The Sports World announced a passing of the torch this week. Mr. Honored, the founder and CEO, is officially stepping down. Mr. Entitled will be taking his place.Mr. Entitled, younger and more energetic, has long been rumored a successor to the aging Mr. Honored, who in recent years seemed frail. At certain glitzy industry functions -- such as the NBA All-Star Game or the ESPY Awards -- Mr. Honored was barely able to stand. Mr. Entitled, meanwhile, attended every party and has been featured in TV spots with Gary Payton and Ray Lewis.
Remember that kid in "The Sixth Sense"? He saw dead people? America, based on the election, has become that kid. Only we see enemies. Wherever we look.And they frighten us.Straight people see gays and fear they will turn their boys into sissies and their girls into Ellen DeGeneres.Gay people see straights and fear they want to "change them back" or legislate them out of existence.The religious fear those less faithful will smash the Ten Commandments.The nonreligious fear those more faithful want to shove the Ten Commandments down their throats.
Take your sign down.Pull up the stakes. Throw the whole thing in the trash. We are no longer Bush or Kerry this morning, we are no longer right or left. Our reds and blues need to be united now, by the pure and neutral white that completes the American flag. We have our next president, George W. Bush, and his biggest challenge will be getting this whole country behind him. And our biggest challenge will be allowing that to happen.This is the new question: Will we be led?
Amidst the lies, money and media of this presidential election, many of us figure nothing we do matters. I've modified this poem, first written in 1992, to reflect the unique challenge we face this Tuesday.I heard a knock upon my door And opened it to see All the poor around the world Looking back at me In old clothes and worn-out shoes With families to feed, They held their hands out, hopefully, Could I address their need? "Too many," I said, overwhelmed, And shut the door instead For I am just one person, "There's a way," a small voice said.
Mitch Albom writes about running an orphanage in impoverished Port-au-Prince, Haiti, his kids, their hardships, laughs and challenges, and the life lessons he’s learned there every day.