Green Cool-Aid

Soft-drink companies spend millions in R&D and market research to find the perfect color, taste and image for their beverages. When I was a child, you could choose Coke or Pepsi and maybe "Tab" diet soda if you wanted cola. There was "Tang" (the astronauts drink it!) for the orange-color set and, for every class party and scouting troop, the ubiquitous "Kool-Aid." (OK, remember "Fizzie" tablets?). 

Today, we are overwhelmed with choices in every drink category. Even Coke has multiple formulas for every palate and nutritional fad.

In 1979, however, a tragic identification with propaganda and a soft-drink entered our vocabulary. The horrific mass suicide of the Jonestown followers of Jim Jones involved drinking poisoned Kool-Aid. Every since that moment, pundits have used the soft-drink as a euphemism for blind followers swayed by empty promises and deceived by a dynamic leader. "Drinking the kool-aid" has become a metaphor for blindly following the manipulations of of deceitful leaders.

We are watching a large part of the American electorate drink political poison as Senator Obama wows the crowds on the campaign trail. While Obama has recently distanced himself from some of the unsavory comments of his friends and mentors (former Weathermen Underground terrorists and Afrocentric racist religious leaders), he remains the darling of the Left and the hope of America's enemies abroad.

Let's assume that Obama is sincere in his profession of Christianity, his denunciation of Rev. Wright's anti-patriotic and racist rhetoric and that his patriotism that is so deep he does not need to wear a flag on his lapel. Let's also assume that his wife's incendiary comments about America were overly-enthusiastic campaigning. The "green kool-aid" is still being dispensed. Consider the following facts about Obama:

Fact: He has never been poor and has lived a life of relative privilege. Any racism has been minimal and his rise to prominence rivals any white candidate. Yes, he experienced a broken home - just like nearly half of American children. 

Fact: he has almost no real world experience in business or even in law. "Community Activism" is hardly reality when it comes to understanding the needs of most Americans.

Fact: He cannot bring himself to give unequivocal support for Israel or place an necessary preconditions on negotiations with nations and organizations dedicated to the destruction of Israel, and, in the long run, the USA as well.

Fact: He knows nothing about economics, limited government or the real dynamics of delivering goods and services. 

Fact: He is no better or worse that other politicians who have unsavory friends and supporters. What makes Obama distinct is his refusal to engage in any real discussion of his associations or issues that he cannot control.

Fact: Obama has no immigration or NAFTA policies. He is proclaiming the current situation broken while winking at leaders on our northern and southern borders.

Fact: Obama is a brilliant orator in the tradition of JFK and RFK. Contrary to recent comments by Geraldine Ferraro, I think Obama would be successful regardless of his color - the populace is eager for something fresh.

If Obama actually believes all of his rhetoric, he is naively being manipulated by a variety of global forces: EU leaders, global capitalists, leftists who want to see the America humbled and even dismembered and Arabs who believe he is still secretly a Muslim. Obama's comments one year ago that his middle name helps him understand Muslims cannot be squared with the current campaign kool-aid that any mention of Hussein is inflammatory. 

Senator, change your name and change your tune and we might believe you.

"Please Destroy Our Freedom"

The Archbishop of Canterbury advocates grafting facets of Islamic Shari'a Law onto the vine of English Law.

Former President Clinton counsels that the USA needs to "slow down our economy to save the planet."

Arab leaders and the Mad Mullahs of Iran are breathing murderous threats against Israel, in spite of Israel's continual concessions of land for peace.

Democratic Presidential candidates proclaim that they can solve all the intractable domestic  and international issues through revivalistic sloganeering and appeals to "change."

A well-respected professor is denied tenure for suggesting that the Universe may be intelligently designed instead of randomly arranged. 

Conservatives are urged to "forget" the Reagan era, change their heart-felt convictions and gleefully back an "inevitable" nominee.

The latest federal budget over more than $3 trillion dollars still manages to have a 12% deficit. Anyone advocating spending restraint is "starving the children."

"Family" is being redefined, one state at a time - even though no civilization in history has ever defined marriage and family in other than traditional terms.

Democrats and Republicans look the other way on immigration, NAFTA superhighways and economic competition from Europe and Asia.

Personal character - especially marital and sexual fidelity - is labelled "irrelevant" if a leader has "competence" and "vision."

Freedom is now defined as almost unrestrained personal behavior - any objections are seen as "judgmental."

What has happened?

When did morality, truth, virtue and practical work stop being important?

