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The Clinton Administration

Does Character matter?

by Dennis Pollock

A letter to the editor of the Dallas Morning News seems indicative of the new American toleration:

"Take the President to task over his confused foreign policy. Blame him for not doing more to push this lackluster economic recovery... But, please don't expect Ozzie Nelson in the Oval Office... We'd like to believe that the American public sees through this sort of distraction, separating wheat from chaff, distinguishing between valid criticism of public performance while in office and private behavior while at home."

During the 1992 presidential race, family values and personal character and integrity were made an issue by some, while loudly ridiculed by others. For a while the battle was hot and heavy, but in the end it seems Americans gave pocketbook issues more weight than character. The economy was in the doldrums, and the winning slogan ended up being, "It's the economy, stupid." As a nation we decided that the promise of improved finances outweighed any concerns we might have over Bill Clinton's far left values and friends. Everyone would have jobs, businesses would prosper, and all would be well with the nation.

A Year of Infamy

President Clinton set the direction he was going to lead this country during his first year in office. That direction has been appalling to all who fear God and dare to believe that the old fashioned morality of the Bible has yet to be improved upon. During his first term he ruthlessly ignored the wishes and values of the American people, and pursued a liberal social agenda the likes of which we have never seen before.

He didn't wait long to begin. On the third day of his administration, President Clinton issued five executive orders designed to:

1. Lift the ban on homosexuals in the military
2. Lift the ban on fetal tissue research
3. Lift the ban on abortion counseling in federally funded clinics
4. Begin the process of approving the importation of the abortion-inducing medication RU486
5. Provide funds for the first time for abortions in military hospitals overseas

He was just warming up. Since that time he has followed up on these abominations with radical appointees and the pursuit of policies which are pro-abortion, pro-homosexual and pro-big (and expensive) government. Some of the individuals appointed by Mr. Clinton include:

1. Joycelyn Elders (Surgeon General), who wants every girl to carry a condom in her purse on dates and tells us that the way to reduce crime is to legalize drugs.
   
   
2. Janet Reno (Attorney General), who filed a brief before the U.S. Supreme Court that redefined child pornography and watered down the current law. (She was censured 100 to 0 by the U.S. Senate for this. Even Ted Kennedy thought she was going too far!)
   
   
3. Kristine Gebbie (AIDS Czar), who was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, "[The United States] needs to view human sexuality as an essentially important and pleasurable thing. [Until it does so], we will continue to be a repressed, Victorian society that misrepresents information, denies sexuality early, denies homosexual sexuality particularly in teens, and leaves people abandoned with no place to go. I can help just a little bit in my job, standing on the White House lawn talking about sex with no lightning bolts falling on my head."
   
   
4. Ruth Ginsberg (Supreme Court Justice), whose radical stands on the issues include: favoring a military draft for women, doing away with the biblical concept of the husband as a breadwinner and the wife as a homemaker, and changing the Boy Scout and Girl Scout organizations so that they may become sex-integrated. Feminist to the core, Ruth Ginsberg's value system is about as far from traditional family values as it is possible to get.

Immoral Friends

Long before his inauguration as president, Bill Clinton eagerly courted homosexual backing. The gays were some of his most fervent supporters during the pre-election days, pouring money and effort into his campaign and gleefully exulting that at last they had found a legitimate candidate for president who would help them further their "gay agenda."

Although he hasn't been able to fully deliver his promise to make homosexuality legitimate in the military, they know that he is the best friend they are likely to get. Without a doubt, Mr. Clinton has appointed more homosexuals to high level positions than any president in U.S. history. Bruce Lehman of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund said, "For the first time in the history of mankind, a president has sought to break this barrier, this taboo. For that Bill Clinton is going down in history." Wouldn't you say that is a rather dubious distinction?

Pilots and Presidents

Does character matter? In some situations, the answer might rightfully be no. If I were in a plane whose pilot had just had a heart attack, my first concern would be to find someone who had the knowledge to land a plane. If I had to choose between a zealous, on-fire Christian who knew absolutely nothing about flying, or an ungodly, womanizing, crack-smoking fellow who was an ace pilot, I'd go for the sinner every time. The same could be said for surgeons, dentists, and automobile mechanics.

The office of the president of the United States, however, is quite another matter. When we are dealing with a position as the foremost leader and representative of a nation of 250 million people, issues like character, integrity, and values become of supreme importance.

The office of president is not necessarily a position which calls for men of skill and expertise. Skilled and talented men have failed in this complex and pressurized office, while men of less intelligence and ability have sometimes succeeded. Clearly there are intangible factors involved in the formula for success which go beyond mere intelligence or expertise.

The Secret of Greatness

Consider our first president, George Washington. Most would agree that his career as a general and as a president was an unqualified success. To what shall we attribute his success? Was it his overwhelming intelligence? Washington was certainly no dummy, but there were far smarter men than him in our nation at that time. Was he the greatest military genius of his day? Without question he was a very competent military leader, yet there were others that outshone him in military strategy, such as the Duke of Wellington and Napoleon. Washington's military record was not free from some rather tragic blunders. Yet somehow there seemed to be an almost magical quality about him that always carried him to final success.

The secret to the man's greatness was really not much of a mystery. Even in his own time it was recognized that George Washington was a man of character. Listen to the following excerpt from a sermon by James Kennedy:

What, then, was his secret? Cyrus R. Edmonds said, "The elements of his (Washington's) greatness are chiefly to be discovered in the moral features of his character."

It was said that the character of George Washington was the wonder of the world in his own day. When Washington died, the Duke of Wellington (a British statesman, general, and enemy in the recent war) said of him, "the purest and noblest character of modern time... " An enemy said that about him! It didn't matter where he was in life. As a young soldier... a colonel... supervising the Constitution... President of the United States... it was his sterling character, the unimpeachable qualities of his goodness, the pure morality and integrity of the man, that made him stand head and shoulders above all the rest.

No, George Washington wasn't an Ozzie Nelson; he was something far greater: a man of God. During that horrendous time at Valley Forge, a Quaker who was a pacifist and sided with the British, accidentally came upon Washington in the woods as he prayed. The man returned home and told his wife, "Our cause is lost," and related to her how he had seen the leader of the Continental Army kneeling in prayer in the cold woods with tears on his cheeks. If only the Lord would give us such leadership today!

Is character irrelevant in deciding upon those men and women who will represent us in Washington, and who will make policies and laws which will affect the course of our nation's destiny? Listen to what the Bible says: "He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God" (2 Samuel 23:3). This kind of leader is not created by Yale or Harvard, but by an experience of new birth through Jesus Christ. His foremost ambition is not to be politically correct, but rather to be biblically correct. Rather than striving for the applause of his political allies, he so lives that he may hear the sweetest words mortal man will ever hear: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." May God, in His mercy, give us such leaders.