“Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.” – Henry Kissinger
President Trump is on a roll, claiming victory after victory against the “swamp.” Some of his decisions are being challenged in court, but others like closing the border and deporting migrants with criminal records are likely to be sustained. Foreign policy is another matter, but we’ll see whether the president’s “art” of deal-making works to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
There is one enemy that is far more dangerous than any foreign threat or the high price of eggs. That enemy is pride, which as Scripture warns “goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before the fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)
Perhaps the most famous validation of that ancient truth in modern times and an example of pride’s self-destructive inner nature was the collapse of the Nixon administration over the Watergate scandal. Richard Nixon had scored a resounding victory for a second term in the 1972 election, but his pride and that of his chief counsel, Charles W. Colson, brought them down.
I have been re-reading Colson’s best-selling 1976 book “Born Again.” It’s about how his extreme loyalty to Nixon and the “dirty tricks” unleashed against Democrats by people hired by members of the administration resulted in his conviction and ultimate spiritual transformation.