasters; and
- an elected national leader who cares only for whatever gilded overgloss he thinks will be a permanent addition to his legacy--except his successor, if he or she has any brains, will remove it as soon as possible, at additional cost to taxpayers.
Enough people have to be tired enough of this wretched excess. But first, we must reflect this collective disgust through the Congressional mid-terms, which will be challenged only if Democrats win control of both Houses of Congress. That there is a distinct possibility that that won't happen, even after the succession of blow-ups and mishaps and horrible judgment now on display, including the continuation of the vapid, piteous capitulation and self-repudiation of Congressional power in order to hang on to nothing more than personal titles, makes this time all that much more amazing. If 47, at no higher approval rate than 34%, manages to survive another challenge to his power without even further expanding it, we will have a potential accumulation of senselessness.
Only someone like McRaven can stand in the way, someone with his stature and presence, someone who will return the presidency to the decency and prestige that it used to have. Can he be urged to run? Who knows?
More to the point: Can a substitute, third-party candidacy suit him best--Lincoln Project, anyone?--one that won't attach too closely to either, emptied-out, banal political party, one without fresh ideas for at least half a century, the other with too many ideas completely out of touch from the vast middle that's still there and wants to be re-recognized? That's probably the best question.
The 21st Century Catch-22 is that nobody with an ounce of sense in them would even consider running for president about now, except that's what we desperately need in huge quantities. The country is increasingly ungovernable; I have said so in this blog more than once. It calls for a Democrat with a firm hand, who will put down any incipient uprising that's likely to happen should Republicans lose the office, as much as they'll try cheating, massive lies and deceptions, and perhaps more violence to keep it. One more time: William McRaven fits the bill. He may be the only one who does.
My connections with real pols has faded through the years, and not for bad reasons: I've watched this disaster develop step-by-step, while being another, less prestigious, futile squeaking in the wind. Nobody's listening to me, either. But, since I'm a little (!) healthier now, I'm going to reach out to whatever connections I might have left and see whether, eventually (but it needs to be pretty soon to get machinery started), someone can contact Admiral McRaven and get an audience with him. I'm available, but I don't need it. The country does.
Maybe he's already been approached. Maybe that's already been unsuccessful. I don't know. But it won't hurt anything to find out.
High-minded? Sure. Far-fetched? Perhaps. Worth a shot? Hell, anything is by this time. I'll let you know if I get any meaningful attention and/or connection.
Be well. Be careful. With some luck, I'll see you down the road.
Mister Mark
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