Why Integrity Matters

In this era of extreme partisanship in the United States, one thing people of all political persuasions can agree on is that our leadership lacks integrity, accountability, and transparency.

Something we don’t seem to realize, much less acknowledge, is the responsibility we bear for enabling such moral bankruptcy.

I am disheartened on what seems like a daily basis by people demanding honesty from elected officials after stipulating their vote is for sale to whomever promises them what they desire most.

Promises are easy, they’re just words. Anyone can offer them. Some words I find particularly salient for describing ethical degradation in politics are, “the devil comes as everything you’ve ever wished for.” In case it isn’t clear what that means; promises, no matter how generous they are, are worth nothing if the promisor lacks scruples.

After all, isn’t that what scammers do? Why would you hold politicians to a different standard than anyone promising to sell you land in Florida for an unbelievably favorable price?

Analogous to worthless or imaginary real estate in the Sunshine State are the policy assurances of a political candidate. It never ceases to amaze me how many politicians coast to reelection after repeatedly proving their pledges aren’t worth the few seconds it takes to listen to them.

What I really want to get at is how common it has become for voters to put their trust in someone with nothing but reprehensible character traits. There is no shortage of politicians who fit this description, but I am specifically referring to the most obvious example, President Donald Trump.

What’s Wrong With This Guy?

A lot. He’s:

Vapid

Vain

Venal

Hubristic

Obnoxious

Contemptuous

Bigoted

Mendacious

Despotic

And that’s just scratching the surface. He has no positive quality traits I can detect. He never admits he’s wrong, has no desire to learn anything, covets power for use as a whetstone to grind his many axes and satisfy his myriad vendettas, was unfaithful to all of his wives, values only money, and respects no ethical boundaries in his pursuit of it. He possesses no sense of kindness, mercy, or empathy.

He’s also a failure as a businessman; he couldn’t figure out how to sell booze, steaks, and gambling to Americans. And he cheats at golf.

There’s nothing revelatory about anything I’ve said. None of it has been discovered recently. And yet his supporters made it clear long ago they don’t care, because his “policies” (I use the term loosely as he can hardly be said to understand policy) align with their grievances.

If the one thing someone makes it clear you can trust them about is that you can’t trust them, then it shouldn’t need explaining why it’s foolish to trust them.

Putting aside the disastrous policy promises Trump has demonstrated he can be depended upon to enact, how can any adult be so naive as to think a man who doesn’t have the decency not to screw pornstars during his third wife’s pregnancy means what he says? Why would someone who habitually refuses to pay vendors to his businesses for services rendered feel, much less fulfill, any sense of obligation to his constituents?

How did the Obamacare repeal during the dictatorial dry run go? Almost as well as construction of the border wall. Steve Bannon has stolen more money with promises to build a border wall than Mexico has pledged for its actual construction (which is zero, in case you were curious).

Even the few policies of consequence, from his first term and the current one, he can be said to have followed through on, haven’t lived up to his promises in regards to both consequences and intentions.

The tariff fiasco is the most obvious example. Tariffs were supposed to be leveraged to negotiate better trade arrangements, but as soon as they’re levied they’re either revoked or temporarily suspended, before targeted countries have a chance to performatively placate the president.

When all is said and done, neither guarantees nor any amount of savvy and intelligence in a leader mean anything for the people who place their confidence in them if that confidence is misplaced due to a lack of principle. Immoral leaders are not going to reward their faithful with what they want, much less what they need. They’re in it to reward themselves.