If Only Life Could Imitate Art In The Political World
My wife and I love the show, “The West Wing.” If you’ve never watched it, check out an episode on Netflix. The president, a Catholic graduate of Notre Dame played by Martin Sheen, is a man of integrity who operates out of a concern for the people and his perception of the dignity of his office. Do we cheer every one of his decisions? No, of course not; but this president is a man who exudes trust and competence.
In the show, the president’s staff is comprised, similarly, of highly competent professionals who altruistically abandoned high-powered and lucrative positions because they were inspired by a candidate of strong character. One episode found the entire staff rallying around President Bartlet with the motto, “I serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States.” It was a moving and patriotic scene.
Some of my co-workers tease me because I have adopted a similar motto. When tough situations arise, I frequently recite, “I serve at the pleasure of the Bishop of the Diocese of Evansville.” Those who have engaged me in any of these challenging discussions can attest to this, and I take the role of my office very seriously. I suppose this is why I am drawn to strong leaders. Despite successes in life, I have no desire to be the person at the top; I enjoy being the person who supports the person at the top, a trusted advisor, a voice of challenge when necessary and assurance of defense when required. A former national political speechwriter, I’ve always dreamt of the call to write for a candidate with whom I shared a moral view. Again, I don’t want to be a mayor or congressman, that’s not my desire; but I love the idea that I would help those who aspire to such things to make our society better.
This is the reason I don’t understand politics today. As I write this, we are in the midst of campaign season, and Tri-state voters will hit the polls in a few weeks. The campaign ads are, to use a descriptive and eloquent word, stupid; they are partisan bickerings that lack content. I find myself longing for one candidate who would stand up as a common-sense Catholic. Someone who could point out the flaws in bad moral arguments on both “conservative” and “liberal” issues. Common sense dictates that we stop voting for people based on political parties, and start forcing candidates to stand up for good, decent, self-accountable behavior.
A friend with political connections recently told me such a view was naïve: “Steve, no one would ever do that because they couldn’t get elected without party support.” Nonsense: A person of character is inspiring to others, and people of integrity who long for strong leadership would gladly follow. All that is required is one person of courage; and sadly, few appear to exist in our current political system.
Our Church is founded on the principle that one person of integrity can inspire others with the truth, and a grassroots movement can grow from 12, to 5,000 to more than a billion. The proof exists in our midst. Even corrupt members of the Church have yet to be able to undo the confidence inspired by one person of integrity. But we seem to consign this to our faith, and never let it carry over into our world.
We all serve at the pleasure of someone else, and that service determines our values. Our elected officials are supposed to serve at the pleasure of the people; but instead, they serve at their own pleasure or that of their party, and their selfishness is affecting all of society. As Catholics, we must begin to demand that our politicians stand up for what is right, not what is politically advantageous. We must call them to abandon any party that attempts to force them to change their convictions, and we should never lose sight of the fact that a candidate who waivers on campaign promises is a liar, not a person of integrity.
We serve, and vote, at the pleasure of our Lord, Jesus Christ. How different might the world look if we voted with that conviction?
