COMMUNITY VIEWPOINT: Political mess shows no character or humility

Well we are pretty fed up with the political advertisements but what are they really saying? After each election process we all claim to have not voted for the politician whom we somehow put into office. Was it magic, apathy or trickery or just plain ignorance where we just voted a party line?

It’s apparent that a majority of current politicians lack simple character. They know what is right but they are afraid of a little discomfort, inconvenience or simply fear they might not get elected again if they represent an ideal or moral standard.

We all agree that government is too controlling and has their hand in too many areas that should be privatized business. But who is it that got us in this predicament? We all have to look in the mirror and at each other because we let this happen to our country.

I am going to quote some interesting analogies about our current political mess. Character is nothing more and nothing less than a sum of a person’s choices or lack thereof. Your character is further defined by how you choose to interact with others and the standard of speech and conduct you practice.

Character is a leadership quality, one in which others wish they could emulate. If you want to remain in a society with freedoms we must search for those who maintain character at any cost. Character means that there are no matters or issues too small or trivial to handle the right way. Cutting corners and thinking no one will notice will only reduce your character.

Strong attributes of character are honesty, humility, patience, responsibility, self-discipline, self-reliance, optimism, courage, long-term focus, a lust for learning and lastly, a constant desire for making the right choices and sticking to their guns.

Irresponsible people blame others for their consequences of poor judgment. People with no discipline or character invite those with no character to control and manipulate their lives.

Thomas Jefferson was a man with character. “He would give up earth itself and all it contained rather than commit an immoral act.” If our founders of this country were alive today they would be in our streets shouting on a soapbox the issues before us today. Bad character leads to bad policy and bad economics. Why is it we have government unable to stay within budgets today?

It is time for a dramatic change and the citizens of this county can make it happen. It isn’t just in one area of the county but many where we can pull in the purse strings. To do that it will take candidates with character that haven’t already been bought.

The author of this eulogy is unknown but it has the right stuff.

The world needs more men and women who do not have a price at which they can be bought; who do not borrow from their integrity to pay for expediency; who have their priorities straight and in proper order; whose handshake is an ironclad contract; who are not afraid of taking risks to advance what is right; and who are as honest in small matters as they are in large ones.

The world needs more men and women whose ambitions are big enough to include others; who know how to win with grace and dignity; who do not believe that shrewdness and cunning and ruthlessness are the three keys to success; who still have friends they made twenty years ago; who put principle and consistency above politics or personal advancement; and who are not afraid to go against the grain of popular opinion.

The world needs more men and women who do not forsake what is right just to get consensus because it makes them look good; who know how important it is to lead by example, not by barking orders; who would not have you do something they would not do themselves; who work to turn even the most adverse circumstances into opportunities to learn and improve; who respect the lives, property, and rights of their fellow men and women; and who love even those who have done some injustice or unfairness to them.

The world, in other words, needs more men and women with character.

When we step up to that voting booth we need to know that the person we are electing has that character. Democracy changes only with education and disharmony to the past and a hope for the future.