WJBC Forum: What is true leadership?

President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush greet President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama at the North Portico of the White House. (Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Happy Presidents Day. Perhaps you didn’t recognize the Preamble to our Constitution as I read it. After memorizing it for when ever we last took the Constitution test, we most likely set it aside never giving it another thought. It is clear that many of our leaders at all levels of government have done that.

And yet they all took oaths to in some way defend and protect the Constitution.  Yes there is great debate as to the interpretation of sections of our Constitution and I imagine there always will be. But fundamentally it is an attempt of a people to establish a means of government by which the “people” are best served. And this is where I believe our leaders have truly missed the mark.

When our government sets out to tell us what’s best for us…as if we didn’t know what that was, it’s the height of arrogance. And that friends is the tone of how we are governed today. Whether it’s a President who circumvents the legislative process, a governor who continues the system of cronyism or a big city mayor who believes he knows what’s best for an entire state, when leaders forget the purpose for which they were chosen to lead we the people are in trouble.

George Washington and Abraham Lincoln surely had their faults as all human leaders do. But over the last weeks as we have celebrated their birthdays and achievements, I think its time to look beyond the days off from school and President’s Day sales. It’s time to remember that our current leaders must be held accountable for their actions and leadership or lack thereof.

Maybe before someone can be sworn into office, they need to dust off the Constitution test and pass it. Maybe they need to demonstrate that they understand the concepts of justice, tranquility, welfare but most of all liberty that we the people elected them to nurture.

This is Matt Drat on WJBC’s Forum.

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Matt Drat is a public communications professional in the central Illinois area. Best known for his work in the creative arts community and McLean County Toys for Tots, Matt and his wife Jenifer have lived in Bloomington for over 20 years. Matt graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University with a Bachelors Degree in Theater. Matt and Jenifer have two grown children, Collin and Marisa. Matt is involved in the drama and children’s ministries at Vale Community Church.

The opinions expressed within WJBC’s Forum are solely those of the Forum’s author, and are not necessarily those of WJBC or Townsquare Media.