After 232 Years, Does Character & Integrity No Longer Matter To Americans?

For 232 years character and integrity have played an integral role in presidential politics. For 232 years, Americans have elected Presidents not based upon the proposition that asks what your country can do for you, but rather the proposition that you "ask what you can do for your country". In this election we have been told over and over again that we should ignore and not ask any questions concerning character and integrity. We have been told to ignore the most crucial priority for government to protect our sovereignty, while being told that the most important issue is what our government can do to solve our individual challenges; and for the first time in Presidential politics it appears that character and integrity no longer matter.

Senator Obama talks eloquently about the politics of distraction, yet every time from the primaries to today, when character or integrity has been elevated we have been distracted and subject changed. Today, I cannot stress enough the importance in this statement, 'The Presidency Has Everything To Do With Character and Integrity".

No one in this election has been able to effectively question the strength of Senator McCain's character. When the issue has been raised, the Obama campaign has to revert to misleading allegations stemming from the Keating 5 controversy that occurred well over 20 years ago. Their best attempt to question Senator McCain's integrity has been built upon an event in which both federal prosecutors and congress exonerated Senator McCain. Their best attempt to question his integrity has been built upon an event in which John McCain was the only one of the Keating 5 to stand-up and actually testify against Keating in a court room.

On the other side of the ticket, however, we have a candidate whom in his unusually short time in politics has been mired in controversy and aligned himself with some of the most questionable individuals in America. Time and time again when we Senator Obama's associations and friendships have been raised, we have been told to ignore them; that they don't matter; that they are a distraction. Yet, even if you believe this rhetoric and choose to view these friendships as mere coincidences, certainly there must be a point at which any reasonable person has to admit that some of these friendships existed. Certainly, there must be a point at which any rational individual has to admit that this is a disturbing pattern.

Whether it is Wright, Rezko, Ayers, Dohrn, Frank Marshall Davis, Khalidi, Klonsky, Odinga, his membership in the socialist based "New Party" or others, Obama's relationships may have been inconsequential with some, but certainly not all. Are we to believe that after 20 years it does not matter that Senator Obama sat in the pews of a church that openly empathized with terrorist organizations such as hamas, while preaching at times an anti-America, anti-Semitic and race baiting theology. Can we believe that Senator Obama who openly admitted to seeking out relationships with "Marxists" in his own memoirs was somehow just seeking enlightenment and does not prescribe to these worldly views. If so, then why is that Senator Obama never sought out relationships with the radical right, or even the right-leaning. I will admit that I don't believe that Senator Obama was best friends with all of these individuals, but no rational person can deny that individuals such as Frank Marshall and Rev. Wright played influenced the belief system of Obama.

What is disturbing to me and should disturb everyone isn't the fact that some of these relationships existed, but rather the fact that Senator Obama denies their existence, avoids the subject or downplays the scope of the relationship. If he lacks the basic character and integrity to honestly and openly admit to these relationships and why he chose to align himself with these types of individuals, then how can we entrust him with the most powerful political leadership role in the world.

Senator Obama talks eloquently about the need for service, the need to reach out to our neighbors, the patriotism behind choosing to pay higher taxes; Senator Obama talks eloquently about 'Spreading the wealth'; but in his own life he has displayed a lack of generosity that is phenomenal. Between 1995 and 2005 the Obama family literally generated millions of dollars in income. Yet despite making more more in a ten year period than most Americans will earn in a lifetime, they contributed nearly nothing to charity, and when I say nearly nothing, I mean nearly nothing. It wasn't until he set his sights on the Presidency that Senator Obama made a commitment to charity. Yet, despite earning over $2.5 million in 2006 and 2007, Senator Obama gave less than 3% to charity. Senator Obama has developed a career by speaking about the need to help those less fortunate, that Americanism is built upon generosity; yet Senator Obama apparently believes that only others should display the generosity he speaks so eloquently about.

More disturbing, however, is the hypocrisy of a man who will stand on a stage and tell Americans about the need to help the hand-picked Americans who are struggling in their individual lives and in need of help, while at the same time providing no assistance to those family members who are struggling. We learned over the summer of Senator Obama's brother in Kenya who earns less in one week than a minimum wage worker in America earns in one hour. Senator Obama, with his vast resources has to this date not reached out to assist his own brother. Just this week the Times located Senator Obama's aunt, an aunt he spoke fondly of in his memoirs. Unfortunately, this Aunt is living in a run down building in the slums of Boston. So again, despite his millions in income, this man who speaks so fondly of generosity has never reached out to help out his Aunt. Even more disturbing is the revelation that while not providing assistance to his own Aunt, he actually accepted $260 in campaign contributions from her. I have serious problems with an individual worth millions who will gladly accept money from a relative living in the slums while talking about the need for us to reach out and help others. Again, the presidency has everything to do with integrity and character.

Senator Obama campaigned on a platform during the primaries that he was a centrist, a moderate and a platform from which he proposed he could reach out move this country forward in a new era of post-partisanship. However, today Senator Obama speaks nothing of a post-partisan era; his campaign platform has shifted radically left and no objective and reasonable individual could ever truthfully believe that the Republican Party will ever cooperate with an Obama administration. If Senator Obama wins, the filibuster will become America's best friend and the lone check available to protect this nation against a radical lurch towards the left. Senator Obama has shifted his campaign platform to suit the current challenges of the electorate in order to capture votes, with no regard to even the most basic promises such as his opposition to FISA, opposition to offshore drilling or campaign financing. Although I disagree with a majority of Senator Obama's policies, at least I could have respected his integrity and strength of character if he were to actually state his true positions. How can any rational individual believe any promise that Senator Obama makes, when he has time and time demonstrated that winning an election is more important than the most basic of beliefs.

Character and integrity are defined by the actions you take, not the positions you hold. Senator Obama has demonstrated no integrity nor strength of character during this election. Obama has avoided any questions as to his past, distracted the American people from who he truly is and relied upon the naive belief that the Government can solve our individual challenges. For his part Senator McCain has faced staunch criticism, even from those within his own party; yet, Senator McCain has stood his ground and displayed a strength of character that is commendable even by his detractors. Senator Obama has avoided criticism and his campaign has sought to personally destroy anyone with the audacity to question his strength of character. The media has been willing accomplices in this destructive behavior, even remaining silent when the President of France refers to Obama's Foreign Policy as 'naive'.

The presidency is position which is entirely based upon character and integrity. Without these traits, then it is naive to believe that our president would ever make the hard or unpopular decisions that all President's must make. Without these traits then it is ridiculous to believe that the President would ever carry out true reform, carry out his campaign commitments or move this country forward.

The presidency is 100% about character and integrity and I suppose we will find out in four days if these are traits we no longer value and require from the President of the United States.

J Brown
October 31st, 2008