It’s no surprise that so many Americans mistrust their government. American leaders today are devoid of courage and conviction. They have turned away from governing political judgments with principles. Away from putting the country first at each turn. It is more important to create clever, catchy hateful names for political opponents than to debate ideas. Iterative discussion and conversation are intolerable. Leaders at all levels of government scorn and demonize their political opponents, convinced that personal invective is the best course toward preservation of power. Which, after all, is the only objective. Continue reading “The Cancer in American Politics Today: Party Above Country”
Tag: Leadership
Biden’s Leadership and the Georgia Voting Law
It is easy to claim virtue. A politician can cloak himself in honesty and integrity. He can shout words of unity from the bully pulpit. But simple words without action easily mist away in the cauldron of politics. At least they do when uttered without sincerity and meaning. And that brings us to President Biden’s leadership – the man who claims to unify us all – and the new Georgia election law.
The problem here is not the Georgia law per se. There is no need to review that law in any detail. It is well reviewed and discussed elsewhere. But there is nothing in that law that impairs any person’s ability to vote. Claims to the contrary are dishonest. They are Chicken Little whining wrapped in bald political gain seeking.
It’s All About Character
The problem here is President Unity’s character. The imagery surrounding George Washington was of a man who could not lie. When Washington spoke, his sincerity was never questioned. Integrity – the root of all sincere character – begins and ends with honesty. And if a person intends to lead without it, then he will persuade no one. He will lead from behind. He will divide, not mend.
President Biden’s leadership, in the face of the benign Georgia law, started with name-calling, added in a wolfpack of false claims, and ended by calling for – and getting – punishment. A crass display of political hectoring that discarded claims of integrity and honesty into a toxic miasma.
His “official remarks” started with playground name calling: “This law,” he said, “like so many others being pursued by Republicans in statehouses across the country, is a blatant attack on the Constitution and good conscience.” Those Republicans – all Republicans after all – are unconscionable rapscallions. Then he went a little further. As he put it, “what I’m worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is.” So, you see, the people with whom he would unify do not believe in American ideals. They are less than American.
What better way to further bind the wounds of division then with the soaring – and burning – rhetorical imagery of decades long since passed and slavery itself. Why those un-American Republicans brought us nothing less than “Jim Crow in the 21st Century.” They would return us to slavery itself if they could. By golly, they bring us nothing less than an “atrocity.” Perhaps millions will die. This new law is so horribly un-American that it even shames “Jim Crow.” Those evil Republicans, President Unity shouted, have brought us the father of all Jim Crow – why, it is “Jim Eagle” himself.
Leaders Without Integrity Lack Moral Authority
Then, there’s President Unity’s “misstatements” about what’s in the Georgia law. Even the Washington Post reviewed some of those lies, offering up the dreaded four Pinocchios for his tall tale about the law ending voting hours early. And forget not the wrong claim that “you can’t provide water for people about to vote.” Think about the imagery here, people collapsing from thirst while waiting to cast their precious ballots. Grossly irresponsible.
Where is the judgment behind President Unity’s subsequent call for punishment? So this is where Biden’s leadership takes us. A President of the United States calling for an economic boycott of one of the fifty states. Talk about opening a Pandora’s Box of hatred. President Unity dropped wisdom right into the commode on this one, and then he flushed. From now and forever more it must make sense – in unifying the country after all – for a President who has a policy disagreement with the leaders of any State to bring the boycott hammer to the debate. Dick Enberg could say it no better: “Oh my!”
Lead on, President Unity! Next time, bring a hammer. Or better yet, a guillotine.
Feckless American Leadership – The Lessons From the Syrian Chemical Weapon Catastrophe
So this is what happens when the United States enters into worthless agreements sponsored by a feckless American President. This is what occurs after that American President drew a line in the sand that his enemy chose to cross – with no consequence. We face this outcome when that American President desperately relies on the Russian Federation – yes, Russia – to bail him out. This is the lesson for our future leaders when a President of the United States, with forethought, chose to rely on the words of Vladimir Putin, of all people, to ensure that the monstrous regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad would no longer chemically murder his fellow Syrians. An American President who foolishly grabbed the thin reed of a September, 2013 “Framework” agreement promising the removal and destruction of chemical weapons in Syria, all in the name of saving his own political face. Feckless American leadership.
