Leadership

Many in today’s elite political ruling class—both parties, try to create a narrative and an illusion that there are great obstacles to our security and liberty that only they can protect. To be sure there are real problems that need to be confronted, but what they present to us are merely meant to outrage the public and to divert us from the real problems.

Now for the FAKE (News) problems:

1. Russian Collusion
2. Pandemic measures that didn’t mitigate the virus—where are the “out briefs” that shredded the social fabric placing our most vulnerable citizens and our children’s education at risk?
3. Climate regulations that punish the poor and working classes while our leaders in the political and corporate classes jet around the world in their private jets extruding more carbonaceous pollution in a day than any ten of us do in a year.
4. A “successful military withdrawal” from Afghanistan that was so successful that it created a new war and put our allies Israel and Taiwan in jeopardy.
5. Billions (at least $6billion) sent to a regime that funds Hamas genocide on our most important ally in the Middle East
6. They then create a “state of moral equivalency” between barbarous acts upon innocent children, women, and the elderly, stating that it is all the results of the Gaza being occupied—when the Gaza has not been occupied by Israeli forces since August of 2005. It has been occupied by Hamas and almost 80% of Arabs living in the region would like Hamas to be defeated or at least go away (Pew Research)

“Do our educated VIPs and power brokers have the slightest idea what they’re doing asks Burton Swaim? WSJ11/25/23. “Is anybody out there—does anybody care—does anybody see what I see?” Words purported to come from John Adams in the Continental Congress in May of 1776.

In his book PROVIDENCE AND POWER which I have just received and completed Rabbi Meir Y. Soloveichik talks of great leaders and points out common characteristics between King David, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. All three men were very flawed human beings who loved God. In Samuel 1:17 where David slays Goliath prior to the battle, David says to King Saul “Thy Servant (David) slew a lion and a bear.the Philistine shall be as one of them”. David was prepared for battle. He set the stage and controlled the terms of engagement. The good Rabbi points out that what we see in David, Lincoln, and Washington is humility “a concern with God’s honor” and a moral confidence in one’s mission. He also points out that what we see in all great statesman in the Bible and in American history is a “balance between bold independent action and a humility grounded in a deep faith and reliance on God”. Humility absolutely does not imply passivity, but rather confidence in the moral predicate upon which one is acting.

It is my opinion that those leaders who fail to acknowledge to themselves and to their constituents any moral authority from God, are more likely to believe that they alone are in control and are more likely to use coercive force to impose their will. This is the humanistic atheistic moral predicate upon which socialism, communism and fascism rests. In every single case in the history of the ancient and modern worlds, these systems have failed.

It is important that we have leaders that have a moral predicate based on a belief in God, by any of His names. It is important that within our structures of governance we not try to legislate such a litmus test. The things all people in all lands are seeking—Life, Liberty, happiness, and peace cannot be legislated, but can only be found in the hearts of individual men and women. These aspirations are not the results of political circumstances, they are the result of RELATIONSHIP—filling our own individuals’ holes in our heart with God and the right spirits—Blaise Pascal.

WE do have a duty in my opinion to ask and discern how our political leaders make decisions. What moral predicate informs their political philosophy is a question that should always be asked and answered?

Finally, I would like to recall what Barry Goldwater said prior to voting against the Civil Rights ACT in 1963 and probably committing political suicide in so doing.

“You cannot legislate morality” Civil laws cannot change human hearts. Have things really changed since the time of the Great Society Legislation? I must admit there has been some progress. But the promise of wiping out poverty in one generation (Lyndon Johnson) is not close to becoming a reality. $30 trillion dollars later and we still have riots in our streets, the fifth generation of marginalized citizens still live in poverty and fear for their children living in violent neighborhoods. There is still murder, killing of innocent unborn babies, and corporate greed that must continue to be confronted. It makes one wonder if our politicians have a vested interest in creating a class of dependent citizens who “only they(politicians) can save”. “Vote for me and I’ll give you the same old promises and programs”.

IT IS TIME FOR A GREAT AWAKENING.

We need great moral leaders not “middle managers” who “cut around the edges”.