Years ago, when I was studying leadership in the Coast Guard's Officer Candidate School, we were told that a good leader never asks his crew to do something he would not be willing to do.  I always thought there was an appealing symmetry to that maxim.  Another symmetrical interpersonal mantra that appealed to me was treat others the way you want to be treated.

According to Google Maps, I live 35.2 miles from the U.S. Capitol building, where a different kind of leadership oozes from those famous halls.  To our distress, these leaders are becoming infamous.  The leadership mantra from Capitol Hill these days is do as we say and don't question what we do.

Once upon a time, politicians in Washington were called "public servants" working for We The People.  Times have changed, and the relationship between legislators and citizens has become more asymmetrical.

Symmetry implies balance, and asymmetry paints a picture of something out of balance.  We The People are losing power, and the politicians are gaining power.  A British historian, Lord Acton, said, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

If there were a corruption scale where a score of 10 meant honest government and a score of 1 stood for toxically corrupt government, I would give Washington, D.C. in 2022 a score of 0.

The corruption in our nation's capital is profoundly disheartening.  If We The People see our leaders act lawlessly, why should we bother to obey the laws enacted by these same lawless leaders?

We hear about rising crime in our cities.  It is dangerous and embarrassing.  All sorts of solutions are offered, but what about dealing with trickle-down Capitol Hill lawlessness?

Image by Andrea Widburg using a photo of Mitch McConnell by Gage Skidmore (CC-BY-SA 2.0).

Out here in the hinterlands, we live our lives, we listen to the news, and we fret about the future of our country.  As we listen to the news, inconvenient questions bubble up in our minds like...

• Why are the FBI and the Secret Service covering up for Hunter Biden instead of investigating him?
• Have the Bidens really taken $31 million from the Chinese, and if so, why is that OK?
• Why are we allowing millions of illegal aliens to enter America through our southern border?
• Why is okay for the left-leaning to protest angrily, but the same is illegal for right-leaning protesters?
• Why was Hillary Clinton allowed to sabotage our 45th president?
• Why wasn't Hillary Clinton prosecuted for mishandling classified material?
• Why did Janet Reno and the FBI bulldoze a crime scene in Waco, Texas?
• Why was Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer allowed to publicly threaten two justices of the Supreme Court?
• Why did the Supreme Court disrespect 19 states that questioned the management of the 2020 election?
• Why do we allow our politicians to take money from China and other enemies?
• Why do our politicians act like Tom and Daisy Buchanan in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby?  "Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made."

The primary job of any government is to keep its people safe and secure.  It feels as though that imperative has been replaced by maintain the power of the democrats at all costs.

A wise patriot once said, "When the people fear the government there is tyranny.  When the government fears the people there is liberty."  We are experiencing the former and longing for the latter.

Ned Cosby's new novel is OUTCRY, exposing the refusal of Christian leaders to discipline clergy who sexually abuse our young people. This work of fiction addresses crimes that are all too real. For more info, visit www.nedcosby.com.