For those of us who lead normal, routine, mundane lives…drama is typically confined to family and workplace matters. There might be the occasional and distasteful church disagreement or some manner of upheaval in an organization we work with, but those are usually passing dramas that come and go like the rain showers. For each of us, there are people in our lives of whom we wish to earn respect. These are the ones for whom we are on our best behavior and actually stop and think about how they might view our words and actions. This group would typically include our spouse, our children, our peers, and our parents/grandparents. It matters to us what these folks think about us. Our sphere of influence is somewhat limited and the reach of that bubble does not cover a lot of territory. We make mistakes…saying and doing stupid things, and are forgiven for it by those who love us and respect us. We try hard not to stumble too often, but being the imperfect creatures that we are…it is going to happen more than we want.
There
is, and should be, a different set of rules for the public officials and
leaders among us. They have been placed
in positions of power and authority with the expectation that they are of high
moral and ethical character. They know
this when they accept their positions because they crow about it loudly when seeking those positions. But all too often, once those positions are
obtained, they slide back to the content
of character yardstick that regular people live by. They claim to be saints when they are
climbing the career ladder, but they demand a sinner’s forgiveness when they
reach the upper echelons of that ladder.
This blatant and shameless form of hypocrisy is rampant in America
today. If our society, culture, and
government are going to revert back to a semblance of civility, we must have
some accountability dished out to those folks on the top rungs of leadership
and authority.
Our
Constitution is a marvelous blueprint for governing that envisions three
co-equal branches of government. It is
designed through a division of responsibilities and powers to lay the
groundwork for an effective and representative government. The co-equal standard requires constant
diligence and debate; it is not a static proposition. It is a living, thriving plant that must be
nourished. The Constitution can grant
these authorities and even lay out the broad parameters under which they are to
be plied; but it cannot assure us
that the people conducting the business of this government are of high
integrity. That is up to the citizenry.
It
does however provide us with the
mechanisms to help insure the maintenance of these check and balances and a
method to replace the bad actors that periodically end up in the mix. This is why we have elections. This is why we have confirmation
hearings. This is why we have
impeachments. This is why we have the
Hatch Act and administer oaths of office.
The general corrupted and dysfunctional state of our nation is not a
result of our Constitution; it is a result of the people we have selected to implement that Constitution and the
insufficient character content of those people.
These are the people that should be held to the higher standards mentioned in the opening paragraphs and who today
commonly fall far short of those behavioral standards.
Our
Senators and our Representatives, whether they be state or national, campaign
on the premise that they are special people who are somehow uniquely qualified
to represent us in the halls of government.
But once that position is acquired, they want to bill themselves as the
common man, as one of us, and they conveniently slip those character standards
down a notch or two…or three…and
demand understanding for taking a less judicious approach to how they conduct
their public and personal affairs. The
most obvious illustration of this chameleon-like shift is the increasing
coarseness and vulgarity in political rhetoric that has become
commonplace. The language we now see on
a daily basis in the halls of Congress and the White House is the type of
language that not too long ago was confined to bars, men-only sporting events,
and good old boy adventures to the woods or the workshop.
Not
only has the rhetorical level of sophistication slipped dramatically, but so
has the physical and social actions of these selected individuals. They are commonly and openly aggressive in
their words and actions in such a way as to foist mockery, intimidation, and
ridicule onto others. Sadly, the result
is more often a belittlement of them.
And unfortunately, we the people are apparently willing to buy into this
slide down the character chute and more or less encourage them to slide down
further. So what if they curse and
become belligerent in the course of their duties; they are just being
themselves and of the people. So what if they unabashedly take advantage
of their insider information and enrich themselves in financial transactions;
they are special people and deserve these benefits. So what if the conduct of their personal
affairs often borders on the immoral and unethical; they are public servants
who are dealing with inordinate amounts of stress and complicity. Their pleas to us are thin gruel…the burden of power hangs heavy. Having reached their vaunted positions
through a claim of being special people, they now claim the frailties and the
forbearance of the common man. The
saints have fallen to the earth and yet still want to be heralded as saints. If you do not want to walk the walk…do not
talk the talk.
A
correction to this abysmal erosion of character in our government must start at
the top. It must begin with those three co-equal branches set forth in our
Constitution. It must be demonstrated by our President, our
Congress, and our Supreme Court of the United States. It can…and should…begin with Donald J.
Trump. Based on his accomplishments over
the first 10 months in office of his second term and the random possibilities
that are present in the world today, it is fair to say that Trump has arrived
at a fork in his road. If he continues
his current path and finds success in most of his efforts, he will go down in
history as a very successful president.
But no matter how impressive his accomplishments might prove to be, he
will nonetheless be a notch or two below a monumentally great president. This is because 30-to-40 percent of the
people in America hate the man for what he is and will never accept the merit
of his success. His moment is at hand.
Today, he is a colossus standing astride the global political world.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/10/13/trump-israel-gaza-hostage-release-news/
https://amgreatness.com/2025/10/13/the-pieces-of-trumps-peace/
Ponder
this reality for a moment….It has proven far easier for our President and his
Administration to negotiate with a bunch of barbaric, heathen terrorists in the
Middle East than it has with a bunch of liberal, progressive politicians who
are leading the Democrat Party in Congress.
Trump has gotten down in the mud with these folks and licked them. But having proven that point…is it not time
to climb out of the pit and clean up a little?
Before
him lies the opportunity to forego the completely understandable urge to even
the score with all those who have persecuted him over his political career…both
rightly and wrongly. It is a much easier
road that turns the treachery and sabotage back on those who had previously trained
it upon him. Considering what he
endured, it is not at all surprising to see him go down this road; in all
honesty, most of us would take a similar path.
But if Trump could tamp down those vengeful instincts; if he could rise
above the pettiness and venom so ingrained in today’s political environment…he
could win over a sufficient number of those 30-to-40 percent doubters and
solidify his place in the pantheon of past presidents as one of the
greatest. Every…single…moment that is
spent on lawfare, crude remarks about people being fat or stupid or both, sombrero
memes, self-aggrandizing riffs, and lame exercises in over-the-top rhetorical
nonsense is a moment in which he sacrifices grand achievement potential for
personal gain satisfaction. President
Donald Trump is currently the most powerful man in this world. What
will he choose to do with that power?
Will
he continue the course he has begun in his second term piling up important
political and policy wins while demonizing, marginalizing, and driving his
political opposition crazy…or…Will he
adhere to his fundamentally positive instinctual policy initiatives, make
dramatic shifts in the health and well-being of our nation towards a greater
and better country, and set a new and refreshing example as the type of
inspirational and effective leader that we all yearn for? The opportunity lies before Trump to make
transformational changes not only in the performance
of our government, but also in the character
of our government. Will he reach for the
stars and all that might be possible…or…Will he settle for the satisfaction of
eviscerating his opponents and laying their political agenda to waste? The next three years will answer these
questions. As Americans, we can both
support President Trump and still yet wish for him to be a better man.
