An Idol Thought

If you look at today's title and think this is going to be a blog entry on "American Idol," you are dead wrong.  I haven't watched that show in three seasons.

Nope, it's something on my mind and you will get the connection by the end of the piece.  Spoiler alert for those who care: this will ultimately be political in nature and apropos given all the nonsense presented by our government over recent months.  Consider this your official warning.

For a variety of reasons, I've been thinking about my DNA.  Not in a clinical sense.  There is nothing wrong with me physically or mostly mentally.  But I've been pondering what I do and how I do it---essentially how life has unfolded for me and what still might lie around the corner.  

I'm one of those folks who truly believes that the person you become as an adult is a direct result of what you see as a child during the first ten years of your existence in this dimension.  After all, we all are influenced by external factors.  And, of course, there are very few external factors at hand in those initial Wonder years.  Indeed, there are really only two.

Your parents.

I think more and more about what I saw as a child.  A mother and father who were frequently at odds.  If I looked inside the households of some contemporaries, I bet I might see the same arguments in play there as well.  Nevertheless, a sometimes rocky union could be why I have never really trusted romantic relationships completely.

I remember my parents and I can tell you exactly the elements of my adult psyche and where they came from.  

The stoicism from my father.

Impulsiveness from my mother.

It's what likely was the tug of war that caused many of their skirmishes.  Years later, I know that they are both inside of me.  And what causes all of my internal battles.  

Add in the mix as well my grandmother's stubborn streak, her need to have instantaneous results, and a sense of humor.  I spent a lot of time with her as a child.  Her hand in formulating my DNA is also evident.

I can be stubborn.

I can be impatient.

I can be funny.

So there it is.  All laid out for you.  Everything chemical that makes me who I am.

And I think this is how all peoples' personalities are formed.

From the most common of folks to the President of the United States.

The current Chief Executive was sworn in for a second tour of duty.  A little over half the country is euphoric at the notion.  A little less than half the country is spitting nails at the prospect.

And then there's me, who likes the guy as much as I like any American politician.

I don't.  There's not a decent one in the country at this time.  Few gives a damn about you or me.  They only simply want to enjoy the perks that go with the position, every single one being an elitist at their core.

But I pay particular attention to our President today.  I see anger.  I see petulance.  I see an almost insatiable desire to stir up derision in this country.  Hey, there are not talking points constructed from the headquarters of a national committee.  It's what I see and what I hear.

And, historical buff that I am about American Presidents in the past century, I have read a lot about all of them.  Each and every one with DNA that came from some mother or some father or some grandparent.

I read about the dysfunctional upbringing of our current leader.  A father who was a polygamist and one who essentially ditched his child.  A mother who, for lack of a better word, was a bit of a wild child.  A mixed marriage.  Grandparents of different colors.

How could anyone grow up in this environment and not have it impact their own DNA?  

It didn't.  I see it every day and in every way.  Yet, nothing is ever said.  He is viewed as perfect.    The ideal man.  Almost God-like.

An idol.

I told you I would get to the explanation behind today's title.

None of us can escape our own DNA.  But, when it comes to what forms our leaders at their earliest ages, shouldn't we all pay just a little more attention?  Because they are all human beings.  Just like us.

Just like me.

Dinner last night:  Ham, turkey, and cheese panini with homemade broccoli slaw.