Guardrails and Guidelines

 Guardrails and Guidelines

“Gentlemen, if it costs more than a baseball cap, don’t accept it,” intoned the Lieutenant Colonel from the Fort Cavasos (formerly Fort Hood) Judge-Advocate-General office. 

Stifling a yawn, I glanced around the room at my fellow attendees, a bunch of bored looking lieutenants and captains. It was a hot fall day in Central-Texas and none of us thought this particular lecture important. The Army had designated Fourth Infantry Division, 4ID also known as the IV, or Ivey Division, the Army’s test division, and as such we expected a deluge of contractors to descend and descend, they did. Soon, each week brought a new toy or device for us to examine, play with, try to break, and evaluate. Along with the “cool-toys,” came contractors eager for positive comments by evaluators. The institutional Army well understood the moral battleground we were about to enter. Each contract dealt with millions of dollars and as junior officers; we were unprepared for the ethical quagmire we faced. So, we all had to attend a series of briefings designed to acquaint us with what was acceptable and ethical and what was not acceptable or ethical. We needed the briefings. Soon our lives were filled with contractors and offers of lunch, jackets, and yes hats. For the rest of my time in 4ID, we lived with contractors in our hip-pockets; but it would not end there.

As my career progressed, I found contractors and the associated inevitable ethical questions a regular part of my military experience. Coming back from my first tour in Iraq, I landed in Germany in V-Corps, where one of my major duties was to oversee the various automated platforms we used to construct a Common Operational Picture, known as the COP. On my first duty day, I walked into the office and was handed a copy of a new contract with a multi-million-dollar price tag. 

“We need to go and brief the two-star general and get him to sign the contract,” barked Toni, the civilian representative for the company (I’ll not mention the name of the company).

“So, is everything in order,” I asked, thumbing through the contract as we walked across the Kaserne in Heidelberg, Germany.

“Oh yes, of course,” replied Toni, “The general has already seen it and been briefed. We just need to get his final signature, “You don’t need to worry about anything.”

As usual, we arrived at the general’s office and had to wait for a while. I continued reading through the contract, making sure that I understood what was in it, when I came across a startling paragraph in the contract. The contract set aside a significant sum for the hiring of a person I knew was not qualified to hold the position. Additionally, they were the wife of a high-ranking person on the general’s staff. This was a clear case of conflict of interest and nepotism. They were to be paid over one-hundred thousand dollars to do a job for which they held no qualifications. I sat there in a quandary, wondering what to do and how to get out of this situation. Eventually we were called into the general’s office. We sat there at his conference table, he thumbing through the contract and me sweating bullets. 

“You know Matt, this contract is about one-hundred thousand more than I want to spend,” he mused, “Do you know of any way we could cut about one-hundred thousand out of it?”

Breathing a great sigh of relief, I replied, “Sure Sir, right here. We can cut this position out of the contract. We can shuffle its duties to other positions without much of a problem. If you’ll just line through it here and here and initial in both places. I’ll rewrite the contract and get it to you tomorrow or the next day.”

“Very good,” he replied, picking up a pen and lining through the offending position, “Get back with me as soon as you can.”

“Yessir,” I replied feeling much better.

Walking across the compound, I said, “Toni, don’t you ever lie to me again. I will be watching you like a hawk. I do not trust you.”

Toni never got better. He always worked on the edge of legality, and for the rest of my time in that position, I had to scrutinize his every move. In fact, years later in a different assignment, I would run across Toni again. His company was competing along with two others for a similar contract, and I was asked to provide a recommendation on which to hire. Of course, I did not recommend Toni or the company he worked for. When they did not get the contract, he accosted me in the hall.

“Sir, that was so long ago. Why do you still hold a grudge?”

“I don’t hold a grudge, Toni. You never changed and I do not want to have to work with you again. I know that you will still do the same things.” We never spoke again.

A debate regarding establishing a code of conduct, or ethics, regarding the Supreme Court has unfolded over the past few weeks. Recent information regarding multiple justices reveals a variety of questionable actions, actions which call into question the objectivity of the justices. In various venues Supreme Court justices, including Chief Justice Roberts, have demurred when asked about the need to establish a code of ethics for the Supreme Court. Justice Alito used the U.S. Constitution as his justification saying, “I know this is a controversial view, but I’m going to say it, no provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court – period.” 1

Whenever we enter into a realm inhabited by businesses competing for large sums of money, we must navigate an ethical quagmire. Businesses and their leaders seek to turn a profit, which is not a bad thing; however, when they seek to influence decisions through cultivating personal relationships with senior decision-makers they quite possibly cross an ethical line which may or may not be clearly delineated. This is why ethical guidelines are so important. As an Army officer, an official of the U.S. Government, I understood the limits. Living inside those limits allowed me to not only make morally defensible decisions, but they also helped me develop solid relationships with the various contractors I worked with. We all understood the rules, and for the most part, willingly lived by them. There were a few exceptions, such as Toni, but the majority of the contractors that I worked with did not seek to obfuscate the issues at hand. Apparently, the Supreme Court needs similar guidelines.

