On his way out

After 65 years as a rabbi, I think I know more than a little bit about human nature.

So trust me when I share with you a truth about the most dangerous time for rational people to act irrationally and for decent people to discard their normal commitment to integrity and moral behavior. I have seen it play out numerous times in communal life as it impacted families, neighbors and former friends. What makes it profoundly relevant now is its impact in a far more significant way on American life and contemporary political reality.

Let me summarize it by way of example: A married couple of several decades decides they can no longer live together. They feel they will be better off, despite all the good they experienced together, if they go their separate ways. But now that the end is near they have a deep rooted need to validate their decision. Memories of past disagreements surface strongly to justify their estrangement. Somehow, they are not simply strangers; they have become enemies. And psychologically they become consumed by finding ways to express rationalization for their newly declared enmity.

Beware of the former friend, husband, wife, congregant, neighbor who has ended a relationship — and on his or her way out must make clear that they are now better off without you.

Remarkably, that is a story the United States is presently facing because of the absurd political process surrounding the transfer of presidential power. The election takes place in November; the installation of the new president is delayed until almost the end of January. The outgoing president knows he has a very short period of time not only to enjoy the perks of his exalted position but also to push through policies that no longer represent the will of the people who elected someone else. Who can resist the temptation!

Imagine that you firmly believe you were unfairly pushed out of your position. Imagine that you despise the person newly selected by the will of the people to take your place. Imagine that with a little ingenuity you can create a minefield guaranteeing your successor’s failure –and “proving” how stupid Americans were by not recognizing your superior talents. Imagine the perils to sane government and leadership possible to be inflicted by a leader on his way out — motivated by jealousy, by envy, by hatred and perhaps even by senility.

In politics as well as in real life beware the most of the disgruntled, unhappy and angry person “on his way out.” That’s why America must find a way to close the unwarranted as well as the dangerous period between the day we choose the new president and the day we install them.