NationStates Jolt Archive

I was thinking about where the loyalties of a political leader should lie and I found myself in a predicament. I remember once reading an article about Bush saying that his priorities are (1) his faith, (2) his family, and (3) his country.

So here's what I made of that. That's a reasonable thing to say, but shouldn't the leader of the most powerful nation on Earth have his country higher up on that list? But then again, he is only human and his family presents that emotional attachment that's perfectly understandable. One could argue that faith shouldn't be prioritized over country when you're a political leader, but once again -faith is highly important at the individual level. So what do you think? Is the (1) faith, (2) family, and (3) country ranking a reasonable one?

if anything, I take issue with the fact that faith ranks over family.

if your religious its kinda hard not to put god at the top. And I doubt even the most loyal patriot really puts country above family. so maybe he was just being honest since he doesn't have to get elected again.

The greatest loyalty of any political leader should be to their country (or state or porovince or subvillage or....)

If someone's greatest loyalty is anywhere else, they are unfit to hold office and should be replaced ASAP.

For a modern leader, it's

1) Himself
2) His party's agenda
3) His family.

Bush is a liar. He doesn't give a shit about this country, and if he has faith, it's little more than blind self-confidence and a megalomania complex.

Most people are loyal to their families first and foremost, but most people aren't political leaders. At least for a UK PM it should be:

1. Queen / King
2. The national interest
3. The global interest
4. Family or Faith (Since both are a private matter, whatever the individual deems most important)

I am very wary of party politics, and I think the idea that a politician should act in the interests of his party over the country are at least suspicious, and sometimes just outright betrayal of the country.

1. What the people in your country want
2. Ditto with the region
3. Ditto with the world
4. Family
5. Faith

Bush's priorities are closer to:

1) Corporate America, 2) Dick Cheney, 3) Jesus

Obama is much the same except "Dick Cheney" can be replaced with "Howard Dean" and Jesus with "Chris(t?) Matthews".

Obama is much the same except "Dick Cheney" can be replaced with "Howard Dean" and Jesus with "Chris(t?) Matthews".

Don't be silly, we all know Jesus would be replaced with Allah.

What Bush stated as his priorities makes a mockery of democracy (not for the first time). An elected politician is supposed to do nothing other than what the people who elected them want.

Unless you go for that bullshit that the idea is that we elect a leader who is then allowed to ignore the electorate in favour of doing what they think is right - bad things come from that.

I think Bush is using "faith" because, as one of those crazy American evangelical Christian types, "faith" is the closest thing he has to "ethics". And in that respect, I think he's fair to put it above electorate opinion. An electorate unrestricted by ethical judgment is a dangerous thing.

My ranks would be

1) Informed judgment on Human well-being
2) Personal intuition on Human well-being
3) Informed sources on Ecological well-being
4) Public opinion
5) Technological advancement
6) Arts (in which I include religious faith, excepting public opinion)
7) Anything relating to my family specifically
8) Anything relating to me personally

I believe this to be reasonable as long as my role is not to create laws myself, but simply to filter them after they've been through the proper democratic channels first.