Pedro's Podium: July 2013

Saturday, July 20, 2013

RHIP

If you’ve ever been, known someone, or lived with anyone in the military then you should have heard of RHIP or Rank Has Its Privileges. This comes some cold hard truths. The higher your rank the more important you are to the success of the whole. Officers can do things that enlisted personal cannot. At each level up the more privilege an officer will be able to access. This is also true in civil and political life.

But with privilege comes another something else. RHIR or Rank Has Its Responsibilities. One of my favorite movie scenes is from Ben-Hur. It is were Judah Ben-Hur stands before Pontius Pilate and is meet at the bottom of the steps to his throne. He comes to him as a friend and warns him that if he will only go back to Rome he will not punish him. But once he climbs the steps, he is no longer his friend but the representative of the Roman Empire. We select people every 2, 4, or 6 years to represent not only us, but to protect the nation and the laws that guarantee the safety and security over the long term.

Our elected officials are just citizen servants charged with the assume responsibility. They should not only be looking at the needs of the present, but also considering the future. Today too many of the people serving in Washington seem to be looking more to the next election or next year then the ramification of their decisions made today. This short sightedness can lead to disaster. Not only their legislation but their words are very important.

The President holds a very special position in this nation. He helps to set the example for the nation and by his words alone can make dramatic changes to the culture. President Obama was elected as much of an unknown to many of those who voted for him. Mr. Obama like any president is responsible for holding the nation’s people together, to comfort them in times of trouble, and console them in times of need, hardship, or disaster. But he has failed at every attempt to do so.

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We are a nation of minorities but the president seems to favor one minority of all the others. At every opportunity that he has had to calm the nation he has instead seemed to gladly divide us. This is such an epic failure. But many of those he choices to pander to are more than willing to not only accept it, but seem to love the division created. Since his election he is quite willing to play down to the lowest common denominator in our society. It is easy to understand why those who are protesting the death of a person by looting and rioting are not interested in the law or equal justice. They only see an opportunity to commit crimes with the blessing of those in power.

Those whose jobs requires the protection of the innocent citizens must make sure that those willing to ignore the rules of a civil society are not encouraged by their actions. No matter if you agree with what you are doing or not the needs of the many do outweigh the wants of the few. The President has and continues to fail every time he makes inflammatory statements to incite violence.

We must find leaders who are willing to not only protect the nation from enemies from without but from within. When leaders no longer are willing to make the hard choice and serve only their narrow minded objectives, then we as a people will not be a nation for much longer. The violence in the streets being promoted and applauded by many who claim leadership roles are not what is best for our nation. Before this cold race war becomes a hot race war, those who are pushing it should really look at will could be gained and lost. It is not always the leaders of the revolution who wind up in power. Minority armies even with the support of the government may find that they are just pawns in a bigger game.

It is time for those in Washington and around the nation to step up, take responsibility, and do their jobs. Or we as a people must band together to restore law and order to our nation before it collapses under its own weight.