Re-imagining America

 

 

"If we can't get Carly to run our country, can we at least get someone just like her?"

Yesterday Carly Fiorina jumped into the 2016 Presidential sweepstakes. I have made no secret of this in the past. I really, really like this woman. I liked her when she was at HP, even though as an IBM'er we wished she played for our team instead. I like what she has done since leaving industry. She has a history of being an iconoclast in a all too stagnant world. I think she is just what the doctor order for 2016. And she wants to "re-imagine America".

Carly is smart, she is able, and she has been around. She has seen the highs in life when she was the CEO of a major American company. And she has seen the lows. She is a breast cancer survivor, and has lost a step-child to the demons of addiction. She is a "thinking outside the box" person. Or as some would say, a re-imaginer.

Re-imagine. That is a word that Carly uses quite a bit. And what is it, some kind of modern day business jargon? Not quite. Our great country was founded on imagination. Our Captains of Industry forged products, employment and innovation due to imagination. But imagination is a temporal thing. If it is not nurtured, care for, and organically grown, it will wither and die. And that is what has happened to large portions of our country, our government, and ourselves.

Always keeping our Constitution in the forefront, Carly wants to "shake it up a bit". Changing the VA is an excellent example. She would like to take a dozen or so vets, and give them a blank canvas. The marching orders would be very straight forward. They were to "re-imagine" what the VA should look like in order to REALLY serve the veteran population. Carly does not know, as she is not a veteran. But the vets would know. Not a bunch of politicians or bureaucrats doing it, but the people who need and would use VA services. She is convinced the product produced would be light years better than what we have right now.

Carly would re-image our tax code. Our debt. Our entitlements. Our energy. Our foreign policy. Our military. Our just about everything. She is an ardent change agent only when change is sorely needed. And she is not afraid to change course if a course correction is required. All this she would do while honoring our Constitution and her faith.

I am excited about many of the Republican candidates I have seen thus far. Some are ready to lead a ticket, others maybe ready for a VP slot. As much as I like Carly, I think a VP slot would be her best fit in 2016. Her influence and innovation as a sitting Vice President would be enormous.

To meet tomorrow's challenges, we need people to think in tomorrow's terms. We don't need people who are as stale as yesterday's news. We don't need anymore dynasties. And we sure the heck don't need anymore charlatans. It is not over yet for our great nation - but it might soon be if we don't start to re-imagine our country and our future.