The High Cost of Leadership

So you want to be a leader? Good for you! It's an admirable trait in a world where so many abdicate roles and simply choose to follow along. It would appear that there is not a very deep pool to draw from nowadays when it comes to qualified leaders. Kinda makes you ask the question "What really is a leader?" doesn't it? It's election year and we have seen a dozen or so come and go... aspiring leaders that couldn't quite meet muster. They didn't endear themselves to the people. So what makes a leader (or what should?)?

I dare say this is not an easy question, but a few things stand out clearly...

1) a leader is not his own person. We have seen this failure with the current administration, pushing personal agendas and disregarding the people in preference to his own desires and wishes. A leader serves at the will of the people. He does the will of the people. The majority, that is. He lays himself aside in order to do what is right for the whole. And this brings me to #2.

2) A leader must be a man of principle and willing to stand for what is right, using wisdom to discern between the "wants" of the people and the "needs" of the people.  This may sometimes bring him into conflict with the people's will, but I believe a balanced leader can walk the line on this and effectively convey this idea in a way that is understandable and acceptable to most reasonable people.

3) He's not afraid to be wrong and owns up to it. All men make mistakes. There is no room in good leadership for spin doctoring. Being a man of principle means that you sometimes take chances and sometimes they fail. Sometimes ideas are not good and you need to go back and start over. This is what a successful leader does.

4) He knows his allies and stands by them. A good leader does not abandon those who have stood next to him (or his country) and cavort with the enemy. His principles keep him above people pleasing and encourage him to do what is right even if your enemy is angered.

5) Taking a stand sometimes means going into battle. This means preparing for a fight, even when you don't want one. Remember Top Gun? Remember Goose's response to the Russian MIG when he was inverted over top of him? We have just had a similar event take place except our roles were reversed. A Russian plane barrel rolled over a US fighter jet. Our response? It was unprofessional. We are being provoked constantly by outside forces and our current leadership's response is not to stand up, but to cry "UNFAIR!". It is the feminization of our country, that we cannot take any real stand against affronts to us. I am not talking about bullying, I am talking about standing up to bullies.

6) A leader realizes that since his life is not his own, sacrifices must be made. This means that his entertainment time is often interrupted for the sake of the people. Leisure is not a right, it is a privilege. One that is often denied to those who serve, and so to should it be for those who lead them.

7) Finally, a leader is a leader all the time. It's not just a job, it is a lifestyle. A leader lives and breathes who and what he is all the time. What makes a man? What he does in private, when no one sees him. Not what he does in front of the world. This is why the Clintons will never be real leaders.

This certainly isn't a complete list, and I am sure there are more. Certainly there is a high cost of leadership. It is no small thing for sure.  What do you think?

Part 2- With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

Many years ago, a comic book was published about a young boy who had to suffer a great loss in order to understand the idea that to whom much is given, much is required. A lesson he learned from his uncle just before he died. I admit I am a comic geek. I love the Spider-man comics in nearly all of their incarnations. Throughout them all, this one universal truth stands out... With great power comes great responsibility.... 

You may think it is a silly thing, a comic book saying... But think about how different our society would be if we all followed this one simple principle. We would recognize the duty we have to honor and protect our fellow citizens. It is a shame that our president and many (most) in our legislatures and justice systems never caught on and ran with this idea. Our presidential candidates leave a lot to be desired in many many areas. Our current president thinks that with great power comes great privilege. He fails to grasp that idea that those who rule must rule justly, that privilege is laid aside to serve. A good shepherd serves his flock, the flock does not serve the shepherd. This makes a good church and it makes good politics.

I wish our president would lay aside privilege and understand that the responsibility he has is enormous to protect the citizens of this country. Instead, he leaves us unguarded with a military whose hands are bound, with a police force that is hated by the people they protect, and a people who are more unsure and insecure about the future he has placed before us because he wants to import potential terrorists (refugees) into this country in order to show how open and accepting we are. 

