I have no idea why they even bother to broadcast “news” anymore. Seriously, if I were a mainstream journalist, I would be so embarrassed I’d go incognito. Without even turning on the sound, I can tell where a particular commentator stands. For example, if you have a “D” after you name, I know what you are going to say, and if you have an “R”, I also know what you are going to say. Truth in reporting has been smothered out by snarky opinions and facts have been replaced with personal attacks and fabrications.
This problem is as old as man himself. It’s the old love of power versus power of love dilemma. Or as my neighbor so beautifully put it, “People don’t want to do right, they want to be right.” And therein is the true reason why leadership is so scarce. General George S. Patton said, “Congress is usually void of leadership. I don’t know that congress will ever have any leadership because they are always running for reelection.” And this type of motivation leads an individual to make all kind of policy shifts and flip flops.
Now it is perfectly acceptable (even enlightened) to change your opinion about things, but you should not change your principles. You must keep your convictions regardless of what the poll of public opinion says. We can uproot and change political parties, faiths, jobs, and relationships, but once uprooted our roots must be firmly replanted on something with sustenance. If we root in the shallow soil of wanting only to be voted “in” or promoted “up” at all costs, we won’t have deep roots and won’t be capable of producing fruit or withstanding the “violent opposition of mediocre minds” as Albert Einstein so aptly put it.
Doing the right thing has nothing to do with you personally proving yourself right. Doing the right thing has nothing to do with which side of the political aisle you sit on. Doing the right thing is about the constant application of the truth because the truth will set you free. That’s exactly why we are so confused as a country and in this endless national morass. We have put ourselves in bondage to perversion of truth and accountability and discipline in all aspects of our national existence. And until we face it, we are not going anywhere because we do not have a root structure that can sustain growth.
Leadership has nothing to do with where you sit; it has everything to do with where you stand. When I was in the military, leadership was about showing the troops how to do the right thing and living it by example. There was structure and the absolute expectations that those at the top would do the right thing, regardless of what it may cost them. They took clear, decisive action and in doing so created better soldiers who would obey and, when necessary, pay the ultimate price.
So for God’s sake, get off the party line and learn to think based on your principles. Just because you’re in one base camp doesn’t mean that the other side should jump off a cliff.
Does where you stand depend on where you sit?
I have no idea why they even bother to broadcast “news” anymore. Seriously, if I were a mainstream journalist, I would be so embarrassed I’d go incognito. Without even turning on the sound, I can tell where a particular commentator stands. For example, if you have a “D” after you name, I know what you are going to say, and if you have an “R”, I also know what you are going to say. Truth in reporting has been smothered out by snarky opinions and facts have been replaced with personal attacks and fabrications.
This problem is as old as man himself. It’s the old love of power versus power of love dilemma. Or as my neighbor so beautifully put it, “People don’t want to do right, they want to be right.” And therein is the true reason why leadership is so scarce. General George S. Patton said, “Congress is usually void of leadership. I don’t know that congress will ever have any leadership because they are always running for reelection.” And this type of motivation leads an individual to make all kind of policy shifts and flip flops.
Now it is perfectly acceptable (even enlightened) to change your opinion about things, but you should not change your principles. You must keep your convictions regardless of what the poll of public opinion says. We can uproot and change political parties, faiths, jobs, and relationships, but once uprooted our roots must be firmly replanted on something with sustenance. If we root in the shallow soil of wanting only to be voted “in” or promoted “up” at all costs, we won’t have deep roots and won’t be capable of producing fruit or withstanding the “violent opposition of mediocre minds” as Albert Einstein so aptly put it.
Doing the right thing has nothing to do with you personally proving yourself right. Doing the right thing has nothing to do with which side of the political aisle you sit on. Doing the right thing is about the constant application of the truth because the truth will set you free. That’s exactly why we are so confused as a country and in this endless national morass. We have put ourselves in bondage to perversion of truth and accountability and discipline in all aspects of our national existence. And until we face it, we are not going anywhere because we do not have a root structure that can sustain growth.
Leadership has nothing to do with where you sit; it has everything to do with where you stand. When I was in the military, leadership was about showing the troops how to do the right thing and living it by example. There was structure and the absolute expectations that those at the top would do the right thing, regardless of what it may cost them. They took clear, decisive action and in doing so created better soldiers who would obey and, when necessary, pay the ultimate price.
So for God’s sake, get off the party line and learn to think based on your principles. Just because you’re in one base camp doesn’t mean that the other side should jump off a cliff.
