One Country, One Constitution, One Destiny
By Christopher A. Etienne
Christopher A. Etienne
In his 1895 lecture entitled, Abraham Lincoln: A Lecture, former Illinois Attorney General Robert G. Ingersoll discussed U.S. President Abraham Lincoln’s legacy, power, and character. Ingersoll eloquently declares, “Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know [who a person] really is, give [that person] power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy.” Indeed, the greatest challenge of leadership is internal. The attainment of political power shall display the real character of an individual or a group of people in a society.
The situation today is the same as it has been throughout all history; our democracy is in an epistemological crisis. An epistemological crisis is defined by some scholars as a “blurring of facts and falsehoods to the degree that blatant and obvious propaganda holds sway over large segments of the population, resulting in truth decay.” To be clear. If our democratic society does not use the light of reason to navigate through the deep ocean waters of facts and falsehoods, then, by definition, the marketplace of ideas will not work, resulting in truth decay of our democratic principles.
The fundamental premise upon which freedom from fear must be based on is that all fear is illogical. Therefore, stand firm in faith. I refuse to be driven to a Machiavellian cynicism by critics and capitulators with respect to democracy. As a result, take it personal and challenge the Machiavellian cynics when they do not want to be challenged. Forward-thinking and forward looking remain my mentality. As Finley Peter Dunne’s fictional “Mr. Dooley,” of the 1890s, argued, “Trust everyone – but cut the cards.” Democracy at its best is inspiring service in the public interest.
U.S. President John F. Kennedy, a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts at the time, argued for a new spirit in Washington, D.C., at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, in 1960. Senator Kennedy declared, “The essence of any government that belongs to the people must lie in the Biblical injunction: ‘No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other.’ All America seeks a government where no man holds to his own interest and despises the public interest, and where all men serve only the public, and love that master well.”
Indeed, it appears to me, at this moment, that some professional politicians are intellectually lazy on matters of fiscal policy, foreign policy, domestic policy, and public policy. There is no excuse for the lack of empathy from the 119th United States Congress of both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. To be clear. It is no illusion that some professional politicians are voting for bills that will increase poverty, illiteracy, and political oppression among their constituents, instead of working together on behalf of their constituents to restore public trust, provide immediate aid, and implement long-term solutions to prevent future crises. As a result, they are returning to their states and districts not as John the Baptist, but as Judas.
And yet still, no matter how difficult the situation, how challenging the journey, how overwhelming the task, we must, nevertheless, stand firm in faith. “All things are possible, in my opinion, to this country if once we determine where we want to go and what we must do in order to get there. Lincoln said [in 1862], ‘The times are new and the perils are new. We must disentangle ourselves from the past.’ And I believe we must in 1960. The problems are entirely new and the solutions must be as new. But I believe the same spirit which in other days and in other years and in other times served this country so well, the spirit of the 1930’s, must motivate this country in the 1960’s,” U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy said in Saginaw, Michigan in 1960.
This shall be the moment when we answer the call of history. As Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. Esq., the distinguished civil rights attorney and business executive, pointed out in his lecture at the Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession’s 2017 Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C., arguing, “Our situation may feel unprecedented and our course may feel uncharted, but we have been here before… because we have been here before, we know that we will endure… our history of endurance should give us faith that we shall once again endure.” For that reason, stand firm in faith in God. The strong and courageous spirit of the 1960s shall inspire and instruct our country in the 21st century to endure and inspire service in the public interest. Democracy is indissoluble.
Christopher A. Etienne Biographical Sketch
Christopher A. Etienne’s public service ethos is inspired and instructed by his parents and heritage in New Orleans, LA. His upbringing, formal education, and professional experiences provided him with a worldview that ordinary people can do extraordinary things when they are provided an equal and equitable opportunity. Previously, he served as a Legislative Aide to U.S. Representative Cedric L. Richmond and U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu, both of Louisiana, and U.S. Representative Jahana Hayes of Connecticut. He earned his master's degree in political science from Howard University in Washington, D.C. and earned his bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB), two prestigious historically Black universities (HBCUs). For his leadership in public service, he has been named a Distinguished Fellow of the Nancy M. Marsiglia Institute of Justice at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law and United Way Southeast Louisiana, a Fellow of the Institute of Politics at Loyola University New Orleans (IOP), and the New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute (NORLI).