0902 Man of Integity
President Obama’s election is a milestone in American history. A man who self-identifies as African-American has secured the most powerful leadership position in theUnited Statesand in the world. How should we now respond to such an occasion as this?
The advice so far has been to treasure hope, embrace change and patiently bask in the moment. Basking is fine if one is working on a good tan, but can be lethal for a country. History is littered with the remains of nations whose people tired of vigilance.
In the modern world, errant leadership takes its toll with blinding speed. Presidents have institutionalized the science of one hundred day political blitzkriegs and the art of information manipulation. President Obama’s accomplishments and almost messianic status do not change this political reality.
Author Erwin McManus has written, “Integrity does not simply move us away from evil, but moves us aggressively toward the path of good.” The vast majority of us who did not vote for President Obama recognize the significance of his election, but historical milestones should never trump personal integrity. We do not have the option of simply enjoying the ride because it is a new and different ride or because handlers assure us everything will be all right. Fourteen days into the Obama Presidency things are not all right, thanks to a rush of both publicized and not-so-publicized executive orders and congressional maneuverings.
Of course, President Obama could turn his initial missteps around. In his inaugural address, he pledged some good. He noted thatAmerica’s survival over the last 230 years has not rested simply on those “in high office”, but on the faithfulness of her people to “the ideals of our forbearers” and being “true to our founding documents”.
As a man of integrity, our president says what he means and means what he says. If he expects his fellow countrymen to accept his words as they are spoken, he will hold himself to every word of our mutual contracts, our “founding documents”, as they were written and explained by their authors. His government should get smaller and less intrusive as he recognizes the people’s right of self-determination, the creative powers of free enterprise during hardship, the virtue of a limited judiciary and the rights of states to exercise all powers not constitutionally awarded to the federal government.
As a man of integrity, President Obama should stay true to, using his words, “the rule of law and the rights of man”. As an attorney, he knows that our nation’s founders recognized inalienable rights as divinely given, not governmentally awarded or legally generated. Because he recognizes the Bill of Rights as an explanation of those divine gifts and as a part of our written contract, he could aggressively facilitate the remaking ofAmericato be a beacon of constitutionally-defined civil liberties. With his influence, one’s religious convictions could be freely exercised in all areas of government, education, employment and private life. The death culture’s civil rights violations against unborn children, the aged and the infirm could be stopped. He could demand citizens’ free speech rights by rejecting “Fairness Doctrine” dogma.
As a man of integrity, our new president could, out of respect for the second amendment, nourish free and open private ownership of firearms. He could push for the repeal of intrusive laws used against citizens’ right of self-defense.
It is said that President Obama is a history buff. Do we have a leader who recognizes the social destructiveness of F.D.R. socialism? Will he embrace “what free men and women can achieve” without the heavy hand or binding apron strings of government? Will he prove to be a man of integrity?