SAN DIEGO. Defense Secretary Mark Esper issued a warning that ethical decay undermines the success of the National Defense Strategy. Speaker Pelosi should hear this message – wise words for everyone. Pelosi abuses her privilege of service and then defends her unethical/ immoral behavior.
Esper reminds service members of the oath they took as public servants to defend the Constitution and the Nation’s democratic principles.
“Each of us must be unwavering in our personal commitment to exemplary ethics and living the core values grounded in duty and honor.”
Unceasing partisan debacles cause unbearable stress and strain, fracturing a nation at its core. Then we send our troops out carrying that dispassionate burden on their backs as they fight lethal foreign adversaries. They’re giving their lives for the country they believe in, not a crumbling republic, chipped away by its attackers, led by the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. Third in line for the presidency.
Trump and his teams are the backbones of a free republic.
Our president and his supporters are hated for their strength and love for America and its military. Pelosi and her nefarious friends have become an American insurgency. Concocting fake corruption and impeachment scams to justify their radical agenda. ‘Vengeance’ has become their ID in the eyes of America for losing an election by the people. Patriotic Americans are sick of the ‘V’ circus.
An insurgency is a group of people rebelling against authority (the President). They refuse to accept the government’s power or rule of law. Insurgents try to take control of their country by force, spewing propaganda to bend, not serve, the will of the people. They rip it up.
Disturbing behavior by @SpeakerPelosi in tearing up the Speech Notes.
A childish #PelosiTantrum
The #PelosiMeltdown is an example of Partisan Hate driving the “leaders” among @TheDemocrats
𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 @BrandonBeckham_ for a Bold Christian Voice. pic.twitter.com/zoSTfebcew
— ☀️Brandon Beckham (@BrandonBeckham_) February 5, 2020
The greatest threat to America is the enemy within.
We witness that threat daily in shocking reality.
Unhinged Speaker Pelosi and her minions continue to plot, plan, and execute unprecedented unfounded offensives in their attempted coup doomsday. They don’t offer peace or progress. The wisdom of the famous military strategist Sun Tzu, tells us so,
“Peace proposals unaccompanied by a sworn covenant indicate a plot.” Sun Tzu
What have Pelosi’s anti-Trump supporters sworn to give America? It’s obviously not compromised, or selfless leadership or constituent-driven work ethics to get necessary things done. Forget prosperity, achievement, with their form of ‘I want to control’. Their covenant is plotting to overthrow a four-year election result, in the midst of the upcoming re-election.
“The consummate leader cultivates the moral law, and strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is in his power to control success.” Sun Tzu
Pelosi and followers create their own methods and discipline. Rebellion constitutes their excessive stray from duty and dedication to the American people.
They offer nothing but replacing our republic with socialism, government control, free-spending, and taking us out of the equation.
The core of any healthy enterprise is ethics and morality.
History will tell us from ancient times how the decline of ethics and morality will leave society vulnerable, weak, exposed to its enemies. Like being naked in the winter – it’s susceptible to the elements of human-caused storms that disrupt the planet. Shedding the armor of honor and integrity will leave one’s teeth chattering in the face of enemies who want to destroy what you have, which is freedom.
NORTH CAROLINA, September 24, 2019. Leaders from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station New River brief the Honorable Mark T. Esper, Secretary of Defense, about the capabilities of various aircraft located on MCAS New River, during his tour of MCB Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Isaiah Gomez
Defense Secretary Esper knows this from a defending freedom standpoint,
“A commitment to exemplary ethics must be a personal creed. I expect every member of the Department to continue to aim beyond compliance with basic standards. As leaders, teammates, and colleagues, we must inspire each other by setting an example, rejecting any sense of personal entitlement, and never abusing our position or our privilege of service. We must be willing to choose the harder virtue over the easier vice.”
“Each of us takes a solemn oath to support and defend the Constitution. The Department’s
mission imparts a special responsibility on each of us to serve with the utmost integrity and be
vigilant in protecting the duties and confidences with which we have been entrusted.”
Some say war is immoral, some say just.
Lt. Col. Pete Kilner wrote in Association of the United States Army (AUSA) in 2017, that peace is not always an option when peace has already been shattered by an aggressor.
“Aggressors usually propagate false narratives that portray themselves as the aggrieved victims in a war. Their lies are obvious to impartial, informed observers.”
Kilner says both sides claim to be victims and one is clearly not. “The better conclusion,” he says, “is that aggressors’ reality-twisting narratives are evidence of humanity’s recognition that wars do involve unjust aggressors and just defenders.”
Does this sound familiar in what we’ve seen play out in the attempted impeachment war on the president? Noted, Congressional warmongers have consequences to their actions. Yet, will you wage an unjust immoral war to get re-elected, keep your house, keep your pension, or avoid demotion to a lesser committee?
For troops, the layers are more complex. Immoral incidents are distinct from immoral wars.