Trump’s Moral Leadership – It’s Time to Start, Mr. President
When America leads from the moral high ground, it leads best. The United States is an imperfect country, but it need make no apologies for its imperfection. Others have a different moral compass than Americans. They do not share our country’s vision for human life. We think Russia, Iran, and China, for starters. They may prefer control, restriction, repression, and more over their own peoples. They have visions of imperialism and domination over others, and a willingness to utilize force and murder to achieve that domination. We expect American leaders to face down these philosophies of tyranny, oppression and domination. And that starts with moral leadership on the world stage. Which leads us to President Trump’s recent comments regarding Russia. And to Trump’s moral leadership.
A leader must persuade. To persuade he must have integrity; he must be trusted. Moral leadership requires a leader who can guide by example. A moral leader for the United States is someone who understands America’s core values, and who will represent them. He represents those values accurately and consistently. As the stoic Seneca put it, “noble example stirs us up to noble actions.” Can President Trump be a moral leader for the United States? Continue reading “Trump’s Moral Leadership – It’s Time to Start, Mr. President”
More Political Hypocrisy – The Sad Tale of Senator Jeff Merkley
Our campaign against political hypocrisy continues. This has become a full-time avocation. The latest sad entry comes from Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, one of the key architects of the November, 2013 change to the Senate filibuster rules. It seems that Senator Merkley, a strong proponent of eliminating the filibuster, has become the filibuster’s greatest champion. It took less than four years, and a change in the party of the presidency, for this remarkable turnaround. It’s another example of why faith in our political leaders is at an all-time low. When will anyone – anyone – stand up on consistent principles? It’s more political hypocrisy.
The principled Senator Merkley has a deep and enduring respect for his Constitutional responsibilities. So, according to Senator Merkley, should the filibuster be available to the minority side in the Senate? Well of course not – except when “we” are the minority. All of which somehow allows him to claim the moral high ground when it comes to U.S. Supreme Court nominations. Is there more political hypocrisy here? You be the judge. Continue reading “More Political Hypocrisy – The Sad Tale of Senator Jeff Merkley”
American Leadership in the World – Lessons from Obama, Bush and JFK
The preservation of the American Constitution and American freedom is the paramount duty of any American President. American foreign policy is the mechanism through which these goals are prosecuted. American leadership is the means through which American goals are accomplished. The challenge for each president is to take the measure of his times, learn from the mistakes of the past, and foster and apply policies that are most likely to enhance the probability of achieving these objectives.
Too often over the course of American history presidents have misunderstood their times. They have either drawn the wrong lessons from the past or failed to understand the mistakes made by their predecessors. The recent past contains a pair of guiding lessons.
American Leadership: A Lesson from George W. Bush
In the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001, President Bush determined to illustrate to the world that America would use its strength and power against any foe that it believed was a direct and immediate threat to American freedom and survival. But with this objective, his decision to invade Iraq became a stark example of a failure to apply lessons previously learned. Continue reading “American Leadership in the World – Lessons from Obama, Bush and JFK”
Leadership and Hypocrisy – The Sad Tale of Senator Schumer
Leadership and Hypocrisy
What makes a great leader? There are scores of books and articles on this subject. We could compile a list of most desirable qualities. We could draw references to George Washington, or quotes from Winston Churchill (well, we did borrow from Sir Winston, below). Our focus would start with integrity. But two qualities that don’t go together are these: leadership and hypocrisy. Which draws us to the sad tale of Senator Schumer, the minority leader in the United States Senate.
Integrity, Wherefore Art Thou . . .
What is integrity? At its core lies honesty. Honesty is being consistent in one’s moral and ethical standards. It is truthfulness or accuracy in one’s actions. Internal consistency as a virtue. Where one has conflicting values, it means accounting for the discrepancy.
So how to identify integrity? No scientific method is available. We must look subjectively, and utilize this basic test: what could be more deficient in a leader than a failure to follow his own expressed rules and principles? Certainly, leadership and hypocrisy can’t work in tandem. So let’s look toward New York’s Senator Schumer. Continue reading “Leadership and Hypocrisy – The Sad Tale of Senator Schumer”