Ask for my loyalty, I’ll give you my honesty. Ask for my honesty, you’ll have my loyalty.

By Rich Kozlovich

James Arlandson posted an article today titled, "Did Paul Ryan say a shutdown is on the table?"  In the article he goes one to explain how bad a plan this is, stating:

 

"Reportedly, Ryan drops Boehner's pledge not to shut down the government. Flexing his legislative muscle: "This is the legislative branch, and the power of the purse rests within the legislative branch. And we fully expect that we are going to exercise that power," Ryan said when pressed over whether he planned to attach so-called "policy riders" to a must-pass spending bill that Congress needs to approve before December 11. Uh-oh. If those words can rightly be interpreted as a shutdown, then it's a bad strategy.  I wish conservatives could understand these things about the American electorate today:.....it's a political loser for the GOP".

I wish those who profess to be "conservatives" understood this has gone on for 80 years because "conservatives" didn't bite the bullet years ago. At some point someone has to stand up to the negative press and tell the truth and then stand firm. Leadership isn't about being popular - it's about leading - and the willingness to be un-liked for long periods of time for standing up for one's principles is essential for real leaders.   Stop worrying about who's blamed - time and history is the left's greatest enemy - but it takes guts to tell that story - and to keep telling that story.

 

As for the "conservatives" in Congress need to be loved in order to be re-elected over and over again while failing their oath of office, and the people whose interests they're supposed to be representing, being liked isn't your job!  If playing it safe is the strategy- I have to ask -what exactly do these people think their job is?  If one has to lose an election let it be for standing up to those things that are right and true.  To quote Col. John Boyd:

 

"One day you will come to a fork in the road. And you're going to have to make a decision about what direction you want to go."..... "If you go that way you can be somebody. You will have to make compromises and you will have to turn your back on your friends. But you will be a member of the club and you will get promoted and you will get good assignments."...... 

 

"Or you can go that way and you can do something— something for your country and for your Air Force and for yourself. If you decide to do something, you may not get promoted and you may not get the good assignments and you certainly will not be a favorite of your superiors. But you won't have to compromise yourself. You will be true to your friends and to yourself. And your work might make a difference." He paused and stared. "To be somebody or to do something. In life there is often a roll call. That's when you will have to make a decision. To be or to do? Which way will you go?"

Boyd’s dictum  "Ask for my loyalty, I’ll give you my honesty. Ask for my honesty, you’ll have my loyalty." To be or to do? Which way will you go? "