Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican Congressman from Illinois, has spoken out about the loss of “moral authority” in the GOP. Refer here, for example. This week, he repeated his challenge to his party. Those GOP members of Congress who object to President-elect Biden’s victory today have lost their “moral authority” to take issue if Democrats return the favor and object to a future GOP Presidential election victory. Watch here. It raises the question: What constitutes moral authority in the US—or anywhere for that matter—today and always?
Is it popularity and public opinion, economic, political or military prowess, adherence to a country’s founding legal documents, pure reason, divine law, something else? Kinzinger states that adherence to the US Constitution dictates whether one has moral authority as a political leader in this country. His reflections remind me of the speech of General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which Milley gave at the dedication of the US Army Museum last November: “We are unique among militaries.” How so? “We do not take an oath to a king or a queen, a tyrant or a dictator. We do not take an oath to an individual.” Milley asserted that the military has an unambiguous duty to safeguard the Constitution, which he referred to as the “moral north star” for US military personnel. “We take an oath to the Constitution,” and “will protect and defend that document regardless of personal price.”