Once upon a time, we had leaders who expressed themselves with words of wisdom and honor. Let’s review. President George Washington said, “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.” Also, “A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.”

President Thomas Jefferson stated, “It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debt as it goes.” Abraham Lincoln advised that “You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred” and “You cannot build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independence.”

More recently, President Ronald Reagan declared that “If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a Nation gone under.”

The words of wisdom are not limited to our past Presidents. Patrick Henry once offered, “The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people; it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government – lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.” Martin Luther King Jr. cautioned that “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

Now, we have “leaders” like former-Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying, “We have to pass the bill [Obamacare] to find out what is in it.” We have a President who years ago repeatedly and falsely pledged to us that, “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.” It only got much worse. In late 2014, we heard “ISIL [Islamic State] is not Islamic” and finally, “I just took an action to change the law.”

What happened? Wisdom and honor are missing. Our job is to restore them to government and our leaders.