Leadership Matters – Character Matters – Democracy Matters

Leadership Matters – Character Matters – Democracy Matters

Tell them the truth...

​FOR the last four years and more America has lived in a post-truth world, absent of truth. Our democratic republic has been assaulted on many fronts.  We have now gone past a point where truth no longer matters too many. The truth is fluid, it is whatever someone claims, especially the ambitious politicians who would misuse and misdirect the anger and fear of many people to advance their own path to power.  

DO not let them twist this time of anguish and angst to suit their own ends and gain that power to the detriment and destruction of America.  Demand more of them now, today. Ask them to tell the truth and to honor the oath of office they took to defend and protect the constitution.
 
“I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So, help me God.”
 
What do these words, "I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same," mean to us as   American citizens?

AS this new year advances, after we move forward from the tragedy of January 6th, and the  inauguration of President Biden on January 20, 2021. Americans must seek a more insightful “Truth and Reconciliation,” process and tell it true. We must tell the truth to one another. We must seek this truth as a democratic republic. This truth telling is an accounting which will take us far beyond any possible criminal prosecutions and convictions.

IT is an intimate and integral process and a hallowed practice we must pursue as part of a greater national healing. In any “Truth and Reconciliation” process, we would be calling ourselves as citizens to a more thoughtful and prayerful account of our own actions and behavior.  We would be doing this sacred-holy work of the people for the people.
 
WE need to understand our own role in how we came to be where we are today. And how our democratic norms became unraveled, broken, and this tragic travesty of events unfolded. How and why did our democratic values and practices break down, and how have our historical inequities played its part?

FOR us to imagine that his election has saved the union would be naive. There is a higher calling we must answer. More work is required now from each of us.  We must be ever vigilant and watchful. Such populism, such a cult like following of another firebrand, can easily rise again in America.

THERE are politicians like Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, bending the truth even now, so that they might rationalize and promote other falsehoods to gain the power and influence they seek. And who, in the words of Senator Mitt Romney, have "weighed their own political fortunes more heavily than we weigh the strength of our Republic."  

AND in doing so, betrayed their oath of office, and failed to bear true faith and allegiance in defending our Constitution.  Every American has a right and a responsibility to confront the actions and behavior of someone who holds an elected office in their name. We must hold them accountable in this time and place.

DO not accept these actions, call them each and all others who have promoted these falsehoods to a greater accounting. Ask them to seek, tell, and promote the greater truth of this nation. Just as Republican Senator Mitt Romney did when urging the unanimous affirmation of the 2020 Presidential election results.  

AND if they will not honor these sacred obligations and oaths, seek their resignations or remove them from office in due time by electing those who will.  Do not cede to them or to others this power, the power of the people to discern the truth. As conservative Washington Post columnist George F. Will wrote recently; “Trump, Hawley and Cruz will each wear the scarlet ‘S’ of a seditionist.”  

WE need to consider and document how social media and mainstream media played a role in harming our democratic values. And how they helped to disenfranchising minorities, and in disrupting and endangering our political and electoral process through fear, misinformation, misdirection, distractions, false accusations, and blatant untruths. And then take the proper steps to help prevent this from happening again so that we can defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

PERHAPS we need a new variation of the “Fairness Doctrine.” Which was once a firm FCC policy that required broadcasters to present both sides of controversial issues to the public in an honest, fair, and balanced way.  A renewed standard of journalism and journalistic practices must be considered, as it was once before when Yellow-Journalism wreaked havoc in our history.  

IN our fast paced and interconnected world, the truth is far too vulnerable to misinformation and misdirection. We must see clearly how this prevents a discipline of discernment. And how it then aids authoritarian and autocratic leaders who no longer value an open and honest democratic or civil discourse for the greater benefit of societies, nations, and the world.
 
AS Americans witnessed this recent history unfold, we have seen an attack on all our branches of government – justice, legislative, executive, as well as the core institutions and means of our democracy. We must be able to trust that these democratic values will be honored and held sacred by all the people and secured for future generations of Americans. And to ensure that the integrity of our American democracy and our place in it as a free people, will be preserved, if this nation is to long endure and form a more perfect union.
 
 
 
Ron Starbuck
Publisher – CEO – Executive Editor
Saint Julian Press, Inc. Houston, Texas


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