When Joe Lieberman, the Democratic candidate for vice president in 2000, died yesterday, the oddity of our present political moment struck me. Lieberman was born in 1942, the same year as Joe Biden. Al Gore, the 2000 candidate, will celebrate his 76th birthday on Easter. He is six years younger than Biden. On the Republican side, George W. Bush, who now seems a blast from the past, is three weeks younger than Donald Trump. We’re in a race car heading to the future with drivers whose licenses should be revoked.
But it’s not just the years, it’s the mileage. Lieberman was a good man who gained election to the Connecticut state senate in 1970 and gave credit for his victory to a Yale law student on his staff, Bill Clinton. In 1998, Lieberman on the U.S. Senate floor chastised Clinton for his immorality with Monica Lewinsky. “It was a very hard thing for me to do because I liked him,” Lieberman said—yet moral vision came first.
Lieberman’s message in the Senate was prophetic. He opposed the live-and-let-live reaction of many of his fellow Democrats: “the transgressions the president had admitted to are too consequential for us to walk away.” He didn’t mince words: Clinton’s action “was not just inappropriate. It is immoral, and it is harmful.” He appraised the consequences: Senate dereliction would “leave the impression for our children today and our posterity tomorrow” that actions like Clinton’s are “acceptable behavior.”
When Congress impeached Clinton for his conduct and lies but did not convict him, the destructive result was not immediately apparent. For 16 years, through the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, presidents were once again role models not necessarily in their policy decisions, but in how they lived and how they spoke. Then came Donald Trump, and we fell into a pit.
When Congress impeached Trump twice for his dishonorable conduct, including urging on Capitol invaders, the destructive result was not immediately apparent. We’re in our fourth year of relative peace, domestically. How long will that last?
How deep is the pit? Clinton had a sense of shame. After Lieberman castigated him, Clinton called Lieberman and said, “I just want you to know that there’s nothing you said in that speech that I disagree with.” Trump’s leading characteristic is shamelessness, even when it comes to hawking the Bible. A copy of the King James Version sells for $5.49 at Amazon, but on the day Lieberman died Trump’s “God Bless the USA Bible” pitch came to life. Only $59.99!
Theologians talk of “plenary inspiration,” meaning that every part of the Bible is divinely inspired, including the miracles of Christ and the letters of Paul. Why pay the 10X mark-up for what Trump is pitching? According to its website, this new Bible is “the ONLY Bible inspired by America’s most recognized patriotic album, God Bless the USA.”
How low can we go? Watch Trump’s social media pitch posted by John Fea. No, it’s not a Saturday Night Life spoof. We learn once again that the Bible is Trump’s “favorite book.” (We already know that “an eye for an eye” is his favorite verse.) Trump says “We must protect content that is pro-God. We love God, and we have to protect anything that is pro-God…. We must make America pray again.” Trump repeats that word: “Must.”
Where have you gone, Joe Lieberman? Our nation no longer turns its lonely eyes to you.
Marvin Olasky is the author of Moral Vision: Leadership from George Washington to Donald Trump.
Mr. Olasky, I just want to say that I surely miss you at World magazine. After many years as a subscriber, I have cancelled that subscription. The last straw was one writer’s reference to “Christians and Catholics.” I am not a Catholic but considered this offensive. The magazine has been dumbed down in many ways while managing to be more preachy.
Thanks for your writing here and I will be looking for more!
Thank you for reading.