...the hour grows too late.

Published: May 7, 2008

A Plea for Principle-Centered National Leadership

Stephen M. Studdert, FSM Editor-at-Large

When I was a child we sang a song, “Where Oh Where has My Little Dog Gone?” Today we should all be singing “Where Oh Where Has Our Responsible Federal Government Gone?”

In April, the national average for regular gasoline reached a new high of over $3.50 per gallon, up 69 cents in just one year. Diesel is now averaging nearly $4.15 per gallon. Oil futures are approaching an historic high of $120 per barrel, with no hint of prices peaking anytime soon. And, insofar as the Saudi Royals announced a cap in oil production at present levels, even though demand increases, supply remains relatively constant. This creates upward pressure on the price per barrel. And energy prices are just one of the alligators in the swamp – disconcerting news is cropping up everywhere.

§ In the state of California alone, there are now more than 500 foreclosures each and every day. The number of California homes lost to foreclosure in the first quarter surged 327% from year-ago levels.

§ The International Monetary Fund is now predicting that the total losses from the subprime and related credit crises could reach an almost incomprehensible $945 billion – nearly a trillion dollars – and more than triple the colossal losses that have been announced so far.

§ The United States is not unique in the expanding credit crisis. Last week, the Bank of England implemented a $100 billion rescue package for Britain's financial system and home loan market.

§ If we were keeping an eye on our own federal spending apparatus, we would know that the Government Accountability Office just reported a review of 95 Department of Defense federal weapons procurement programs showed them to be a total of almost $300 billion over budget.

§ For the past three years, the world has consumed more food than it has produced. A deepening global food crisis has sparked riots in dozens of countries, accounted for many deaths, and threatens hunger to one billion people who live on one dollar per day. In the past three years, global food prices have risen by an average of 83%, exposing yet another 100 million people to the urgent need of food. The United States is not immune to food related issues either -- just this week, Sam’s Club’s and Costco announced their decision to ration consumer purchases of rice and flour.

More and more people are waking up to the fact that our nation and the world face numerous concurrent challenges. Growing threats present themselves on every side. These situations demand principle-centered leadership; we desperately need leaders who possess integrity, mutual respect, stability, and moral courage. More often than not, we witness just the opposite.

Today, the entire process of “leadership” is frequently acrimonious, laced with personal attacks, verbal insults and brutality. Our elected leaders are spending massive amounts of our money, furthering their own personal agendas, and all the while engaging in deceit, maneuvering, misrepresentation, incessant self promotion and clamor. I see very little that is reassuring.

Our national government and the on-going presidential campaign present a disappointing and unfortunate spectacle. Rather than engaging in a civilized contest at whose foundation lies unity and harmony, the campaign has degenerated into a crass and brutal battleground.

It was almost 200 years ago when James Madison, fourth president of the United States, said “It is too early for politicians to presume on our forgetting that the public good, the real welfare of the great body of the people, is the supreme object to be pursued.”

The public good? If it was too early for Madison, what about 2008? In a democracy in which we elect our leaders, we are witnessing the antics of conflicted mudslingers where the public good is often trampled by a culture of expediency instead of a culture of thoughtful concern for the good of the nation.

Our nation requires elected leaders from both parties who will muster the courage to take decisive steps, regardless of complexity or political consequences. These are difficult times and it is the job of those who seek to lead the free world to prove that they are equal to the task of addressing pending threats. Our nation and our very way of life are in danger and we desperately need a courageous and comprehensive national strategy to protect our economy, before it’s too late. Will it be enough … who can know? But we do know that today an avalanche of epic proportions is building; it will continue to gather mass until a lurking but unseen confluence of events triggers the slide. Then, as it comes crashing down, we will have lost the opportunity to prepare. That is a risk that, as a nation and a people, we can ill afford.

America today faces national challenges as serious as we have ever known. We must engage in a civil, candid national discourse on the survival of America, we must invigorate participatory democracy, we must stand fast by our Constitution and its foundational principles, we must ensure adequate resources for national security, and as George Washington counseled we must “commend the Interests of our dearest Country to the protection of Almighty God.”

Before the hour grows too late, each and every American must consider the challenges facing our nation. We must demand action on the part of our elected officials, and cease our tolerance of those (including ourselves) who would spend us into hardships and even bankruptcy. Never again can we allow our leaders to fail to build bridges of understanding around the world.

In this election year, we would do well to consider two ways to work with one another and make wise decisions in the civic arena.

1. Observe how public officials and candidates approach both their personal and public lives. Seek to elect public officials who have demonstrated a lifetime of personal commitment to high moral integrity and personal ethics. If a man or woman who seeks public office has failed to achieve these characteristics, it should be an obvious warning to us.

2. We live in an uncertain world of mushrooming internal and external threats to our national well-being. We should seek leaders who embrace sound principles not personal agendas, who are not blown by every political wind, and especially those with a serious focus on national security. They offer us the safest path.

The time has come for you and me, as citizens, to combine American resilience with our guiding beliefs and rise to the occasion, seeking in our public officials a greater measure of reliable policy and principle. In a nation of unfunded entitlements, an unstable economy, depleting military assets and increasing threats, and a growing absence of personal responsibility, we need to remember that liberty and freedom require our principled civic involvement. These are pre-requisites for citizens and leaders alike!

God has placed divine responsibilities into America’s hands. I, for one, am grateful for the responsible, respectful, dignified, and unwavering dedication of many who offer themselves for service to the nation. In this election season it’s up to you and me to be united for the public good and to choose rightly – the security of our nation that is at stake.

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FamilySecurityMatters.org Editor-at-Large Stephen M. Studdert served as a White House advisor to Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Gerald Ford. He is the author of the newly published America In Danger – What You Must Know To Protect Yourself (Critical Issues Press, www.criticalissuespress.com).

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