Respect is something to be earned. It should be based on the integrity of an individual’s efforts to perform one’s duties. They’d better be honorably accomplished.
The effort should be based on selfless service, not divining what the best reward on delivery of services is. “Either give it all or stay out of the fight”. Duty was defined as a moral obligation to perform selflessly. It’s circuitous. You must keep on living and giving to a higher cause. Being allowed the chance to serve was the honor in itself. It wasn’t derived from being chosen from a limited field of candidates.
Personal courage, personal standards of performance and function as well as personal integrity and adherence to duty are and will be the hallmarks of real leaders. They are emblematic of the leadership exuded as a personal aura wherever he goes and whomever he leads.
All of this is predicated on the past tense as it indicates a track record of performance – not an effort to project performance as a matter of hope for some coming change.
I’m told I’m disrespectful toward the present resident of the Oval Office. “You may not respect the man but you must respect the Office he holds” they tell me.
Dwight D. Eisenhower was a proven commander of ALL allied forces in Europe during World War II. That’s a track record to recognize. He commanded respect by his actions and through his resume’.
John F. Kennedy was a Combat Naval Officer in the Pacific theater and was awarded the Purple Heart. He served in the Senate and developed a lackluster track record in Senatorial public service. His looks and money were his ticket to be punched.
When Richard Nixon ran for President, he had a track record of public service in Congress, as Vice President under Eisenhower and as an incumbent President before involving himself in an impeachable act. But he had a track record bearing no recognizable criminality or malfeasance before his downfall.
Then we started choosing candidates almost solely on their appeal and charisma. JFK started it but it was interrupted. You could hardly call Lyndon Johnson or Richard Nixon charismatic. But Jimmy Carter was nice. Ronald Reagan was an actor, an accomplished businessman and former Governor of California. But his public image and oratorical ability outweighed many of his other good qualities. His charisma won the day.
George H.W. Bush was a nice fellow. He was competent and had a track record, but couldn’t keep his foot out of his mouth at times. His Vice President was a joke without a punch-line. When Bill Clinton (a dedicated follower and some say copycat of all that was illicit in John F. Kennedy) challenged Bush, a good looking suit and polished presentation won the day over Bush’s track record. Clinton was Arkansas’ Governor, and a consummate politician in Democratic circles. He rose to the occasion of his presidency but later embarrassed the nation with his personally egregious conduct.
George W. Bush was a former Governor of Texas and had a positive track record in business. He successfully worked in private industry for years. His performance is history whether some like it or not.
But, why respect a man holding an office of such import as President of the United States when he has NO appreciable record of service beyond being a first term Senator from a politically suspect state as is Illinois? Why respect a man using my country as his stepping stone on a treacherous learning curve concerning all matters financial, globally political and dealing with the internal safety/security of America?
Why respect an office defined by the inadequacies of the incumbent? We’ve had examples of experienced constituency by men superior to him in all ways other than oratory?
Why respect an office held by a man who can’t find the right big stick for the moment at hand?
Political posturing means nothing when character is a necessary trait of experienced command. There’s no record of integrity, honor, or competent performance found in the smoky eddies and incongruities of the mirror’s surface as it concerns Barack Obama.
No wonder our allies disrespect us.
Thanks for listening
