Honor and Moral Authority

Two takes on the question of honor:

First, Doctor Zero, over at Hot Air:

We dishonor ourselves when we create massive obligations with unsustainable financing. This shows disrespect to the future, and a craven refusal to face the realities of today. If time is money, then madcap deficit spending steals the time of the future… draining it away like so much sand down the neck of a broken hourglass. As parents love their children, we should be mindful of the future, and eager to shoulder our current burdens instead of passing them along, with interest. We cannot know the shape of tomorrow, or what hardships they may be facing when the bills for our indulgences come due.

Both political parties own that one, no doubt about it. And he also says this:

We reclaim our honor by turning away from those who believe the great mass of us are beneath their contempt, and compassion is best expressed through domination. They have no power we didn’t give them, which means they have no power we cannot take away. Let us begin.

Meanwhile, consider these comments from David Zuwarik, writing in the Baltimore Sun:

The brand of American history taught by Glenn Beck Saturday at his rally would not pass muster in a mediocre middle school. And in terms of what came across on TV, there were no moments of great emotional resonance or release until perhaps the finale of bagpipes playing "Amazing Grace" and a closing prayer.

And yet, beyond the huge crowd that attended the event in Washington, something important and even profound was taking place at Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally: The Fox News host was attempting to seize a mantle of moral authority earned and ultimately paid for with his life by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. And, sadly, I think in the eyes of some viewers, Beck might have succeeded.

But how might Beck have succeeded in doing that? Because nature abhors a vacuum. Zuwarik:

As I watched this specatcle Saturday, I started thinking how much recent American history has been about the struggle for moral authority since the death of King and Robert Kennedy. When LBJ lost his moral authority over Vietnam, he lost his ability to govern -- and he knew it. Richard Nixon never had moral authority, and Gerald Ford lost his when he pardoned Nixon. And so on and so on to Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton and then the election that many feel was stolen in the so-called Florida recount by the friends of George W. Bush.

That's what what was so powerful about November 2008 in Grant Park when Barack Obama took the stage on election night: Millions of Americans thought they were finally watching someone who brought moral authority to the White House and the land. I know I did. Sadly, millions now feel Obama has since lost it with too many morning-after flip-flops on moral issues, entertainment TV show appearances, and days on the golf course as the economy struggles.

We are a saner, more focused and calmer nation when we feel as if we have someone we can look to for moral authority. Glenn Beck understands that, and that is what makes what happened in Washington Saturday worth thinking about long and hard.

A couple of points:

• It's easy to get a little nervous when you start to hear the rhetoric get ratcheted up, especially the blood of patriots evocation that Doc Zero provides in his piece. We aren't at that point, really -- while I fully agree that many of those who would govern us would prefer to rule instead, there is still a rule of law in this country and it's built on a strong foundation. We aren't at the point where we need to start thinking about a revolution. Yet.
• Zuwarik is on to something, but he's missing the point. King's moral authority didn't come from his own personality; rather, it came from the evident rightness of his cause and because he ground his message in both the ideals of the Founders and his own faith tradition. Because he was consistent in his approach, he was able to reach people.
• It's easy to laugh at the idea that a Chicago politician would have any moral authority, but I take Zuwarik at his word about his belief. During the 2008 election cycle I wrote more than once about the notion that people were looking for a reason to believe. There were clearly more people than Zuwarik who wanted to believe a new day was dawning. I knew that there would be great disappointment about Obama for that reason. Some of those people are in the Tea Party movement now. I'd be willing to wager that some of the people in Grant Park on that night in November, 2008 were in Washington yesterday.
• But here's the thing: it never goes well when we see an individual as a source of moral authority. Individuals are fallible. We are all sinners. King's moral authority didn't come from who he was -- the historical record provides ample evidence that he was prone to sin in myriad ways. King's moral authority came from his willingness, at the most important times, set aside his own appetites for a cause that was greater than his own self-interest. Very few people do that. There was never any reason to believe that Barack Obama would do that. But there were a lot of people who were prepared to believe otherwise.

We aren't going to be able to impose honor from an address at the Lincoln Memorial. If we are to restore the honor we have lost, and the moral authority that comes with it, it's a job that has to start a lot closer to home than Washington, D.C.