Can we take a serious break from the self-appointed leader/savior schtick? I mean, there are always going to be egoist and attempted cultist who engage with it but can the rest of us stop pretending like we don't already have a system for this shit. If I wanted to I could declare myself the leader of the Oregon People, I could cite examples of how I've engaged on issues important to Oregonians for the better part of a decade and speak of all the events I've participated in, I could tent pole an front organization and make myself the leader of it (or better yet work with others to front a cyclical network of front organizations) and maybe even make a little money on the side from those gullible enough to take my word for things. But none of that would make me the leader of Oregon or the leader of anything really, because Oregon is a democracy. This means we don't have a single leader but rather work together to elect a diverse set of roles to handle public business on our behalf, whether than be a State Rep or a Governor or a Senator. Absent participation in an accountable democratic process no one can really say they are the leader of anything in Oregon. Which is really best, because I'm impatient and unskilled at achieving consensus and would quickly devolve into authoritarian tendencies.