Has our nation's Integrity Quotient plummeted to a previously unheard of low in recent years? With the advent of Donald Trump's presidency, it seems obvious that it has! Responsible media analysts have identified over 3000 statements that Trump has made during his first year and a half in office that were clearly contrary to fact, notwithstanding his insistence they were true. His administration rapidly and repeatedly labels real, factual news as "fake news", and media outlets which back his rule serve as a regular conduit for the announcements coming out of his office, parroting the untrue assertions which are offered in support of his policies. Recent examples are numerous, including his reasoning for separating parents from their children, among refugee seekers at the border, citing dangers which were falsely stated as occurring when the refugees status is processed as usual. Another example is repeatedly claiming that he has been much tougher on Russia than Obama ever was, overlooking the damaging sanctions that the Obama administration imposed on Russia after their Crimean incursion, and belying the fact that Trump and his advisors have made numerous overtures for better relations with Russia, including considering repeal of the sanctions. A third example involves Trump's withdrawal of the US from the Iranian Nuclear Agreement, claiming Iran was violating the terms of the agreement, an unverified charge and one negated by our Western allies denying his claim. Whether it concerns human rights, foreign affairs, the health of the nation's economy, accepting scientific fact, or facing environmental realities, the Trump administration is clearly fact-challenged! Without a respect for truth, integrity is nonexistent, and our society seems to be at serious risk of falling prey to its absence. A positive quality like integrity, especially when modeled by a respected leader, can have a contagious effect on society. So too, tragically, can a false leader serve to stimulate a profound loss of respect for integrity within society. Our nation seems to be experiencing just such a loss!
For a nation which frequently and often proudly proclaims its "Exceptionalism", and which does indeed stand for a number of qualities which are to be highly respected and set it apart from many other nations, what has contributed to its current integrity-deficit? While our founding fathers may have had the highest of intentions, they did have to make serious compromises in some of their basic values at our nations very onset, in order to get it off the ground. Voting rights, property rights, and gender equality were all extremely limited, slavery was allowed to exist as a compromise to Southern economic interests, and Native Americans were treated as less than human, as treaty after treaty with tribes were broken as their land was literally stolen from them. The fictitious concept of "Manifest Destiny" gave the newly-labeled Americans the right to eradicate those standing in their way, as though God ordained it. So those stealing land could hold their heads high, in carrying out God's will, and their own integrity, in their minds, was not being violated.
Later generations of leaders have tried to rectify some of the early lapses of integrity, and the moral and political shortcomings implicit in our founding documents and institutions have often been points of contention. While the wrongs perpetuated on Native Americans have never been adequately addressed, and undoubtedly never will be, a Civil War was fought to end the inhuman practice of slavery, voting rights were gradually increased, greater economic opportunity and equality have been fervently sought, with varying results over time. An ebb and flow battle has existed between property rights and the accumulation of wealth, a central feature of capitalism, on one hand, and human rights and the striving for greater equality and justice to be shared by all people, on the other. True integrity is often sacrificed in this battle, ends seen as justifying the means, as compromises are often made to reach one's ends, regardless of the effect they may have on one's sense of integrity. Still, up until the last two decades, our political leaders have always been expected to act with some degree of integrity, and were rapidly removed from office when it became obvious that they were falling far short in this expectation. One example from recent history was when Richard Nixon, clearly caught lying and engaging in deceitful practices through the Watergate Inquiry, was forced to resign from the presidency. A second was Bill Clinton, found to have lied over an illicit affair he conducted with a White House intern, was impeached by Congress, not found guilty by the Senate, but his presidency still severely reprimanded. Since then, integrity has been in short supply in Washington DC, and Trump's presidency brings the degree and intensity of its absence to a new level.
As the preceding all reveals, our nation's problems with integrity at high levels in no way began with Trump, undoubtedly won't end with him, but have reached a level which must be openly addressed and corrected, before the damage is totally irreparable. His presidency is the third major blow which our nation's credibility and integrity have experienced already this century. The first was the overt lying and false statements that came from the George W Bush-Dick Cheney administration, leading us to start a war against Iraq, one the administration clearly desired, based on falsified evidence. The second was the Republican-led Congress's absolute refusal to cooperate with the Obama administration on any key issues, even defeating programs and policies they had previously supported and proposed themselves, as their sole intent, openly admitted, was to ensure that Obama's presidency would be a failure. Clearly a case of partisanship over patriotism, and revealing an abject absence of integrity in violating their stated values of acting in the nation's best interest. Not surprisingly, voters were sick of the existing political establishment--it had failed them--and neither party offered a clear change from that establishment in the 2016 election, except for Donald Trump. The Republican establishment candidates had failed them, and the Clinton candidacy was the epitome of establishment, and had its own integrity issues. Hence, Trump's nomination and election, and our current political realities.
Trump is the ultimate in a chaos-driven, ego-centric, ethically-challenged, opportunistic individual. Impulsive and erratic in his emotions and actions, he has been called by some mental health professionals a "malignant narcissist", with his irresponsible and obsessive self-serving behaviors tending to spread to the people he is having greatest contact with, and from them to others in their contact. This seems to be happening in Trump's administration, spreading to Republicans in Congress, and to media outlets aligned with the GOP. They are becoming integrity-challenged themselves, spreading most of his untruths without qualification. In the latest polls, even Republican voters, historically the most conservative, religious, and likely to insist on the personal and political integrity of leaders, offer him their support, the number supporting him currently being over 80%. Its clearly short-term party bias and perceived political gain "trumping" all other considerations, integrity, truth, overall national well-being be damned! The dark power that resides in the White House is considerable, and having a marked influence on the nation. But so too is an ameliorative power that resides in the public, citizens who respect our nation's primary stated values, principles, and purposes. They are marshaling their forces for the battles that lie ahead, whether they be in the courts, in upcoming elections, hopefully, certainly, not in the streets. And hopefully not fought on foreign lands in an ego-driven or diversionary war Trump pursues to shift attention from his domestic failings. But the battle, one for our nation's integrity, well-being, and respectability needs to be fought. Many have fought for it in the past, and they have more frequently than not, won. Our history is replete with such instances. The united, informed energy and efforts of those who care can produce another such instance. Our future can't lie in Trump's hands, it must lie in ours. It is up to us!
