Honesty in Leadership—Its Absence Leads to Death, Defeat and Chaos

Originally published Jan 11, 2021 and updated on April 20, 2021 to reflect the District of Columbia Medical Examiner’s official determination of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick’s cause of death.

Second, my thoughts today are not about policy, but are centered on honesty and its opposite—lying.  I am not critiquing policy positions of the President or conservatism, but actions that demonstrate the character of our President.  I both support and oppose various policy positions of President Trump, as I have every President since I was old enough to have an opinion.  I suspect you have similar experiences regarding public policy.  But expecting honesty is not a policy position.  Expecting leaders to demonstrate respect for others applies to all equally.  

And the final scene setter is accountability.  Discipline and accountability are necessary and best administered by those who care for us.  One anchor for me has been the Proverb that instructs those who love their children to care enough to discipline them.  As adults, discipline is accountability, which can include legal and political actions.  As a military commander there were times that members who violated standards were strong performers and leaders, but whose actions required discipline.  I took no joy in issuing those particular corrective actions, but it was necessary for the good of the entire organization.  In several cases the disciplinary actions set individuals on paths that saw future success.  This week I have seen plenty of “what about” lists seeking to justify this week’s sedition and be dismissive of the motivation, long term impact on our democracy, and the need for accountability.  These lists often illustrate an unrealistic expectation that opponents must cross over and support “my way” before I will consider correcting those who agree with my policy positions.  True discipline is not about joyful punishment, but about caring, though perhaps difficult, correction and accountability of those we believe in.

Political accountability takes place at the ballot box during elections, where character can have a critical impact when voters perceive a wide character disparity between candidates. I personally believe the last two elections were decided by character—voters opposed to the character demonstrated by the losing candidates—as much as any other factor. Imagine if in 2016 Republicans had nominated and won with someone other than Trump, such as John Kasich or Chris Christie?  “Never Trumpers” would have likely supported the nomination, Hillary Clinton’s high negatives would still turn out Democrat and Republican voters who felt she was too extreme or lacked the character to be President.  It is reasonable to believe Republicans could have won the election, conservative Supreme Court Justices could still be in place, and perhaps the party would not have lost the Presidency, the House, and the Senate all within four years.  I see Republicans talk about how Trump has grown the base of the party.  What they don’t talk about is Trump’s loss of conservative voters and his negatives helping grow the Democratic base faster than growing his own base.  For example, President Trump was the first Republican Presidential candidate to lose Arizona in 24 years and only the second since the state went for Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Extremist ideas by Executive Order or legislation approved solely on party lines actually drive centrist voters away and typically results in the party in power actually losing the next rounds of elections.  Political parties would be wise to heed that lesson in the years ahead, despite extremist voices.  

A Failure to be Honest

When we look at the Capitol rioters,  we must consider how the President and his team falsely claimed, and continue to claim without credible evidence, that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen.  Before the election President Trump said repeatedly that the only way he could lose, which was predicted at the time, was due to fraud. He has spent the past two months after the election claiming the election was stolen, telling wild conspiracy theories, and most importantly, telling his followers they needed to fight the “deep state” that was stealing their votes.  Trump claimed that they could and would reveal fraud on a scale resulting in a landslide win and overturn the President-elect Biden’s victory.  These were, and are, lies.

I think Socrates and Plato would recognize our societal dilemma today and point to what Socrates called a “veritable lie” (true lie) “that is hated by gods and men” as perhaps our biggest challenge.  Joshua Mark describes this as “a falsehood that one accepts as truth at a fundamental level, which then distorts one’s interpretation of reality…and one’s own vision of self and truth.”  This is where we are today, the repetition of lies by political leaders—who actually know the truth—has distorted the reality of their most ardent followers.  And for a true believer to accept that the individual they followed with all their energy and passion to “Make America Great Again” knowingly lied to them is, for some, the equivalent to asking them to walk away from their religious beliefs or admit to friends and family that they have been wrong.  For example, it seems to me as if those who carry the “Jesus is my Savior and Trump is my President” signs will have difficulty separating the actions of their earthly President from the religious teachings in the Bible and Jesus’ example even though the President’s personal conduct could not be more different from what Christians are taught to strive for.  

