During the last week, I had gentlemen I respect ask me detailed questions about the ethics
of Republican candidates who will likely appear high on the ballot in our upcoming election.
My friend from Texas is a highly ethical man who spent a large part of his career in Alaska. He’s nearly a generation older than I and was highly successful in a business that demanded you do as you say, and where appearances and reputation are key.
He sent me a link to a Wall Street Journal article with the headline, “Gov. Jim Justice is Beloved in West Virginia. Just Not by His Creditors”. My initial impression was this could be a political “hit piece,” crafted to discredit the Governor’s campaign for the United States Senate.
Unfortunately, it was a well-written and researched article based on fact.
Before we open that Pandora’s box of “ethics,” I need to publicly state that I like the politician that is “Big Jim” Justice and I’m going to support his campaign for Senate. I’ll forgive his silver platter of bull dung offering to our Legislature since he was a Democrat then. Yes, I cringed when he held up the wrong end of Baby Dog and suggested a Hollywood actor kiss his dog’s “hiney.”
Both were memorable bits of political theater. I think those of us who are concerned with rebuilding our state image know that neither stunt helped one little bit. Those hateful “elites” on both coasts are doing everything they can to paint West Virginia as a little bit backward and full of toothless hillbillies whose family tree is a wreath.
Those of us who call the Mountain State home know this is a falsehood perpetuated by haters who live in polluted, crowded cities overrun by illegals while we enjoy nature’s splendor in a beautiful state that offers quite literally everything.
I’m a lifelong student of Organizational Dynamics, which is the study of how a manager commands a company and the various strategies they execute. With rare exceptions, we know leaders show the way and that people have a strong desire to please their superiors.
The string of creditor lawsuits against Justice’s various enterprises in the energy sector and in hospitality show the leadership of those entities are making ethically challenged decisions that reflect badly on ownership. Even if the ownership is in the Governor’s Mansion.
Jim Justice put his stamp on all of his companies. Even if he is not there on a daily basis, his business “DNA” is effectively running the store and will for the next half-decade. While there are business failures, the real failure is one of ethics. Those compromises are made to satisfy the man at the top.
There is an old Russian proverb that, “The body always rots from the head.” When it comes to business practices, this is an absolute. Right or wrong, it looks bad. Fellow West Virginians may forgive him for his transgressions, but we all know it’s going to have a negative effect on those who are considering moving to our great state.
We are all looking for that shining city on the hill where truth and honor are the rules of the day. Our compromise is one of pragmatism. We need a fighter who will defend our way of life in D.C. and push back on the “NO COAL” and “NO NATURAL GAS” extremists. Big Jim is likely that fighter. Emotional support Baby Dog and warts and all.
I just wish he would listen to his public relations people and build what the marketing types would call a “better brand promise.”
I recently accepted a lunch invitation from a well-respected man who spent his entire career in this community. A lifelong Republican, he feels like he is sitting on a razor’s edge because of some of the actions of the 45th President of these United States, Donald J. Trump.
He was looking to talk with and understand the reasoning of someone who, in their heart of hearts, believed the 2020 election was “stolen” from Trump. Regardless of what you may think, I’m not, and have never been, that guy.
Do I believe that the Democrats outspent us in 2020? Yes, they did.
Did they do a better job of “Electioneering” than our beloved Grand Old Party did?
The results speak for themselves.
Do I believe the will of the people was served by the 2020 General Election? No, I do not.
There is a practical concern that keeps us from going back and looking too closely at the pile of excrement that was the 2020 election. We would tear this nation apart “undoing” that dreadful election.
Trump’s many actions, some of which were nebulous by design, strayed way too close to an ethical line in the sand. A line that once crossed, is permanent. I’m going to line up and vote for the nominee of my party, and at this juncture, I would be very surprised if it’s someone other than Donald J. Trump.
Donald Trump is a New Yorker. He’s brash, outspoken, likes to hear himself talk, and tells meandering stories with wild tangents.I grew up in New Jersey, around many like him. I “grok in fullness” who and what he is as a person. I know if provided the opportunity, I would have an excellent time with him over dinner.
But we are talking about demonstrated morality and the application thereof – ethics. A disturbing number of Americans question this of both candidates.
Presidential elections are binary affairs – you have two major choices, pick one.
Yes, there is a “Libertarian” option who, depending on what year it is, will siphon votes from one of the two major party candidates. This year, there may be a “No Labels” candidate, but the real choice comes down to two competing old white men.
One who has us embroiled in conflicts throughout the world and whose actions have killed many of our country’s fighting men and women. The other is hated by the people who think the current plagiarizer is better than the former womanizer. Of course, they don’t know why they hate him, but they are told to do so.
I can’t believe, in the greatest nation in the world, the only choice we have is among two ethically compromised old men. But, so, it will be in November.
Like many others, I’ll hold my nose and pull the lever for Trump, mostly because what we have seen from the other guy stinks worse. The culture we have allowed to hijack our political system insists that “we win at any cost.”
The price is our morality and ethics. We have sold out the founders.
The price is far too high.
