Penna Dexter

The current political environment requires tremendous determination on the part of our leaders to keep their heads down and get things done. This necessity became crystal clear to me recently as I sat in a crowded hotel ballroom in Washington DC and listened to Vice President Mike Pence speak. He’s always positive. I’m pretty sure he puts on the full armor of God most days. There are obstacles. Some — let’s face it — are brought on by the president himself. The media and Washington’s Left capitalize and distort. Investigations distract and will derail good work if allowed to. Leaders sometimes must put blinders on and simply move forward. The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan critiqued President Trump saying “he doesn’t act as though he’s picking his way through a minefield every day, which he is.” But perhaps this is putting blinders on in a good way. Ms. Noonan’s column was a warning to the president and congress: “History is going to judge us,” she writes, “by how we comported ourselves in this murky time. It will see who first cared for the country and who didn’t, who kept his head and did not, who remained true and calm and played it straight.” Fair enough. Another Wall Street Journal’s editorial encouraged the congress to, “Get on with passing the agenda they campaigned on.” Of the majority in congress, the Journal said, “Their best option is to plow ahead anyway and present Mr. Trump with legislation to sign.” Other speakers I heard that day in D.C. brought encouragement in that regard. North Carolina freshman congressman Mark Walker, leads a powerful conservative caucus and is working on taking a conservative message to new communities where progressivism hasn’t worked. Steve Scalise, the House Majority Whip, told us he’s hopeful on many fronts because, although the former president did not believe in working with Congress, the current one does. Let’s pray our leaders in Washington will have thick skin and will not be distracted from the good things God has given them to do.