As I mentioned in this post yesterday, I have reached out to all announced Republican 2016 POTUS candidates and here is the first pass along.
Mark Everson is running in the Republican Primary for President. Check out his website here, Check him out on Facebook, here. Follow him on Twitter, here. Follow him on Instagram, here. Everson served as the 46th Commissioner of Internal Revenue from 2003 until 2007. Prior to his appointment as Commissioner of the IRS, Everson held a number of federal government positions in the administrations of George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, as well as at the state level within the administration of Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels.
America! America!
When my congregation sang the words of “America, the Beautiful” last Sunday, it struck me that the song’s reverence of God and country stands in stark contrast to the corrosive cynicism on display in our nation today.
As the phrase “God mend thine every flaw” rings out, it is at once clear that America is a work in progress and that divine favor remains a wellspring of our continued success and unity. This appeal to providence is not an apology for our shortcomings; it is an acknowledgment that as a people we can learn from our mistakes and, with God’s help, strive toward and achieve a more perfect union.
The hymn balances the appeal for spiritual guidance with the secular imperative “Confirm…thy liberty in law.” This critical element of our grand experiment in democracy should be protected. When serving in the presidential administrations of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, I oversaw two of government’s most sensitive and controversial functions—immigration and tax. I always sought to execute the law as written, not as I might have wished it to be, because I believe that liberty is best served when the rule of law and the separation of powers are respected. Unfortunately, it does not look as though either Congress or the courts has the stomach to insist on confirming our liberties through constitutional governance at present.
It is hard to imagine today’s politicians challenging the citizenry as did JFK in his 1961 inaugural, “My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Today’s youth hear these lines as grainy sound bites of a yesteryear long past. We have largely lost what Lincoln called our “bonds of affection” for one another in this information age. The concept of shared sacrifice as a unifying force has been dismissed in the disconnected buzz of social media. But, when we hear “America, the Beautiful,” we are each of us reminded that this land defines heroes as liberators “Who more than self their country loved.”
In this, I say it is time to have a candid discussion about whether bringing back a program of required national service would serve to strengthen our unity as a people. Let the rich and powerful share the sacrifices required to secure our freedom. All should have skin in the game if our debates about national security and the proper use of military force are to be rigorous and transparent, and our leaders held to account. I believe that cultivating a culture of devotion to country through service is the best way to actively promote the principles that have made America the envy of the world.
“America! America! God shed his grace on thee.”
The resounded prayer is for salvation, that our strength and essential goodness as a people might overcome the internal divisions that have ever plagued the other nations of the earth. Repeated throughout, the refrain calls to us in troubled times to declare our faith anew – our faith in the dignity of mankind, governed by eternal natural laws. This abiding faith of our fathers, that proclaims our inalienable rights to be endowed by our Creator, reminds our elected and appointed leaders, alike, to throw aside the lust for power in favor of service and mercy. The enemies of this faith are many, and each generation stands witness to the conflict they foment and division they inspire.
In this light, this day, it is within our reach to achieve our full height as a nation, if we would but heed the anthem’s call to unite “And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.”
For far too long, we have allowed the debate about illegal immigration to divide us. For decades we have failed to secure our borders and millions of immigrants chose to skirt our laws. Court battles, legislative gridlock, executive overreach, race baiters and political profiteers have poisoned the discourse. Yet, the road ahead is clear. We must secure our borders. We must develop a legal immigration system that works and fully implement E-Verify to ensure that our laws will be respected moving forward. And I believe we must embrace our proud tradition of assimilation and grant qualifying undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship, not as a reward for trespass but as a proclamation of our shared destiny. Ultimately, we must forgive ourselves our own past failures and unite to secure our homeland.
It is tempting to frame the upcoming election as a series of policy options alone. A host of areas require attention: taxes, spending, regulation, education, and foreign policy to name a few. But, to resort to politics as usual will not restore our natural optimism.
Certainly, this election cycle, the driving issues of the day must deck our thoughts; but, if we are to regain our confidence as a people, we must first engage in a sober national discussion about the importance of constitutional governance and shared sacrifice, to recover that appreciation of the American Spirit so eloquently imbued by Katharine Lee Bates in her masterpiece “America, the Beautiful.”
