another open letter to michael steele

Dear Mr. Steele,

In light of your rescinding your comments about Limbaugh, I rescind my comments about your good leadership.

Sincerely,
Caleb B. Ruggiero
San Diego, CA

an open letter to michael steele

Chairman Steele,

I just got through reading some shocking comments that some hardline Republicans have made about you in response to your recent comments about Rush Limbaugh. No doubt some of these comments have made their way to your inbox by now, so you're aware of the venom I'm referencing. I just wanted to write you to express my support for your stance against the incendiary, divisive rhetoric that too often comes from the mouths and pens of partisan windbags who reside on AM radio and the dark corners of the blogosphere.

I have never cared for Rush Limbaugh and his fellow AM blowhards, and quite frankly, I never thought anybody took him seriously until recently. He's such a caricature of himself that I just assumed he was kind of an inside joke in the GOP. But now that I've become aware that many Republicans not only take him seriously, but actually view him as their party leader, I am terrified. Really, truly, terrified.

You certainly have a full plate in front of you, don't you Mr. Chairman? There seems to be a civil war within the party between conservatives and neoconservatives. It is my hope that, like the great first leader of your party, you will be able to end this civil war and neutralize this dangerous rebel faction. I hope for this not because I'm particularly concerned about the future of the GOP (I'm a proud independent), but because I'm concerned about the future of our nation. Working to ensure the failure of our President and his economic recovery policies, whether we agree with them or not, is not only childish, but gravely irresponsible politics. I commend you for taking a stand against such behavior. It's a shame to see that, for many Republicans, "Country First" was nothing more than a campaign slogan.

It's not very often I find a Republican politician I can proudly support, but you have earned my support today. Keep up the good work in supporting responsibility in politics.

Sincerely,
Caleb B. Ruggiero
San Diego, CA

[In addition to posting this blog, I also emailed the same letter to Mr. Steele. I encourage you to join me in supporting Mr. Steele's stance against divisiveness with an email of your own, directed to Chairman [at] GOP [dot] com]

The tough thing about being in a leadership role is that you're held to a higher standard than everyone else. Once you tell people that certain behaviors or actions aren't acceptable, you have to make sure that you're following through with that in your own life. Even harder than that, once you realize that certain things that you've been condoning or even participating in are unacceptable, you then have the burdensome responsibility of telling people that you can't allow them to continue doing what you had just been encouraging them to do yesterday.

Leadership isn't a total downer, though. Its upsides most certainly outweigh its few downsides. For one, leaders are required to live with integrity. You're forced to give careful thought to every move you make, because your life is held as an example of how others ought to live. I'm a youth leader with my church's high school ministry, and the two years that I've been ministering there have caused more positive personal changes than any other time of my life, because how I live my life is a major factor in the spiritual and moral development of my students.

If anyone needs a boost in the integrity department (and I think everyone does), it'd be a good idea to find some kind of leadership role to take. But make sure you take on a leadership role that is appropriate for your own social and spiritual maturity level! I've seen so-called "leaders" whose integrity and maturity are so lacking that they actually do more harm to their students than good. If you can't handle what life throws at you, if you're going to whine and complain and moan about every setback that comes your way, if you don't actually have a grasp on the stuff you're supposed to be teaching, then you have absolutely no business being in any kind of leadership role until you can at least start getting your act together. Like Jesus once said, if the example you're setting causes anyone to fall, it'd be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a boulder tied around your neck than to continue leading.