For those who don’t understand why I believe President Trump and his team have been lying about the election, I suspect I cannot persuade you.  But for completeness, I offer just a few of my reasons.  Most obviously, Trump and his team led people to believe that the election would be overturned.  They claimed they would win in several ways:  1). Lawsuits demonstrating voter fraud would result in victory.  The campaign lost over 60 court cases across seven states.  Allegations of double voting, illegal out-of-state voters, large numbers of dead people voting were never proven and judicial rulings were either spare or harsh.  2) State legislatures would decide to replace Biden electors with Trump electors.  This was never realistic, regardless of legal theories suggesting state legislatures or governors could simply reject the vote and choose themselves.  Every state certified the electors based upon the tabulated outcome of the votes.  3) Objections to the certification of the electors by the US Congress simply because Trump supporters claimed there could have been fraud and that the Federal government should determine how the states run their elections.  States had, and continue to have, the power and responsibility to determine how elections are run in their state. Democratically controlled House of Representatives would never vote to replace Biden electors with Trump electors and give the election to Trump.  Both Republicans and Democrats have criticized this objection to the electors as a political stunt to fundraise and keep the base energized through giving false hope.  And yes, Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley sent out fundraising appeals via text roughly one hour after the Congress adjourned due to the inability to control the rioters.  4)  Vice President Pence would simply deny the electors of the states Republicans contested, which is clearly outside the Constitution.  By the time they got to this theory, the election was long over.  Yet they told their followers this was possible, implied it was likely, and invited them to Washington on the 6^th to “Save America” and “stop the steal.” Many, if not most, of those who went to Trump’s Washington rally  actually believed Trump would be declared the winner of the election by the end of the day.  Most also still believe the election was stolen.

When individuals are fed hour after hour of “news” and interviews with “leaders” saying the election was stolen, with no fact checking from “reporters” to suggest an incomplete if not dishonest story, one can begin to understand how people have become so hardened.  I’ve seen judges who find against the campaign (even Trump appointees) labeled as “deep state” and heard cries of “traitor” about Vice President Pence, Trump’s incredibly loyal advocate.  Living in an echo chamber that only consists of people who share your views distorts one’s reality, leading to a true lie, hated by gods and men.  

Our Response

We also need to recognize and support the pursuit of accountability regarding last week’s riots and deaths, just as we expect accountability and prosecution of those who looted and used violence during last summer’s racial justice protests.  Policing and justice must be served equally in order to clearly demonstrate to all citizens that our nation is faithful to the rule of law.  Outcomes should be both legal and political.  We should make clear now and in future elections that we will not support men and women who do not demonstrate the character needed by our political leaders.  

And finally, just as we should not lump those who support traditional center left liberalism with far-left extremists who espouse socialism as a preferred form of government, we should not lump Conservatism with Trumpism, or even law-abiding Trump followers with the extremists.  Boycotting Trump supporters or Black Lives Matter supporters is not, and cannot, be the answer.  We would be better served by respectful and honest conversations across the business counter than further withdrawing into our own echo chambers.  Followers and rioters are not the same, don’t conflate the two categories of individuals on either side of the political spectrum.   

History and religious teachings are filled with deceivers who lure people with promises of knowledge, money, protection or power to achieve long held dreams and success.  Many of the promised outcomes are good and desirable, but often not worth compromising ones integrity.  This can be tough to accept since more than one thing is often true at the same time.  Ultimately those who are dishonest lead followers to chaos, defeat and even death. 

Thank you for sticking with this until the end, whether you agree or disagree.  Every value I can think of is easily tied to this week’s activities.  Aristotle might see the cause of our fracture as a “true lie” and future religious students will likely see it as humans pursuing earthly kingdoms and power.  Today I mainly see it as a national tragedy with long-term implications for our nation that is far greater than the few minutes of chaos last week.  Had we demanded honesty from our political leaders long ago, I believe the rally on the Ellipse would not have occurred, the Capitol would not have been stormed, at least two, and perhaps five, lives would not have been needlessly lost, and the division across our country would not be so deep.  Chaos such as we saw Wednesday would have remained unimaginable.  Honesty—at all times—in leadership matters!

Authors note: The following deaths occurred during or soon after the Capitol riot. Officer Brian Sicknick suffered two strokes from which he never recovered, the first 7 hours and 40 minutes after being hit with bear spray while defending the Capitol. Unable to link the stroke directly to the chemicals, his death was ruled “by natural causes” by the District of Columbia medical examiner. Metropolitan Police Officer Jeffrey D. Smith committed suicide Jan 15, 2021. His wife, Erin, said “He wasn’t the same Jeff that left on the 6^th…”. Officer Smith was struck in the helmet and face shield by rioters using a metal pole and was put on medical leave after the riot. Capitol Police officer Howard Liebengood committed suicide on Jan 9, 3 days after the riot. Rioter Ashley Babbitt was killed as she breached the door to the House Chamber by police protecting House members and staff.