Members of the court have pushed back against calls for them to write such ethical guidelines, claiming that Congress has no authority to require such action. While I’m no constitutional scholar, the Constitution does make mention of the Supreme Court Justices holding their offices, “during good Behaviour.” Perhaps, a code of conduct, or ethical guidelines, might help Justices navigate the perilous waters of “good behaviour.” I understand the justices being charry of any encroachment upon their constitutionally outlined powers, but we have embraced the concept of checks and balances in order to ensure that the three branches of government not only work well, but also maintain public trust and confidence, a challenging task in today’s hyper-partisan environment. 

According to a recent Gallup Poll, public confidence in the Supreme Court is at a historic low. 2 While the same poll indicates the erosion of public confidence in many societal institutions, it remains quite troubling. It might behoove the court to take steps to shore up public confidence, and one of those steps could be penning ethical guidelines. Ethical guidelines lay out behaviors that are acceptable and behaviors we must avoid. They clarify relationships, making interpersonal interactions smoother, and when we know that the other party expresses genuine interest, unmotivated by nefarious gain, we find that the guidelines enrich our personal relationships. Instead of pushing back against such guidelines, the members of the Supreme Court ought to take the time to carefully construct their own. They intimately know the struggles and perils of holding such powerful positions. Taking such a step would help them pilot their institution through our hyper-partisan culture, and might restore some lost public confidence.  

1. https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-ethics-alito-d98b0edf1340ff3ed66b345c5ddcf0dc

2. https://news.gallup.com/poll/394103/confidence-supreme-court-sinks-historic-low.aspx 

 A National Divorce

As a new lieutenant in the Army, my commander assigned me to work on a project with another lieutenant in our company.  I did not care for this lieutenant, and he did not care for me. There was no specific reason, we just came from different backgrounds, liked different things, and employed different leadership styles. I approached my commander asking for a different partner. He demurred, saying he did not have another officer to assign to the duty. I offered to work with a sergeant. Again, he rebuffed me. I then offered to work on the task alone. At this point, his patience exhausted, he asked me why I did not want to work with this lieutenant. I admitted that we did not get along. My commander reminded me that it said U.S. Army on our uniforms and personal differences did not matter, completing the task mattered. I was to keep my opinions to myself and focus on solving the problem. Chastened, I left his office and during the ensuing weeks, discovered that I could work with the man and that he was not quite the knuckle-dragging-Cro-Magnon I imagined. I learned that one can put personal differences and beliefs aside, focus on a specific task, and make progress on seemingly intractable problems. This skill learned early, helped me throughout my military service. It is a skill woefully short in our public arena. In fact, some discard this idea altogether. 

One of the ideas espoused by some political talking heads, and elected officials of both parties, is the concept of a “National Divorce.” Briefly, this theory embraces the idea that socio-political differences run so deeply as to divide communities, making cohabitation impossible, and that states should exercise increasing autonomy, separating from each other, weakening our federation, and strengthening state and local authority, a semi-return to an articles of confederation situation, creating islands of blue and red across the continent. The difficulty of coming to a consensus in a pluralistic society drives, in part, this thought process. For many, political association forms a significant portion of their personal identity, and close proximity to those who think otherwise threatens their comfort, and in our increasingly talking-head-driven personal silo constructed world-view some see such a situation as unacceptable. Driven to the extreme, we view anyone who does not share our political affiliation as dangerous and seek a community that looks, feels, and thinks as we do.

While it is certainly more comfortable to surround ourselves with like-minded individuals, it does not bode well for a pluralistic society. Long ago, we embraced the concept of a working democracy in which individuals of differing backgrounds and beliefs might coexist in harmony, working together to solve societal problems, and coming to consensus through well-reasoned discussion; however, recently we seem to have either forgotten this or decided that it was too hard, requiring too much work. Perhaps, that is the real reason some call for a national divorce, dividing our nation into separate places for red and blue folks to reside. Working on difficult issues with someone that thinks differently takes great effort. Grappling with a new idea or concept stretches the brain, forcing one to consider things from another point of view. When working with the lieutenant I disliked, I found out why he led the way he did. Not only did it explain some of his actions, but surprisingly, I added a few new tools to my leadership toolkit. Ultimately, I profited greatly from working with someone very different from myself, despite the additional effort required.

