A higher standard needed on Capitol Hill

In the United States, we hold our brave military men and women to a very high standard of conduct. We, too, expect our police, firefighters, paramedics and other first responders to uphold the law and their profession’s ethics and to find the courage to do what is right for those they serve, their community and nation.
 
Is it too much to expect the same of our elected officials in Washington, D.C.?
 
{mosads}Imagine, just for a minute, if immediately following the president’s recent primetime address to the nation about destroying the ISIS threat, the following actions occurred:
 
·     Republicans and Democrats joined together and offered constructive suggestions for how to enlist reliable ground troops from Arab countries – a must if we are going to succeed in rooting out and defeating ISIS. While some Arab nations have offered to carry out airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, none have thus far offered ground troops.

·     Congressional leaders, particularly those who previously made numerous junkets to Mideast countries, offered to contact their Mideast counterparts to help persuade them to financially support the American-led initiative and offer their armies.

·     Elected officials requested a “working session” with the president to specify the ill-defined ground tactics vaguely alluded to during his speech.

·     Majority and minority leaders of both houses of Congress met and agreed to introduce legislation to endorse the president’s call for attacking the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Instead, many of our so-called “leaders” in the nation’s capital offered repeated criticism of the president for being the reticent commander-in-chief, too disengaged and, therefore, too passive, too slow and too stubborn. They criticized him for having an inadequate, narrow foreign policy strategy.
 
The president has numerous, enviable strengths, but many have suggested he lacks key political chops (including the will) to schmooze with Congressional leaders. Like it or not, effective presidents had what Chris Matthews calls “backroom skills” that enabled them to develop close working relationships with key legislators and eventually forge consensus, especially in times like now. Often called by even his supporters as the “reluctant warrior,” the president in their view has also demonstrated his disinclination to establish close working relationships with many world leaders, irritating several and alienating others who quietly question the reliability of the U.S. (e.g. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel, etc.). Unlike many former presidents such as Roosevelt, Kennedy, Ford and Reagan, our commander-in-chief is viewed as a loner, delegating to others but too often failing to effectively oversee his Cabinet members’ execution of major policy measures that went badly (such as the failed Affordable Care Act website launch and a fix of the VA corruption scandal).

While some Republican aversion for our president is understandable and the president’s dislike of politics and the Tea Party is also understandable, effective presidents and Congressional leaders need to rally in times of danger, or worse, a real crisis. They need to place their own interests and pettiness aside to work for the greater good.
 
Isn’t it high time to stop the unprecedented obstruction of this president and follow the lead of our brave men and women in uniform–whether they dress in khakis, carry the shield or ride in ambulances? Isn’t it time for another “beer summit” with the leaders of Congress?
 
Where are our leaders? Can’t the president rise above his obvious disinterest in dealing with Congress? Can’t the members of Congress quit whining, bury their political hatchets and work with the president to face this crisis together?
 
If our intelligence experts are correct in their assessment that ISIS as a conventional force presents a real danger to our Mideast friends and in time, our own country and is a youthful organization more flexible, stronger, social media savvy and brutal than al-Qaeda, we need unity, not rancor.
 
In times of crisis, new leaders often emerge who can bind our wounds and help solve our challenges. Let us hope that the president and Congress will consider Lincoln’s famous words as he implored his Republican colleagues in Springfield in 1858 “A house divided cannot stand.”

Eich, Ph.D, had several tours in the Pentagon and served on Congressional committees for Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Dan Coats (R-Ind.). He is the author of two published books on leadership and is president of Eich Associated, a California consulting firm.