Our True National Deficit
The Quiet Leader
Last night, Dr. Francis Collins—former NIH Director and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient—appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
It was one of those rare interviews where the tone lingers long after the segment ends. Starting around the 5:39 mark, Dr. Collins laid out what he believes are the real deficits we face as a nation—not fiscal, but moral:
A truth deficit.
A trust deficit.
A civility deficit.
And most dangerous of all, a compassion deficit.
He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t point fingers. He simply said what too many of us have felt for too long: that something foundational is slipping.
He also spoke of the “exhausted middle”—that wide stretch of Americans who aren’t shouting from the edges but who still believe in decency, integrity, and community. He believes they are still here—and that they hold the power to bring us back.
I hope he’s right.
Because sometimes, it’s hard to hear the middle anymore. The signal gets drowned out by the noise—manufactured outrage, performative politics, and nonstop culture wars. The extremes are loud. The middle is tired.
I’ve always pictured the politics of this country as a pendulum—swinging from right to left and back again. Right now, it’s swung hard to one side. How far it goes—and how long it stays there—depends on who’s holding it in place. And make no mistake: it is being held. By fear. By power. By those who profit from division.
But pendulums don’t stay locked forever. Eventually, the strain proves too much. The latch fails. And when it swings back, it often does so violently.
That’s where the exhausted middle comes in.
We are the counterbalance.
We are the friction.
We are the resistance—not with anger, but with accountability.
Not with tribalism, but with truth.
The middle matters—not just to call out what’s wrong, but to restore what’s been lost: compassion. Empathy. Responsibility. Trust.
Dr. Collins asked a hard question last night: What happened to us?
Maybe the better question is: What are we willing to do to find our way back?
Because if we want our future back, we’ll have to earn it.
Not just with our votes, but with our voices.
Not just with policy, but with principle.
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Watch the full interview here:
Dr. Francis Collins on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (16 July 2025)
~ TQL ~