When we give up on the democratic process and retreat into homogeneous communities, we lose something very worthwhile. Yes, working together to solve problems requires great effort and at times, compromise; but, the rewards outweigh the risks and the associated labor. Those who advocate for a “national divorce” may very well rob us of great profit for comfort. The work required to build a functioning pluralistic society is tremendous; however, we reap great rewards as a result of our labors. 

Of course, creating more homogenous communities is easier, in the short run; but, where do we stop? The idea of a national divorce implies accepting the denigration of “the other.” We would rather segregate ourselves than rub shoulders with someone who espouses something we do not. A national divorce, like a marital divorce, would be quite messy. What do you really know about your neighbors? While most of the people in your neighborhood, city, or state may support similar ideas, what gives us the right to expect them to uproot their families and move into a state you feel is more suited to their ilk? Who is going to design the litmus test for such segregation? That is what a national divorce truly means, a segregated society and a segregated society is fundamentally flawed at its core. We should not support the idea of separation, instead, let us gird up our intellectual loins and commit ourselves to the work required. The Founding Fathers laid out noble concepts for the building of a good, just society. From John Winthrop’s “City on a Hill (read the full version), through the Declaration of Independence, to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, we see a golden idea thread linking these and other documents, that of a society in which peoples of manifold differences work together to build something new, something better. This takes heart and soul. Let us not abandon this great experiment, called the United States. Let us reinvigorate ourselves and continue the work started so long ago. The work of building a society worthy of the descriptor, “City on a Hill.”

Christmas Musings Day 25

Everything For Him

John 1:3 (ESV) ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

               If you watch my Facebook feed, aside from finding out that I’m quite boring, you will come to know that I enjoy astronomical phenomena. I greet each new image from either the Webb or Hubble Space-Based telescopes with great joy. I find the vast panorama of stars, galaxies, and dust-clouds entrancing. I spend too much time gazing and imagining. I like to think of creation, not the argument between the old and new earth crowds. No, I like to think of incomprehensible intellect that conceived of such grandeur and beauty and then breathed it into existence from nothing. Imagine the might that brought our reality into existence deciding to enter into it as a participant.

               He planned and executed the very star that heralded His birth, making sure it started shining at just the right time. He conceived of hay, knowing that His first bed would be lined with it. I do not know if the swaddling cloths were wool, cotton, or linen, but He thought of those weavable materials, understanding that they would warm against the chill of that first night. He envisioned and then fashioned pregnancy and then spent nine months, or so, of His life in a womb. He placed a hill outside Jerusalem, knowing that He would die there. He orchestrated all of it, understanding that one day He would alter Himself to participate in it. The one who flung the stars into space and set up the orbits of the sun, earth, moon, and other planets would one day crane His neck to gaze in wonder at the beauty He created. 

Christmas Musings Day 24

Rascal Rehabilitation

Genesis 28:4-5, 14 (ESV) ⁴ May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!” ⁵ Thus Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother…¹⁴ Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

               Normally, we do not recount the story of Jacob as part of Advent. I understand why. Jacob does not play a pivotal role in the birth of the Messiah. He does hold a place in the lineage of Jesus, making an appearance in both genealogies. But we do not read about him in any of the Advent accounts; consequently, you will not find a Jacob figurine in any Nativity set. Perhaps we should reconsider. Jacob starts off as a bit of a rascal. He’s not the kind of guy you want to hang out with, or if you do, keep your hand on your wallet. In fact, when God extends His promise to Jacob, he is fleeing his brother. Despite his character flaws, God extends the promise to him and Jacob responds positively. God works with him, rehabilitating him, making him something new. So new, that God changes his name from Jacob, “supplanter,” interpreted as someone who seizes, circumvents, or usurps to Israel, meaning “contended with God.” Israel emerges from the ashes of Jacob and takes his place as part of God’s great Advent story, which gives me great hope.

               You see, those who know me most intimately know that I’m a failed person. Oh, I’m better than I used to be. Life has a way of scuffing off rough edges; but, I still have foibles, some grievous ones. But these weaknesses do not keep me out of God’s plan. As He worked with Jacob, turning him into Israel, He works with me, weaving me into the tapestry of His plan. He takes me as I am but is unwilling to let me remain a rascal. He bends with the remover to remove. So in those dark moments of self-examination when I realize the true depth of my personal failure, I can rest assured that He still has a plan to redeem my life. That is what Advent is all about, redeeming the rascals. 

Christmas Musings Day 23

Empty, Away

Luke 1:53 (ESV) ⁵³ he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.

