Some 40 years ago, America made a pledge to coal miners to protect them from the dangers from coal mining, chief among them black lung disease. In 1969, a major law was passed, regulators were hired, and monitoring began – except it appears it was all a massive masquerade. This is the kind of mess in public life people want cleaned up.

Where, oh where has the presidential campaign gone in recent weeks, other than into the gutter? To get the discourse on a better trajectory, here’s a simple step for the candidates and their campaigns: over the next week, offer the American people a cogent thought about why they are running and a proposal or idea that helps shed light on where they want the nation to go.

Wisconsinites vote today on the recall of Governor Scott Walker. The recall provides an inkblot test for us about how we see politics and public life. I’ve laid out four possible options from which to choose – which one best fits your view? And how do these maybe help you to see another point of view?

The proper greeting for yesterday was “Happy Memorial Day.” Over the preceding days I said it a few times to neighbors and others, and then stopped. Surely, I want to honor those who died wearing our nation’s uniform. But on this Memorial Day, the word “happy” didn’t quite fit.

Amid all the upheavals throughout the world these days – including recent elections in France and Greece, the kick-off of the noisy presidential campaign, and terrorist plots –Maurice Sendak, the legendary children’s book author and illustrator, died. With Sendak in mind, I am writing this week with a simple request: tell me your favorite childhood book.

Last week I was in the small town of Corning, N.Y. to give the keynote speech at the United Way of the Southern Tier’s Annual Dinner. The trip reaffirmed my belief that small towns can – and should – be engines for the kind of change the country yearns for today. But first we must see them as the assets they are.

On Saturday, I was with my 89-year-old mother-in-law, Martha, and my wife, Jackie, in Chestertown, MD. Martha knows ice cream holds a dear spot in my food hierarchy and psyche and had been planning for weeks to lure me to Chestertown with the promise of Stam’s, a local fountain shop since 1886. But when we discovered Stam’s was closed, a series of interactions with two passersby ensued – good reminders of what people are looking for in the country and what each of us can do.

In New Jersey, Prudential received up to $250 million in state aid to construct a new corporate HQ and hire up to 300 new in-state employees. Not bad considering they already have a terrific office some three blocks away. Meanwhile, the plight of individuals in need is another story in America; they are being demonized and squeezed at each turn. All this raises questions about the “welfare” of society and public discourse.

This Sunday night my wife and I went to the new Bruce Springsteen concert: The Wrecking Ball. The last Springsteen concert we went to was in May 2009, not long after Obama took office. So much change from one to the other. Now, like then, Springsteen offers a window into America’s condition – one I believe we ought to look through.