I don’t know left from right when it comes to running for office.
I know that each candidate comes with their admirers and detractors.

And look.
I don’t know much about this guy.
I’ve met him here and there.
And like I said — he has his supporters but he also has his detractors.

A friend sent me this conversation.
This took place on Friday, 19th of February.
Uri hadn’t left us quite yet. He had his foot out the door, for sure.

And I don’t know.
Some were still dealing with power outages and water outages.
Others were desperately calling plumbers and handyman to deal with broken pipes and other Uri-related damages.

Don’t think that was the best time to hit people up for money.
And arguing back that he’s been handing out groceries the past 3 days to justify the ask … didn’t make it better.

This exchange has made me think about leadership.
I have a friend who postponed his hiking trip because his the missions/outreach pastor of his church and so many of his members and neighbors in the community need help.
Compared that to Cruz skipping out to Cancun during one of the worst freezes in state history, initially lying about the reason and length of the trip, then posing for a photo op by placing water bottles in cars, then browsing his phone while the former chief of Capitol police was giving testimony on the capitol riots, then spending this week making fun of another representative from other party for raising millions of dollars for his constituents, and then turning around and saying that people should try not to be “assholes” and treat others with “some modicum of respect.” (Gaslight, much?)

Leadership, someone once said, is the ability to let people down at a rate that they can handle.

Some can’t even manage to do that.

The biggest takeaway for me re: leadership in the past few years is:
The best leaders are those who seek to serve others — particularly the vulnerable.

The worst leaders are those who seek to serve themselves and/or seek people to serve them.

Thank you for coming to my lame TedTalk.