               I like to think of myself as average American Middle-Class, neither too poor nor too rich. In some ways, there is a certain amount of intellectual snobbery involved in this. Whenever the conversation turns to what “the rich” ought to do, I am talking about someone else; however, that is not reality. If look worldwide, I’m among the elite wealthy. Depending upon which calculator I use, I fall somewhere in the upper ten percent of the world’s population. That puts me closer to the Donald Trumps and Bill Gates of this world than most of the rest of the teeming masses that populate our globe. I do not like thinking of myself this way and it bothers me to type these words. But if you are reading this missive, the same would be true for you. As citizens of the U.S. “middle-class,” we enjoy a historically unprecedented affluent lifestyle. No matter how you parse the data, we are rich. Through Advent, God says some challenging things to us.

               Mary, in her beautiful outpouring of adoration, speaks to the purpose of Advent. God engaged in the Advent story to radically alter how our world functions. We place great emphasis on power and the acquisition of wealth and influence. It is hard to escape this mindset. But the Lord wants to shake things up. In the Magnificat, Mary provides the details. Later Jesus would say similar things in the Sermon on the Mount. Those of us who are proud can expect to be humbled. Those of us who enjoy positions of power can expect to lose our place. Those who endure lowly place can expect to be lifted up. The poor and destitute can expect to find fulfillment. Those of us who are rich can expect to be sent, empty away. Empty away. That is the antithesis of what I expect at Christmas, but Mary, and the prophets of old, cry out with this sobering message. But if I fear the Lord, His mercy is great. Perhaps if I let Him have His way, I can be part of His reorganization of this world, helping those I meet that have great need.

Christmas Musings Day 22

In the Fullness of Time

Galatians 4:4 (AKJV) ⁴ but when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, … You might note that the ESV uses the same phrasing,

               As an English teacher, I love scripture. The writers, under the unction of the Holy Spirit, penned some of the best texts ever. While I normally read from the English Standard Version, I do love the full resonate words in the King James Version. They very carefully crafted that version to read well, and it does. They labored to find the exact words, even inventing new words and phrases to try and carry the meaning. This scripture demonstrates the good effect of their care exceptionally.

               “When the fulness of time was come.” One of the great mysteries of Advent is this idea of the time being exactly right. All the lines of history, spiritual and human, and all the physical components of the universe aligned properly. Then came the pregnant pause. All creation holds its breath as the Creator readies Himself for His grand entrance, but when the fulness of time was come, He appeared. And the vast majority of His creation missed it. A few shepherds showed up because they got a special invite. Some time later, perhaps three years later, a wandering band of magi showed up, but the rest of the world simply continued to turn unaware of the magnitude of Advent, and not much has changed.

               Each year we must fight the temptation to give in to the crush of the holiday season. All the hurry distracts from the contemplative side of Christmas. Advent calls us to slow down. The fulness of time has passed. We can take a few moments to consider the impact of Advent, historically and within our hearts. What things are ripe for enacting? Are there words of contrition or encouragement that I need to speak? Are there weak and halt near me that need some help at this time? What fulness of time has come for me?

               

Christmas Musings Day 21

Dependence

Luke 2:7 (ESV) ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

               I enjoy teaching high school students…most of the time. When motivated, they engage in near-adult conversations, often developing thoughts that surprise and teach me; however, they bring their own special challenges to the classroom. Chief among these challenges is a burning desire for independence. All my students make the casual assumption that they do not need any help with anything. With all the seriousness that they can muster, they will look me in the face and tell me that I do not know what I am talking about, or that what I am teaching them has no real application in their future. They find it impossible to conceive of a problem that they cannot answer. They yearn for independence. Every year I have students that connive and plot to graduate early, thinking they have nothing left to learn. Sometimes I must bite my lip to avoid laughing in their serious faces. I was just the same, though not as vocally rude about it. There is something about our makeup that rebels against depending upon anyone; but, the creator of the universe gladly made himself dependent upon a very young, inexperienced woman.

               If you can, imagine what that jarring experience was like. One moment you’re managing the universe, ensuring that the planets move in their appointed path, that the sun continues to burn at the right temperature, and that the tides rise and fall appropriately. The next you’re a drooly baby that cannot feed itself or change a poopy diaper. All you can really do is cry when you want something and coo or gurgle happily when your teenage mother meets your needs. This is a major exercise in dependence. The voice that spoke our universe into existence, can only wail hopefully when it needs burping. The hands that crafted woman from a rib can only flail aimlessly. The feet that strode across the stars, and soon a small sea, will have to learn how to crawl, stand, toddle, and then run. The true master of the universe agreed to be so helpless and powerless that a mere teenager was more powerful and wiser. If the Son of God could submit to that kind of humiliation, what keeps me from bending my knee to help the helpless?