America’s Greatest Threat Is Inconsistency, Hypocrisy & Situational Ethics

Navarrette Nation Substack — Issue #0086 (May 5, 2025)

Critical Thinking At A Critical Time

[Every Monday]

2003 words; 25 min read

Monologue —

It took me a while, but I finally figured out the real threat to the United States. It’s not racial unrest, climate change, or a policy of regulating guns that is heavy on leniency and light on common sense. It’s not corporate greed, wage inequality or an American work ethic that often seems as if it is on life support. It’s not deep divisions that pit one group of Americans against one another and make it nearly impossible to see one another’s point of view. And – despite what many of those of us in the middle of the road might like to believe – it’s not even a broken and corrupt political party system that often seems like a two-headed snake.

No, the real threat is the dishonesty, inconsistency, hypocrisy and the intellectual flexibility of Americans who have no trouble taking one position on Monday and adopting the total opposite view on Friday. They make one argument one minute, and then they make the opposing argument the next. For the sake of convenience, or simply to win the argument of the day, these people will turn themselves inside out to the point where no one knows what they believe. And, it’s very possible, they don’t know either. Or maybe they don’t care. Moral contortions are not difficult when an individual lacks core principles in the first place.

When I think of this kind of musical chairs approach to politics, the first thing that comes to mind is the expansion of executive power. First, let me say that, while it is not the case that all strong presidents with vast amounts of executive power are great presidents, it is the case that great presidents usually enjoy vast amounts of executive power.

Just look back over the last fifty years. From 1975 to the present day, history records that the most popular presidents were the ones who had the most power. Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and Joe Biden were all seen as weak, and consequently worthy of serving only one term. By contrast, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump were all considered strong presidents who voters rewarded with a second term. Not for nothing but every member of the two-term club also made an aggressive grab for more executive power. So what does this tell us? One thing it tells us is that it’s not inherently wrong or bad – much less unconstitutional – for presidents to want more power.

What is wrong, and bad, is when partisans decide that they like, or dislike, the idea of a strong executive based entirely on who it is that is sitting at the Resolute desk and what team jersey he is wearing. For a lot of Americans, there really are two sets of rules: one for my guy, and another for yours.