Our Country as a Cigar

In my many years as a cigar roller, I learned that any good cigar needs three elements: 1. the filler, the countless little leaves that are the real guts of the product; 2. the binder, which holds everything together; and 3. the wrapper, the outer cover for extra flavor and appearance.

It seems to me that our country these days still has great filler— millions of caring, good people. And all the politicians are battling to be our wrapper, to show off their flavor and image. But no one is willing to be the binder, that out-of-sight, unappreciated, hard-working little piece that makes the whole thing into one good, solid, piece of humanity.