Why is the federal government the answer to local problems?

When did infidelity and immorality become "just private behavior"?

When did we forget that government money is our money?

What we are watching is national self-destruction, one foolish accommodation at a time. 

The erosion of truth and virtue is no longer gradual and imperceptible. It is now a torrent of fatalistic nihilism that will open the door to global totalitarianism unless thoughtful and virtue-loving people intervene.

How do we start? Three steps begin the long journey home to personal and national sanity and stability:

First, each of us must take personal responsibility for our lives and hear the call of conscience to add good to the world every day.

Second, we must affirm that their is real good and real evil in the world. A man recently confronted my condemnation of terrorism with the notion, "Well, we have to understand why some people are terrorists." It sounds so good until we realize that the terrorist leaders threatening our nation and Israel are not just members of the impoverished "Arab Street" but well-educated, well-financed radicals with a thirst for blood and a callous willingness to send the naive to their deaths. This is evil, pure and simple.

Third, we must reaffirm the principles of our Founders - limited government and maximum personal virtue; common moral norms and freedom of religion and the importance of local and state governments to be prudent and wise.

Our reckless moral and political behavior is saying to the extremists - religious zealots and secular elites alike - "Please destroy our freedom - all we ask is that your do it in HD and that we each can play video games while a civilization collapses."

It is time to fight - not with IED's, but integrity. We fight with reason and urgency, not fear and threats. 

A better future is ours to create - one wise decision at a time.

Love is Action

In this election year we will hear much of the candidate's love for America and all her people. Hillary Clinton's New Hampshire tears, Barak Obama's eloquent appeals for a new way forward, John McCain's constant reminders of his military service and Mitt Romney's apple pie appeals all speak of their love for the USA. Such rhetoric and sentiments are good, but real love - the love that compassionately puts others first and sacrificially looks to the next generation's good - only counts if there is ACTION. 

I have yet to hear a single policy proposal from any Democratic candidate. I hear what needs to be fixed and I hear vague comments on health care, taxes and war, but there is nothing concrete except visceral hatred for the current President or philosophical platitudes. No one is willing to confront the tough issues of how we pay for our promises and the administrative incapacities of an over-bloated federal government. An ancient writer once encouraged his readers, "...[L]et us not love in word or tongue, but in deed and truth." In other words, what we DO proves the genuineness of our love. 

On the Republican side, I hear more policy substance, but it is still disjointed and needs cohesion and inspiration. Aggressive pursuit of terrorists, lower taxes and immigration reform must be balanced by clear goals, spending restraints and secure borders. There must be new, creative private/public partnerships to rebuild our physical and governmental infrastructure. We need to decentralize and re-empower state and local governments to deliver services in more efficient and humane fashion than Washington. 

Both sides must appeal to the personal responsibilities and virtues that are incumbent upon all citizens of a free society. The paradox of liberty is the self-discipline it demands!

Over three hundred years ago, there was a great debate over the nature of freedom and the role of government. This debate provided some of the principles our Founders affirmed as they created the American Constitution. 

One one side stood Thomas Hobbes, author the famous work, Leviathan and a cynic about human freedom. He believed that humankind needed the firm hand of a strong, controlling, monarchical government. Left to themselves, people were basically animals and needed taming!

On the other side was John Locke, the father of liberty, who believed that the government's primary job was to protect the natural rights of all citizens to life, liberty and property. This is not libertarianism, for Locke affirmed the necessity of personal virtue and the moral foundations of law. 

Our Founders leaned toward Locke, but Hobbes has always been in the background! 

Love is action - wise, practical service for the common good. One of the great actions our federal government could pursue is divesting itself of so much administrative duty and refocusing on creating the conditions that maximize freedom and opportunity, while holding those in power accountable to the virtues that make us great. 

Love means health care for all - but not a single-payer program run by a new generation of middle-class bureaucrats who majored in government in college.

Love means excellent education for all - administered locally to standards determined by states in line with overall principles that prepare our children for 21st century life. This is education in partnership with families, not in place of them.

Love means welcoming immigrants - legally and safely - and making sure the English language and American citizenship is in view for those who wish to live here permanently and reap the benefits of our freedoms.

Love means caring for the most vulnerable - from conception to coronation - by welcoming children and giving dignity to the dying instead of destroying life in the birth canal and suggesting that people have a duty to die.

Love means receiving life as a gift and not playing God with the elements of life. Love means healing disease without trying to clone perfection.

