Compromised Values

Posted by Larry Miller on January 27, 2009 under Why | Be the First to Comment

Suppose for a minute you have a daughter, about 11 years old, and she tells you she would like to take gymnastic lessons. Being a loving parent and wanting to do your best for her, you begin to look for a suitable instructor. Being a driven, type A personality, you also determine that being merely good is not good enough. As fortune would have it, there is such an instructor just a few blocks from your home.

You want to be sure, so you talk with the families of current and former students. Gradually a picture emerges of a man who, while skilled in his work, gets a little too friendly with his students. You want your child to be successful, so the question arises, will you put her in the hands of a pedophile to do so? Thankfully for most reasonable parents this is not an issue. They realize that the character of the people influencing their children is of greater importance than any skill they may have.

Now, suppose you are the president of the United States looking to fill your cabinet with the best possible people. You come across a bright young man who appears to be the ideal candidate for the Secretary of the Treasury position. He has a compatible economic philosophy, he has experience and he appears to be loyal to the hand that feeds him.

However as he goes through the confirmation process, some past indiscretions come to light. It becomes apparent that he has a substantial amount of unpaid taxes. Evidence is shown that this situation is not a simple mistake… that to get the funds to pay these taxes, he had to sign papers acknowledging that the taxes were due and the money was to be used to pay them. Yet this did not happen and them money was deposited in his bank account.

Yes, this is not mere supposition, Tim Geithner, Barack H. Obama’s Secretary of the Treasury not only lied on his tax return, but he lied to the public when he told us it was a simple mistake. Whether this man is really the best choice, experientially, is the subject for another day, however, the fact that he consciously disrespected the institution he is supposed to run has been well documented.

Is it possible for a man who consciously evaded taxes, but failed to suffer the consequences because of his status and connections, to run the agency that collects taxes with a fair and even hand? What we have seen is the character of Mr. Geithner ignored, because the new president and his allies in the Senate believe this man’s actions will accrue to their benefit.

How does picking a talented, but unprincipled person usually work out? There may be times when there are benefits, but I would suggest we look at the case of TO. Terrell Owens is an amazingly talented wide receiver. Several years ago, after wreaking havoc at several NFL teams, he was put on the market. The Philadelphia Eagles grabbed him thinking this premier receiver would be just the shot in the arm their passing game needed.

He teamed up with quarterback Donovan McNabb for some amazing plays, yet things never quite worked for the team as his mouth made it clear TO thought he was smarter than the coach, the quarterback and everyone else on the team. What is supposed to be a game with eleven players acting as one to move the ball down the field degenerated into a game evaluated on how often TO got the ball. Eventually coach Andy Reid, benched him for the last half of a season and once again Terrell was on the market.

The Dallas Cowboys picked him up and he did his magic there as he had done everywhere else. He made spectacular plays but destroyed team cohesion and this team with an overabundance of raw talent did not even make the playoffs this year.

What is the price for ignoring character and principle? It’s always high, it always has to be paid and almost always is higher than the benefit.

As food for thought, I would submit that it is easy for me to be critical of President Obama’s choice of a Secretary of Treasury as a dyed in the wool Republican. Only once in my life did I vote for someone without an R by their name. However, when I see the hard times that have fallen on the Republican Party and their drift from the low taxes, small government, pro-life philosophy, I have to wonder if the recent electoral failures have not come from the compromised values. Many have chosen, as the president has done, expediency over principle. The expediency of ‘big tent’ thinking is their shortcut, easier to take than not just sticking with values, but vigorously explaining, defending and promoting them.

It appears that stretching for illusory victory is more important than working for right outcomes. And victory has eluded them. This is what happens when you really know better but try to cut corners… when you value power over doing what is right. With your children, hopefully their safety and welfare is more important than any trophy or prize. It would be good for those desiring positions of power to value the common good over the power they have. After all, it’s not their power, it belongs to the people who have only loaned it to leaders.