Decent and True

I write another blog called, "Purposed Working", (www.purposedworking.blogspot.com) and it is a business day blog that uses the Bible as a reference guide to find purpose in our work. A couple of weeks ago I made an entry there that can be also referenced here, regardless of your faith or belief. There is a verse in the book of Romans (Romans 13:13) that says, "We should be decent and true in everything, so that everyone can approve of our behavior". I like this verse a lot because it not only tells you what you should do but also the outcome if you demonstrate these behaviors. Like I said, regardless of your beliefs it is hard to argue that being decent and truthful in all you do is not the right way to live. But, that seems really hard for our political leaders. The same political leaders that we look up to and should aspire. I have rambled on and on about their lack of decency and civility with each other, but I have to say that the most troubling is their flat-out lack of truthfulness and such, their lack of integrity. How easy they make it for someone to walk up to them and say, "sir, I can't vote for you since you don't tell the truth and lack integrity". I can only imagine the smooth responses back but at the end of the conversation the person who questions the integrity of someone who lied, wins the argument. Both candidates have recent examples. Senator Obama went back on his signed statement about what he would do about public campaign financing. He decided he wouldn't take it after he said he would and he failed to negotiate the clauses that he said he would before he decided to not accept and keep his campaign funding juggernaut going. He lied. And as someone said the other day to me, "but he he is better off because he did", tells the whole story of why he shouldn't have. Someone I respect and admire thinks it was okay for him to go back on his word. They think the lie justified the result. Why does it mean anything to me? Well, because when I was making my decision on how much to give to the campaign and was trying to raise money through others, I was told that we needed to dig deep now and fill the coffers because after the primary the Senator would be limited to public financing. so, I was lied to as well when he changed his mind. Senator McCain is not innocent either. I was appalled that he could sit on the David Letterman show and be caught red-handed in a lie about why he cancelled on Letterman at the last minute and he laughed it off saying, "I screwed up". Not what he should have said, and what our Mother's would have required; "I am sorry that I didn't tell you the truth. That is not right and I ask you to please accept my apology". To throw out a cliche of "I screwed up" and try and laugh it off, is just silly. Some would say, it happens all the time in TV, but I see it differently. I see not following up on a commitment, leaving another person holding the bag, and that person (in this case David Letterman and CBS) trying to explain to advertisers and viewers what happened and then passing on the lie that they were told. This is not America. We don't lie. We are supposed to tell the truth and Presidents who lie leave office or are ashamed of their behavior, and remembered with an asterisk into history. Look guys, all you have to do is be decent and truthful and you will win everyones' approval. You may not win the election because of this, but your loss won't be because you lose a vote over whether someone can trust you and/or trust that you will be a decent human being to others. Can't we just do better?

Politics of Personal Destruction

Yesterday morning on this "This Week with George Stephanapolous", the Governor of Pennsylvania said we have now entered into "politics of personal destruction". I am sure he was not the first one to coin this phrase, but it stuck with me, as I spent the rest of the day, more concerned than ever that the example we are setting as leaders to our children and future leaders continues to erode and worsen. At the risk of being sexist, I think this is even heightened with Governor Palin than the others. During this election cycle we have seen two extremely smart and capable women leaders emerge. They have broken a ceiling. I am proud that this has happened. It reflects well on our country. What is not good is the example we see our future women leaders seeing and thinking what they should emulate. Governor Palin has an even larger responsibility as she casts herself as the person who is most like the typical American. She is, more than any of the other candidates, carrying an even larger responsibility to be a role and character model for other young women and men to follow. But why does she, and all the others, feel that they can only win if they are mean and degrading of others? Can we not find one politician, man or woman, who will rise above the fray and bring a spirit of decency to what they do? It is not right to try and degrade and demean other human beings. Can we not see this and call each other out when it occurs? I realize what the holy grail is to a politician; it is to be approved by as many people as possible. There is a Bible verse in the book of Romans that tells them what to do to gain that approval. Romans Chapter 13, verse 13: "We should be decent and true in everything we do, so that everyone can approve of our behavior". It's that simple. So, please, Senator Obama, Senator McCain, Senator Biden, Governor Palin, please be decent for the next month so we can not only be proud of our leaders but feel confidence without reservation that you are the leaders our children and next generation of leaders can emulate! If you are really in touch with the American psyche, you will know we need this even more than we need you to win.

Ugly Americans

I'm disheartened by what I am seeing from the political process and this election cycle. The amount of pure cynicism and personal attacking and demeaning of the value of someones work and contributions to society is appalling. It's happening on both sides and it should stop. It's not right to look down on someones work experience and belittle it. What someone does with their time to serve our country and others whether it be as a Senator, a Governor, a Soldier, a Mayor, or a Community Organizer is special and should be celebrated and not demeaned. To listen to those who are supposed to be the leaders and role models to our country, the world, and most importantly to the leaders of tomorrow (who are looking for role models on how to behave), mock and belittle each other is nothing short of shameful. I get that it is politics but nothing absolves decency to each other. I have been in some heated discussions recently about the differences between the two parties and the leaders on both sides, but I ensure that I stop short of making a mockery of someones work. It's just not right. This political season was supposed to be about bringing out the best in us, to show the world and ourselves that we can operate differently and be better than we have been, and to bring in a new generation of voters who could look to their government and their leaders as positive influences on their lives. But, we are failing and sliding back into the ways of the past and we continue to earn that term "ugly Americans" from the rest of the world. Yesterday I was challenged on what political party was the party who welcomed in those of faith and moral values and which one was about trying to eliminate religion and moral values in our society. What I see is that that is not the core issue right now. That's a higher level of authenticity that we haven't even reached yet. It's still baseline fundamentals that need to be worked on first. What I see is that we need to make sure that both parties are living, talking and acting to the values they espouse. What I would like to see first and foremost from the candidates is that they treat each other like the way they want to be treated and start being decent and graceful in how they speak and act. Start with just being grateful of each other's service and work for the country. From there, I will accept whether or not they are being the person, or the party that they say they are. Until that happens, we can expect it to get worse and worse. We shouldn't stand for it and we should, with our vote, just make it stop.