Larry D. Lauer

Who we are as Americans is made very clear in the Constitution. Who we are as individuals is the sum total of our deeds and our words! So when you think about it, what we have here now is a serious misalignment between our president and our constitution.

“The Donald” spoke at the NRA convention in Dallas this week and promised that no one will take away the second amendment as long as he is president. He also stated that he knows all Democrats and NRA critics will take it away if they get the chance. Honestly, I really don’t know a single person who advocates eliminating the second amendment.

The writers of the second amendment did so in the context of guns they had at the time and worries about militias. Years later, no one wants to take away that basic constitutional right to self-defense, to shoot targets for sport, and to hunt. But it’s also true that the constitution does not preclude the possibility that changes in society and weapon technology might suggest that a few adjustments are appropriate. Sadly today’s angry rhetoric is too polarizing to allow civilized conversation on the topic, and Trump’s NRA speech was certainly not designed for healing.

In fact, the president’s NRA speech was mostly a rambling campaign style laundry list of boasts and unexplained promises. It was vintage Trump… big boasts, few details, and no empathy. Recently all his speeches have become rallies that repeat the topics of his daily chaos-producing tweets and mind-changes with more self-praises and angry attacks. The NRA speech was no different.

The result is that those in Trump’s “base” take leaps of faith regarding his promises, while countless others plunge into a deep depression fearing that their future will be in country of hostile divisions and global isolation.

Those of us who have been engaged in branding our institutions, cities, or nations, always begin by asking: Who are we? It is a question that usually can be answered by reviewing founding missions. Once a founding mission is understood, clear guidelines for appropriate programs, projects, value statements, messages, and future goals, become apparent. It also becomes apparent what leadership qualities and values future visionaries must possess.

The basic values deeply embedded in the U.S. Constitution are simply individual freedom, equal opportunity, and justice for everyone. And in our country no one is above the law. Our goal, then, must be for all Americans to model those values at home and around the world… yes, including the president.

As James Comey calmly put it in one of his recent TV interviews: “Who we are is all we have.”