Love means confronting terrorism with moral rectitude and social justice as well as military power and political strategies.

Love means mentoring a new generation in its stewardship of resources - not with a mindset of fear and scarcity, but one of abundance and wisdom. There are enough resources for everyone to live well, if we decide that the welfare of all is a worthy goal.

Love means a return to the "first principles" of life and liberty rooted in truth and virtue. Unrestrained license or theocratic totalitarianism are not options for free people!

Hopefully one or more of our candidates will present a vision that calls for love in action. Let's demand deeds along with declarations, works along with words. Only then can the great potential of our nation be realized. 

The Audacity of Honesty

It is election season! Oh my, the promises that are being made and the visions that are being cast - it is all about CHANGE! We can change America, we can heal the world! We can bring back jobs, find Osama bin Laden, stimulate the economy, provide health care for all and balance the budget! "A vote for me is a vote for change! I will clean up Washington. I will expose pork-barrel spenders. I will fix Social Security. I will...I will..."

The 2008 election is the first one since 1952 to have no former President or Vice-President running. It is wide open and the exaggerations, hyperbole, image-making and remaking and outright lying has begun.

For the Democrats, we have a fresh-faced idealist promising change and offering no actual proposals for how it would happen. We have an angry senator opposing him with "experience" but no real policy proposals. On the other side we have some pragmatists with the beginnings of policy but little charisma and populists with no explanation of how their competing ideas work together.

None of this is new. Politicians tell us what we want to hear and hope we will elect them by conviction ("I like her/him!) or default ("Well, the opponent is worse!").

What makes 2008 different is the sum of serious issues that must be confronted and the need to present a compelling, positive vision of the future. We found out in 1980 that we do not want a schoolmaster telling us about "malaise". We want to hear again that it is "morning in America" and "our best days are ahead."

Here are the daunting tasks the future President and Congress must confront:

• Continuing the war on terror in a way that keeps the USA from being an occupying power while being able to hit targets quickly and effectively.
  
• Balancing the budget so the dollar is strengthened and we can have some authority in negotiating fair trade policies with other nations.
  
• Honestly confronting the reality that Social Security is a shell game and a new solution for future retirees is needed.
• Developing a humane and strong immigration policy that secures the borders, reduces crime and places all potential residents on an equal footing.
• Creating environmental policies that do not cripple our economy and subject us to world standards that others manage to skirt.
• Rebuilding the infrastructure created in the 1930s to 1950s through private/public partnerships. Our bridges, dams, levees, and roads all need attention. 
• Decentralizing as many services as possible by remembering the 9th and 10th Amendments and reinvigorating local and state government. Not every solution has to come through Washington - especially when it involves education, social services and business stimulation!
• Rediscovering our moral and spiritual center without secular or theocratic ideology muddying the waters. A virtuous citizenry is a free citizenry. Moral ambiguity produces self-centered people who feel they are owed something. Abortion, health care, education and retirement are important things, but they are not "inalienable rights."

As the campaigning continues, listen to the actual policies and see if any candidates are willing to confront this combination of issues head-on. 

We need inspiration, but it in going to take principled perspiration to move forward to a better future.

Joy to the World!

In the midst of all the ideological and theological battles raging around us, Christmas opens our eyes to the wonder of:

• The fact that there is a cosmos, a universe, a planet custom made for us. Were we thankful today for our breath of life?
  
• The hope that is renewed in our hearts in the midst of winter's storms.
• The love we enjoy with family and friends.
• The Christmas Story that actually proclaims (in the words of G.K. Chesterton), "Glory to God in the Lowest!" One of the names given to Jesus in the Gospel According to St. Matthew is Immanuel - literally translated, "The With-Us-God." 
• The thought that Christmas is the narrative of holy humility, of the Creator condescending to become a flesh-and-blood part of our story. 
• Our universal and unquenchable desire for peace - in our own souls and among all nations.
• Millions of ordinary people pausing this Season and doing extraordinary works of service for those who can not return the favor.
• The macrocosmic beauty of galaxies and mountain peaks and the microcosmic intricacies of a single cell. Such Design evokes reverence for the Designer.
• The freedom we have in the nation to debate about and live with our deepest differences while forging a common bond of virtue.

Let's take several moments to enjoy the wonders of Creation,  Christmas and laughing children. Perhaps in these moments we will find the courage to embrace the future with the faith, hope and love of Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Charlie, Kathy, Michael, Charlotte and Christopher Self