SYRIA, November 10, 2019. U.S. Soldiers in the 4th Battalion, 118th Infantry Regiment, 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team, North Carolina Army National Guard, attached to the 218th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, South Carolina Army National Guard, provide M2A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles for support to Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR). The mechanized infantry troops will partner with Syrian Democratic Forces to defeat ISIS remnants and protect critical infrastructure in eastern Syria. U.S. Army Reserve photo by Spc. DeAndre Pierce
“A single war may involve millions of people organized into thousands of units engaged in continuous life-or-death operations. Inevitably, some soldiers’ moral compasses become distorted by war’s fierce emotions and unfortunate situations. Bad things happen in war, even in just wars,” says Kilner, adding, “We must keep in mind that worse things happen when aggression is permitted to prevail.”
War for service members can be a menu of bad options.
As combat veterans know, right and wrong can be blurred when facing lethal combatants. The danger in your face or threat down the road – it’s kill or be killed. If one is not there – it can be a hard thing to judge. But judge none-the-less we do. Through reminders, Esper helps service members avoid falling in this pit.
“In almost every war, one side is guilty of initiating the violence or creating the imminent threat…Although both sides in war engage in the same types of violent acts, those acts have different moral meanings when performed by the war’s aggressors and defenders,” says Kilner.
Sometimes deciding who is morally guilty is foggy in cases where a person defended himself or stopped an imminent threat. Service members are mission-centered and always watch each others’ backs. They follow rules and ethics doing the dirtiest, most dangerous war-time work. While keeping themselves and their brothers alive.
U.S. service members are scrutinized, punished when they break military conduct protocol.
West Point graduate Maj. Matthew Golsteyn was charged with war crimes for allegedly murdering a suspected Afghan bomb-maker in 2010. Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL, was convicted of posing with a corpse of an enemy combatant in Iraq.
Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance served six years of a 19-year sentence on two charges of second-degree murder and obstruction of justice after ordering his soldiers to open fire on three unarmed men in Afghanistan, killing two of them.
On the other hand, Congressional aggressors are not held accountable, punished when they stray from ethics, when they break rules, protocol, when they threaten to shatter peace. They are not held to task when they strive relentlessly to break apart a nation by removing a sitting president over unproven, false claims. Causing tons of civil unrest, which can lead to violence. We’ve seen Congressional members repeatedly spur the public to unleash hate on those who disagree with them.
President provides 2nd chances for his beloved military.
In 2019, President Trump issued pardons for Golsteyn and Lorance and restored the rank of a Navy SEAL to Gallagher, acquitted of murder in Iraq.
“For more than two hundred years, presidents have used their authority to offer second chances to deserving individuals, including those in uniform who have served our country,” said White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham in a statement released late Friday [Nov 2019]. “These actions are in keeping with this long history,” says NPR.
No person is morally perfect. When ethical or moral violations become systemic, the war becomes unjust.
To do what is right when ethical dilemmas arise, we must train, says Secretary Esper.
We know it takes education to pass a legal bar – an admirable feat many in Congress achieve. But how do you pass the moral and ethical bars? You do it each day making proposals, plans, and decisions that beneficially affect millions. As well as voting on facts, figures, and tangible proof and/or evidence to support a worthy cause or claim.
United States Capital Building https://pixabay.com/photos/capitol-washington-dc-government-720677/
As the leader of the greatest military forces in the world, Defense Secretary Esper expects “Department leaders to be personally involved in training their organizations. Talk about examples of ethical decision-making, good and bad.” Our allies and partnerships rely on the conduct we present. Trust is golden, as war is no easy task when so many outcomes are at stake.
“Ethical leadership that builds principled, self-disciplined teams strengthens readiness and improves
lethality. Our shared ethical values strengthen alliances and attract new partners,” says Esper.
He wants leaders to “Make these conversations a natural part of your meetings and engagement with your personnel. Create an open, transparent environment that reinforces values-based decision-making and action. And always treat everyone with dignity and respect.”
What if dissident Congressional members instead had that kind of leadership? What training does any member of Congress receive to execute important legislation as a body with opposing ideas and goals? Is the art of compromise or the art of war your stripe earned? Strategist Sun Tzu has a word for both armies and legislators,
“There has never been a protracted war from which a country has benefited.” Sun Tzu
A free nation, self-government demands virtue.
The Bill of Rights Institute states,
“The United States was established on a set of principles and ideals that have guided and shaped the public life of the country since the Founding. The American people continue to strive to realize more fully these principles and ideals…These civic virtues bind a self-governing people together in communities that facilitate a healthy civil society.”
Speaker Pelosi and her liberal army have forgotten or perhaps never truly embraced the tenants of self-government, even though they swore to.
“Consent of the Governed/Popular Sovereignty: The power of government comes from the people.”
“Due Process: The government must interact with all people according to the duly-enacted laws and apply these rules equally with respect to all people.”
“Equality: All individuals have the same status regarding their claim as human beings to natural rights and treatment under the law.”(Even the President).
“Civic Virtue: A set of actions and habits necessary for the safe, effective, and mutually beneficial participation in a society.”
The American insurgency swamp is due for ethics and moral cleansing. We’re the land of second chances for even those who are swamp dwellers. Take Esper’s advice to your next meeting, reach for the high ground. We all can learn a lot from those in uniform.
“Stay focused on your mission, remain steadfast in your pursuit of excellence, and always travel the honorable path,” advises Esper.
And try not to rip. Mend.
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