And maybe that is part of the problem. We have relinquished our power in order to be all-inclusive so as to not offend anyone (unless you are noninclusive, then you are fair game). In becoming all inclusive, we have abdicated not only our power as a nation (which lies mainly in the idea of our identity as a people which we are increasingly surrendering to the cult of individualism). In relinquishing our power, we also relinquish responsibility. Not to those around us.... Oh no. Our president seems very comfortable being responsible for everyone in every other nation, Except ours. He eats hot dogs at baseball games and golfs and dances the nights away while our enemies plot and act against us. It seems that he cares more for making nice with the people who hate us, then the country he purports to love. 

I think what we need are justices, congressmen and senators as well as a president who understands that there is a great responsibility sitting before them. That the responsibility is to serve the people and their best interests. They are not here to give us everything we want (that's entitlement), but to give us everything we need. President Obama, pick up a damn Spider-man comic and read it please. It might enlighten you on how civilized people sacrifice and care for those around them. Like i said... might sound silly, but I think it's better than the balderdash we've been fed for the last 8 years.

The Saturday Constitutional: Part one: Service and Vocation

Service in the military isn't just another job. It is a vocation, whether it be long term or short term, much akin to being a pastor or police officer. It is a high calling that requires sacrifice. I am disappointed that the US Army has given yet another exemption for Cpt. Simratpal Singh. Joining the military requires you to give up certain liberties in order to meet conformity standards. I am sure he is a good soldier. A decorated combat veteran. However, when you **voluntarily** enter into US military service, uniformity is one of the first things that you are schooled in. I think it is a shame that accommodations are made for this. It is a slippery slope that once tread may indeed lead to breakdown in unit cohesion. I fear this is part of a larger problem of tolerance and syncretism wherein we are losing our identity as a country, as Americans.

No longer are we a melting pot, where all races, creeds and colors come and become Americans, but a nation of individuals bent on self service instead of service to a higher calling. We are bent on serving self and not others, and whatever pleases me takes precedence over what is meant to serve the greater good. This has become apparent in the recent string of growing troops and their spouses who do not understand their oath to uphold the constitution and protect against threats both foreign and domestic. I have heard some military men and many of their spouses say they do not want their husbands/wives to serve in combat situations no matter how necessary. I wonder if they understand how ridiculous this notion is? Your souse has enlisted for the purpose of serving in a *military capacity*, and that means the possibility (probability in this day and age) of serving in a hostile or combat theater. It is what they are trained to do, from cooks to rangers, from motor-t drivers for MARSOC, from Seamen to Seals. When you as a service member or your spouse speaks out in criticism of deployment to such a theater, or criticises the idea of serving in general, you not only reduce confidence in yourself and your spouse in their ability to perform, but you reduce your unit's effectiveness, because you are showing that you may not have your buddy's back. When you are "in it", and your buddies know your heart is not there with them in the stink of it, how safe do you think they are going to feel?

There is a time and a place for religious practice and political opinions, On duty is not the place, and keep your opinions about deployment private, confined within the walls of your own house, out of ear-shot of everyone else. No one wants to hear your liberal blathering about Sanders' socialism in the military and how your spouse doesn't need to deploy to protect us from terror. So, here, let me recap this for you. If you are serving, there is the knowledge that there are things you are going to have to give up voluntarily (time with your family, the ability to express your faith while on duty in a public way, the ability to dress differently from all your peers, your possible safety, etc), because serving isn't a job, it is a calling. Don't be that nagging pastor's wife who complains that her husband is ministering to the needy, or the cop wife who is complaining that her husband has to patrol a dangerous part of town. Instead, be a good spouse by setting aside your own fears and worries and publicly supporting them with all your being. In that you will be a good partner, and in setting aside your public display of faith to serve your country you can show honor to whatever god you serve by acknowledging that it was he who called you to that service.