Media

As children, many of us were told the story of the grasshopper and the ant, and most of us probably know it well. During summer, when the days were warm and it was hard to imagine winter's famine, the grasshopper rested and played while the ant was hard at work gathering food for scarcer times. When the winter did finally come, the grasshopper found himself starving while the ant and his friends ate heartily from the store they had collected months before. It isn't difficult to see how that children's fable carries over into adult life. We all know that days of necessity are coming.

During these past couple of weeks, I have been thinking a lot about leadership and what it means to be a leader. According to Douglas MacArthur, leadership is about integrity. "A true leader," he said, "has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent." As individuals, we aspire to live up to that standard every day, but what does that look like for countries operating in a global environment?

In August, this newspaper published an editorial that described the challenges that commuters and businesses in our region face because of the debilitating traffic on our roads.

Last week, Congress fulfilled its constitutional duties by passing the annual defense policy legislation, the National Defense Authorization Act, for fiscal year 2016. The bill simply awaits President Barack Obama's signature to become law and assure our men and women in uniform that they will have the tools and resources they need.