Elijah Cummings and integrity

There are 435 representatives in Congress, and with only a few exceptions, I know very few of them beyond Utah’s congressional delegation; for those names I do recognize, I usually can’t remember which state they represent.  However, there was one name I did know:  Elijah Cummings.  I knew that he had humble roots, had an oversized voice and personality, and was a fierce defender of those who didn’t have the advantages typically enjoyed by middle class American, both in his district and across the country.  I was impressed that this representative from an area that’s about as urban as they come was keen to visit Utah, and indeed enjoyed our canyon country and even a river trip on the Colorado; probably a big deal for a guy from inner-city Baltimore. 

On Thursday there was a memorial service for Congressman Cummings, and it was clear from the many luminaries present that he was about as well-respected as a member of congress can be.  I listened to a few of the eulogies, and was struck by a recurring theme encapsulated in one word that seemed to guide Mr. Cummings throughout his life and his congressional tenure:  Integrity. 

The dictionary defines integrity as:  The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.  Given this very simple definition, it is difficult to argue against this being the single most important characteristic for people to possess.  Someone may be highly intelligent, but without integrity that intelligence can be - and many times is  - used to manipulate people.  Someone may be very passionate, but without integrity, passion can becomes the annoying or dangerous zealotry of an ideologue.  Someone may be a world-class athlete, but without integrity, they risk losing the respect, adulation, and the riches associated with world-class athleticism.  Someone may have been able to assume a high level of political power, but without integrity, they create rancor, divisiveness, and distrust. 

These days it seems that the very concept of integrity is under siege.  Whether you agree with his policies or not, it seems clear that Donald Trump does not consistently exhibit “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles, and moral uprightness.”  While Elijah Cummings was alive, Trump not only had no problem insulting him and his district, but also had the gall to call Cummings – who was black – a “racist.”  This was but one of the many insults and mischaracterizations that Trump has perpetuated throughout his presidency, and while this is “disturbing in the extreme” (as our oh-so-bold freshman senator might be inclined to say), what is more disturbing is that Trump’s amoral behavior seems to be trickling - or maybe even streaming  - down.  From Cummings’ fellow congressmen who continue to explain away or shrug off the President’s boorish behavior, to the Utah state legislature that vainly tries to convince the state’s populace that taxing poor people more and rich people less will be good for The People, to a rural Utah county that creates a ham-handed process to disenfranchise a large chunk of their voters, to the FedEx guy taking bribes, people seem to be more and more emboldened to forget their integrity.

Or are they?  Our mayoral election features two candidates that are similar in many ways, yet have different takes on solutions to our city’s issues. But both of them – and most of the primary candidates as well - have, if nothing else, shown that they are people of indeed “strong moral principles.”  Even Jason Chaffetz  - who has crossed the line of integrity plenty of times – was clearly quite sincere in his condolences for Congressman Cummings, since Chaffetz had notably worked closely with him and hosted him in Utah.  And there is no doubt that there are innumerable small, good deeds that are done for others in our state and across the country every day that go unreported.  Perhaps we have glimpsed the bottom of our moral morass, and there’s nowhere to go but up? 

Hopefully, this era is fleeting, and many of us – including, hopefully our congressional representatives – still have at least a small moral compass tucked away in our pockets that we can pull out periodically to ask - as Congressman Cummings often did: “is that the best that we can do?” and exercise the kind of integrity that this honorable man embodied.