By Michael Brooks
The Selma Times-Journal

President Roosevelt chose a White House room for his command center during World War II. It’s known as the Map Room since he had battle maps on the walls. How interesting that President Clinton would choose this room for his address to the nation on Aug. 17, 1998 in which he admitted he’d had an improper relationship with an intern. His speech is called the Map Room speech.

Most Americans indicated they wanted to hear Clinton sincerely apologize and make no excuses for his behavior. Those polled afterwards, however, thought the president was angry, blamed others and was not truly sorry.

Clinton chose not to give the speech written for him since he thought it was “groveling,” choosing instead to write his own speech and tinker with it until just before air time.

His speech fell flat, so the president spent the next three weeks apologizing further at every venue.

It’s interesting to put the two speeches side-by-side and compare.

I’d not known until lately that the author of the first speech was political strategist Robert Shrum. Shrum’s 2007 book, “No Excuses–Confessions of a Serial Campaigner,” tells of the numerous mayoral, senatorial and presidential campaigns he’s worked on.

Shrum is a pretty good wordsmith. He gave Sen. Lloyd Bentsen a line used to devastating effect in the 1988 vice-presidential debate between Senators Bentsen and Quayle: “Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”

In 1998 Shrum seemed rightly to gauge the mood of the American people who wanted the president to come clean and accept responsibility.

Some historians say impeachment would’ve fallen flat had the president delivered Shrum’s speech rather than his own draft.

I think Mr. Shrum’s instincts about what Americans wanted to hear 10 years ago is akin to what God wants to hear from us!

The scripture says, “Therefore repent and turn back, that your sins may be wiped out . . .” (Acts 3:19, HCSB).

Repentance is actually a military term akin to the order “about face!” That is, true repentance means turning away from our destination and traveling in a new direction of obedience. Biblical repentance doesn’t seek justification for wrong by blaming others. Biblical repentance is concerned only with ourselves and the poor choices we made.

John the Baptist told his hearers to repent and refused to baptize them until their lives demonstrated change (Matthew 3:8). The Bible is clear that repentance and obedience go hand-in-glove.

In order to truly know God, we must have a “Map Room” moment with him–at least in the sense of the original speech.