Integrity - Does it still exist?

INTEGRITY,  how I love that word!  Unfortunately it's not a word that's part of our regular conversations anymore  --- but this last week, when our daughter got a new job,  during the orientation one of the questions asked was: "What is integrity?"  Oh, how refreshing to hear that it is STILL sought after!  This company even has an "Integrity Hotline" for employees to report unethical behavior.  

One of my favorite definitions of integrity is this:

Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching.

Integrity is honesty.  Integrity is transparency.  Integrity is moral character.  Integrity is living your life according to your values (or faith).   Integrity is taking responsibility for your actions, regardless of the consequences.

Being married to a police officer, I hear my fair share of stories that involve people lacking integrity.  That comes with the territory, I know.  Dishonesty.  Manipulation. Theft.  Perversion.  You name it, it's out there. Nothing surprises me anymore!

The reason I bring this subject up - the subject of integrity - is that we have an election coming up where integrity is a central issue.  To start with, I'm not seeing it in our current administration.  I haven't seen it in four years.  Our president promised to be the most transparent president around -- remember that?  When, in fact, making deals behind closed doors has been his "M.O".  Our current president has signed more "executive orders" than any other president in history, bypassing and circumventing Congress -  the entity designed by our forefathers as a balance of governmental power, a means to hold our president accountable.

Shouldn't our President be one we can trust?  Absolutely.  If he says he's going to do something, shouldn't we hold him to his word?  Absolutely.   Shouldn't his actions reflect an interest in what is  best for our country?

With Obamacare (the new healthcare legislation due to take effect in 2014), both the House and the Senate vetoed it, knowing the devastation it would bring to our nation on many levels.  Instead of sitting down and working with these elected officials, our president "signed it into law" on his own authority.  This is NOT integrity!  This is NOT working with our people -- this is furthering his own agenda in spite of the many concerns. This is NOT putting the American people first.  We won't even mention the 700 billion dollars that Obama took out of the Medicare program to put into his unpopular healthcare program.

Have you heard our president accept responsibility for adding so much to our national debt, putting our country in financial jeopardy?  I haven't.  Obama called George Bush "unpatriotitic" for adding so much to the debt, yet he added more debt in less than 4 years that Bush did in both terms.  George Bush was not perfect, but at least he honored our country's laws and abided by the decisions of a House and Senate from a party other than his own.  Obama cannot claim any such respect for our nation's laws and processes.

Do you think it's okay for Obama's campaign contributors at Solyndra (a now bankrupt solar energy company) to receive a 535 million dollar government loan, approved by one of Obama's fundraisers, even though it was known that the company was in trouble and there was an excellent chance it wouldn't be able to pay back the loan?  I don't.

Obama selected Tim Geithner, a man who repeatedly failed to pay his own taxes, to be his Treasury Secretary.  That's bad enough, but then Obama spent his whole first term lobbying for tax increases and accusing other people of being greedy for wanting to keep more of their own money.  When our Treasury Secretary refuses to willingly pay his taxes, maybe the problem is one of integrity?!

Here's one that really bothers me.  Despite claiming to be IN FAVOR of traditional marriage to get elected, our current president now touts he is in favor of gay marriage.  Regardless of where you fall on this issue, where is the integrity there?  More and more cases are coming to light each week of our current president tayloring what he says in each speech to fit the audience of the moment.  Changing HOW you say something, your choice of words,  that is a normal part of good communication.  But President Obama changes the very substance and content, his actual position on an issue, depending on the audience he addresses.  That is LYING!!! Not integrity.

I could go on and on about the lies and manipulation of our current president, but I won't.  If you do your homework, you'll find it yourself.  (Please, do your homework!)

Last night before going to bed, I came across a new television campaign ad from the Obama campaign that compared voting to having sex for the first time.  Really?!  I'm so disgusted and disappointed, I can't even express it adequately.   (Watch it below. Note: If you subscribe to my blog by email, then you'll have to click on the title of this blog post in your email so it will take you to my website to view this video.)

During my morning "quiet times" with my Creator, I came across this passage in Isaiah 59:3-4.  It is talking about the nation of Israel in the Old Testament - however, it parallels what is going on in our current administration:

For your hands are stained with blood,
your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken lies,
and your tongue mutters wicked things.
No one calls for justice,
no one pleads his case with integrity.
They reply on empty arguments and speak lies,
they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.

 Truth is nowhere to be found...

(Isaiah 59:15)

I don't know about you, but I'm so disgusted - so repulsed with what I'm seeing in our White House.  Our nation is in crisis - a moral and spiritual crisis.

Maintain justice and do what is right.

(Isaiah 56:1)

Thankfully, no evil deed will go unpunished.  God Almighty has all this in his control.  This is my comfort.  God knows all this and His plan is perfect.

He brings princes to naught

and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.

(Isaiah 40:23)

Within a matter of days, we will know which direction our country is headed ---- either on a path to recovery or on a path to destruction.  We cannot continue down the same road we've been on for the last 4 years and survive.  It's not possible.

I trust you are praying for our nation and for the direction it is heading.  Prayer is our most valuable resource.

Most importantly, you have a responsibility, not to mention the most awesome privilege that many countries don't have -- and that is

TO VOTE!!

Don't take it lightly -- NOT TO VOTE IS TO VOTE!!  

So take time out on November 6th and use your right to cast your vote for the best of our nation.

Stand for INTEGRITY!!