The United States Chiefectomy

            Remember when a Commander-in-Chief meant that the President was really the chief of our armed services?  An enormous responsibility that entailed protecting America from the forces of evil and taking care of our men and women in uniform.  Our service men and women lay their lives on the line to protect the freedoms we enjoy.  For this, we all demand that they be rewarded with our respect and our care.  The fact that the current administration has allowed the government shutdown to impact our care for those military personnel that have died in service is unspeakable.  The fact that we have not heard the President speak out against the perpetrator of this injustice is unforgivable.

The President either knew or should have known that the forces he commands were being used as pawns in the politics of the government shutdown.  To regain our military personnel’s respect, the President must take action.  He must either own up to his colossal error, or find out the responsible person and demand their resignation.  If this was the President’s decision, he should schedule a prime time fire-side chat with America to explain himself, ask for forgiveness and assure our troops that he (and all of us) will never again let them down in their time of need.  He can reassure our troops that the American people knew it was a mistake, and the American people will never allow it to happen again.  A true chief not only apologizes but takes action that reinforces the line of unacceptable behavior.

Do you remember when the President was the chief executive?  A chief executive establishes values in the organization that he leads.  The chief executive’s values are known by those who work for him; no matter how far down the organization chart those workers happen to be.  The knowledge of these values enables the workers to make decisions when they face gray areas in the execution of their duties.  If the values are to do what is best for America, the worker will weigh the gray area and determine that spending money to close the World War II memorial is not the right decision.  However, if the values are the politics of demeaning your enemy regardless of the price paid by the everyday American, a different decision is made (and was made).  There is a slew of examples that could be listed here – but you already know most of them.

The Chiefectomy was performed by the American electorate who put a person in the office of the presidency without the qualifications to be a Chief.

The next time we elect a president, we should evaluate the candidates’ experience.  An individual that has never had to lead a large organization with success should not be a legitimate candidate.  The job of President of the United States is the most demanding in the world.  It demands an individual that has the courage to make tough decisions like whether or not to attack Syria (without outsourcing the decision to Congress, thus eliminating any advantage of surprise), an individual that always conveys the noblest of intentions so that cabinet members, and everyday bureaucrats execute their duties for the good of America – not for the purpose of political points.

Yes, the Republicans are being blamed for the government shutdown – and they should be; their behavior has been childish.  But, for the President of the United States to see his administration misuse the government shutdown as an opportunity to score political points is disgraceful.  Much more is expected from the Chief than from the people’s representatives.