On Monday, President Obama yelled to a crowd, "We need courage." Courage for what though? Courage implies risk. What is the risk? Who must take the risk? What is the threat one needs courage to overcome?
A bit of self-disclosure. I am a conservative in this current environment. I am not a fan of our President and I did not vote for him. I hope you read on and consider what I say if your politics are different. Our country is suffering from a lack of real debate. Ideology is trumping good sense. Rodney King's plea, "Can't we all just get along," could also be seen as a challenge.
I am very concerned about what I see as a degeneration of the process of government. Democrats are writing a whole new chapter in the book - By Any Means Necessary. That book title is metaphoric, I don't think there is a real book by that title.
All the stops have been pulled. Never mind what polls tell us the American People want. Never mind the election in Massachusetts that wrested "Ted Kennedy's seat from Democrats, and never mind party leaders have to bribe their own to get them to vote for this bill. It does not matter. The President and the Democratic leadership want this bill and must think they know best.
These folks are being true to their ideology. I have come to the conclusion that they are not evil, they just believe that they are right and are going to pass this bill, by any means necessary. It still feels pretty condescending though.
This irks me, because I do not believe in the "means justifies the end" philosophy. I do not think the Founding Fathers of our Nation did either. They set up a process to determine what becomes law and our current leaders are violating the spirit and intent of these methods. Loopholes are seen as found treasure instead of a siren's song.
Mr. Obama has gone "all in" with healthcare and it has fallen flat. The bill has major problems that are not even debated, because its 2,000 pages have been adopted with more devoutness than is the Bible to a Christian. The bill has been advertised not unlike the snake oil selling hucksters of yesteryear, "It's good for what ails ya." The bill was handed down from on high and was not the result of bipartisan collaboration.
That brings us to the call for courage. Our President went to Ohio to peddle his ideologic Pandora's box. He had props - someone with a health insurance horror story. The pep rally gained steam and seizing from someone's shout in the crowd, President Obama, said "We need is courage." Who is we?
We is the Democrats coming up for reelection. They know their vote is the "pushing of the red destruct button" on their career. So what is on the line that is so important? Keeping one's job. It all comes down to self-interest. Obama is saying, "Go ahead, risk it, this cause is worth it, show courage."
Why not water down another powerful word in the English lexicon. Awesome is now the way to describe good tasting french fries or a new tattoo. Now courage can stand for a selfish politician clinging to his job as a person clutches a winning lottery ticket. Long forgotten is the service to one's country the job stands for. The voters who put that individual there are gone in their minds and only staying in office remains to motivate.
Sad.
When I think of courage, I think of our military men and women, who for ideology will risk their very life. Contrast them to a politician weighing the risk of a yes or no vote and I think most will agree we should use different words to illustrate those two kinds of "peril."
If our politicians had a little of what our military folks have in abundance, maybe the process would be on a higher level. True honor, courage, and patriotism has been replaced with opportunistic power grabs, and underworld tactics.
Mr. President we really do need courage. Each American needs courage to do what is right. Courage helps us overcome our fear and confront intimidation, but we need substance. I am speaking of honor and respect for a process of government. We need to move beyond ideology and discuss what is best for the country, not what is best for one's political career.
Many have died to get us where we are now. We should ask ourselves this question. Does your life honor their sacrifice?
Until the next time
John Strain