As an Eagle Scout...

Many years ago, I learned the Oath of The Boy Scouts of America. It goes like this:

On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

At that time, in my early teens, I didn't really have the world awareness to fully understand what it meant. While earning the merit badges necessary to gain the coveted rank of Eagle Scout, my mind was filled with girls, baseball, girls, football, school, girls, band, and did I mention girls? I managed to stay focused enough to not only gain rank, I was honored to be selected by my troop-mates to an honorary membership in the Order of the Arrow.

In those days, Boy Scouts was still very much a para-military organization, with John Wayne, Roy Rogers, Audie Murphy and their ilk standing as the heroes of the day. While we weren't 'the Greatest Generation', we were raised on their exploits. And, as a baby boomer, it is to my everlasting shame that many of my generation became hippie stoners and turned their backs on America. They failed to see the difference between the closed-door policies that politicians foisted on the American people and the troops that carried them out.

As long as men (in the non-gendered sense) seek power over others, whether elected, appointed, or given at birth, the old adage will continue to hold true: Power Corrupts; Absolutely Power Corrupts Absolutely. Whatever your political leaning, stop and think back. No matter which party has power, what have they ever accomplished? I mean, really.

When Harry Truman was President, he referred to the 80th Congress as "the Do Nothing Congress." Pork-barrel politics has been a commonly used phrase since the 1870's, and means spending which is intended to benefit a particular politician's constituents, even though the bill might not really be about that particular spending. And, it's important that we realize that the deep division between parties that is evident today has only been window dressing in the past. "Working across the aisle" has long since been much more of a truth than it is now.

Men and women in political office have long understood that the more problems get solved, the fewer reasons there are for them to be re-elected. Now, and perhaps for a long time in the past, politicians haven't stayed in office for decades for the sake of making the country better. It's been about lining their own pockets and growing in power.

The oath that every young man had to take to be allowed to remain among the ranks of the Boy Scouts of America required him to first acknowledge the existence of God and a duty to that God. Then, it required him to pledge to fulfill that duty. Next it required him to accept a duty to his country and pledge to fulfill that duty as well. Of no less importance was a promise to help others at all times and to constantly strive to be fit both morally and physically.

If only our leaders would take a look at that oath and strive to embody it. It would serve them well, personally and would be a great example to people of all ages in this great country of ours.