What happened to being the change we wish to see? | Opinion

“What happened to being the change we want to see in the world?”

It’s a question I’ve been asking for years, and most recently after witnessing the reaction to Sen. Mitch McConnell’s health episode.

Not the concern or the reasonable questions. Those are natural.

The celebration.

Social media filled with jokes, applause, cruel speculation and, in too many cases, people openly wishing death on someone. It crossed party lines. Comments were undoubtedly from some who emphasize kindness, compassion and empathy. Apparently those virtues don’t apply when the target supports policies they oppose. Similar immediate reactions over the weekend came with the news of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sudden passing.

That’s troubling.

You don’t have to agree with Mitch McConnell. You don’t have to admire his career or support a single vote he’s ever cast. In a healthy constitutional republic, reasonable people disagree — passionately — but there’s a profound difference between opposing ideas and celebrating suffering.

The line is blurred beyond recognition.

I felt much the same way about the public conversation surrounding former President Joe Biden’s age and cognitive health. As someone who helps care for my papaw with memory issues, I often found the tone uncomfortable and unnecessary. There’s still a person behind the politics, even though we have differing views on many areas. I prayed for President Biden’s good health then and still do.

That doesn’t mean there weren’t legitimate questions about whether a commander in chief remained capable of doing the most demanding jobs on earth. Those concerns involved national security, nuclear codes and the presidency itself. They deserved consideration, but it lost me when the message shifted from legitimate to loathsome.

The same is true now, but McConnell’s situation is different.

McConnell is one senator among 100. He’s already announced his retirement. Wishing for his demise or inventing theories about his condition serves no purpose beyond engagement, clicks and scoring political points—especially mere months away from an election that will fill his role.

This now-national story reveals more about the state of our politics than it does about Kentucky’s senior Senator.

Gov. Andy Beshear released a public letter requesting an update on McConnell’s condition. Rather than inquire privately, the governor chose a public letter and press release. It guaranteed another round of headlines about a man’s health instead of allowing his family and colleagues to navigate a deeply personal moment in private.

Such a move puts the “bully” in “bully pulpit.”

Politics has always been rough, but it should never require us to abandon our humanity. Character isn’t revealed by how we treat friends. It’s revealed by how we treat those we find it hard to love. Anyone can show compassion for people they agree with. The real test comes when empathy costs something, even if that cost is nothing more than resisting the urge to score political points.

If we truly believe in decency, then it cannot be selective.

I sincerely hope Sen. McConnell makes a full recovery and returns to the chamber where he has built one of the most consequential legislative careers in Kentucky history.

I received an unexpected call from the senator earlier this year. He was calling about my commentary on the senate filibuster. He was sharp, discussing the institution’s history and asking about my hometown of Sandgap. I was grateful. Who was I to receive a call from one of America’s and Kentucky’s most influential public figures?

Yet, this moment isn’t about how any one person personally feels about Mitch McConnell. It isn’t about his legacy.

While the spotlight is on him, it should be on all of us.

We all have a choice. We can respond to things we disagree with in hate and cruelty, or we can refuse to become what most claim to despise.

The next time politics tempts celebration of pain, I hope we remember to provide an example for what we wish to see more of. Our country has enough division.

A better political culture tomorrow demands we be better people today.

Dustin R. Isaacs is a communications professional and founder and president of Atlas & Ink Communications. Isaacs resides in Frankfort with his wife Tamara and three children, Gabriel, Sawyer and Liberty. He is the deputy communications director for the Kentucky Senate Majority Caucus. Opinions expressed here are his own.