Weekend Wisdom Before the Election

Journalist Tom Brokaw, appearing on the Charlie Rose Show recently, asserted that, "We do not really know the universe of Barak Obama...how he really sees the world."

How interesting. After fifteen years of self-promotion, two years of ceaseless campaigning and overwhelmingly favorable coverage from a worshipful media, how can anyone say, "We do not know Barak Obama"?

This confusion is by design. The entire image-making machinery of the last two decades has been deliberately crafted to prevent clear insight, critical thinking and anything resembling clarity.

In contrast, we have the public crucifixions of Governor Pailin and Joe the Plumber, with the bald-faced lies and subversive activities of Obama operatives glossed over.

There are real issues of substance that are being lost because of the Obama strategies of lying, minor retractions, intimidation and outright thuggery. Consider the following:

On Rev. Jeremiah Wright: In 1995 he was hailed as a mentor, pastor and surrogate father-figure. After 20 years under his tutelage, Obama claims that he never heard the racism and hatred of America in his pastor's messages.

On William Ayers: Obama started his political career in his living room, endorsed his book, served together on boards, and worked on educational and political initiatives (which after millions spent, have achieved nothing to improve Chicago). Today Ayers is "just a professor in the neighborhood."

Other examples of playing fast and loose with the truth can be enumerated, but these two are stark examples of Obama's inability to tell the truth. Perhaps he cannot bear telling himself the truth. How sad. He is so much a product of a post-modern media machine that he actually believes whatever he said five minutes ago, but disregards comments from five days ago!

Here is the propaganda process - introduced by Lenin, systemetized by Goerbbels for Hitler and perfected by megalomaniacs and narcissists everywhere:

Tell an outright lie.

When caught, issue a slight modification and attack your opponents for suggesting you are anything but truthful.

Never address an issue directly, but keep speaking hypnotically on vague themes like "hope" and "change."

Deflect all questions about your associations, but paint your opponent as a lapdog of the previous administration.

Make up your own data when convenient.

Appease the Leftists by emphasizing your radical mentors and being anti-war, while deceiving moderates with chuckles and shrugs about being young once and promising to be wise.

The scary thing about this election is the utter ignorance of most Obama supporters. They are so tired of Bush and so mesmerized by the staging that they will follow lemming-like right off the cliff.

The Bush Vacuum

An Obama presidency is only possible because of the poor leadership of both Bush presidents. The elder Bush's failure to prosecute Gulf War I fully and his flip=flop on taxes ushered in Clinton. Younger Bush made similar mistakes. The present surge should have happened right after the capture of the Iraqi dictator. The Republican failure to reign in spending and seal the borders increased the vacuum of leadership. Their inability to inspire us with their speeches further paved the way for Democratic leaders.

By the way, the same type of vacuum was created by President Jimmy Carter, ushering in Ronald Reagan. After four years of Carter's self-righteous malaise, we were ready for real hope and change!

Is there hope for Tuesday?

Yes! Turn off the TV, study the issues, prepare your ballots and encourage everyone to vote.

Do not believe the propaganda - this is a close race. The newest Obama tactics include intimidation and threats of violence if he loses! They are also acting as if the race is over.

CNN ran a tag line a few days ago, "McCain abandons Colorado." AT THE SAME TIME Palin was speaking to thousands in multiple events! CNN is no longer a news agency - it is a Stalinist arm of the Obama machine and anything they say should be taken with an entire bag of rock salt. Just last night, under "Breaking News" they aired a 30-minute Obama speech! Here is a man with unlimited money getting free air time while McCain keeps his promise on fund-raising as is rarely shown!

If all Values Voters go to the polls, we will have the biggest upset since Truman beat Dewey. In can happen - and will if we are unafraid.

Bedroom, Boardroom and Breakroom

The moral and religious rhetoric is heating up at we approach the election of a new President. McCain's faltering efforts have been reversed by the galvanizing choice of Governor Palin while the glow of Obama's Olympic acceptance speech has been replaced by sarcastic remarks about lipstick and swine.

Stepping back from the rhetoric, I notice that the ideological Left and Right have their visceral values and core concerns that animate the denunciation of enemies and the elucidation of policy. The ability of each side to eschew critical thinking and embrace caricatures is astounding and unfortunate for an electorate that deserves better.

I am committed to "thinking deeply and acting decisively." I think belief and behavior are inseparable and that moral and religious values are not intended to be "privately engaging but publicly irrelevant." (Os Guinness)

As your "Messenger to the Thoughtful" and a friend of all who want to get to the heart of issues, I offer the following critique of the extremists on both sides of the current debate.

There are profound issues to confront and they require examination of the fundamental way we see the world and adjust our moral compass.

The Right tends to take the ethical high horse when it comes to the morals of the bedroom. Conservatives are deeply concerned about the Left's attacks on the sanctity of marriage, the capitulation of public schools to amoral thinking and the collapse of the traditional family.

I agree with conservatives on many of their values; however, their vision is too narrow. The same folks who renounce premarital sex are often mute on CEO compensation of crumbling companies or how we serve the poor who are buffeted by an ineffective welfare system. Conservatives love to tout the "magic of the free market", citing Adam Smith and his "invisible hand" of economic freedom; however, most have not read the whole book. Writing in 1776, Adam Smith spend a large portion of his writings on the personal and social virtues necessary for a capitalist economy to flourish for all facets of society!

The Left loves to denounce the injustices of the Boardroom, excoriating capitalism and forever scheming on how to fulfill the Marxist dictum, "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" without appearing to be Stalinists. The Left is suspicious of business owners, especially successful ones, but they have no problem with illiterate actors making millions manipulating images on a movie screen.

The Left has a different kind of tunnel vision. There is no cohesion on sexual morality, only resignation to Epicurean impulses and vagueness about the fluidity of gender and social mores. The Left wants to affirm that gays are "wired this way" while at the same time allowing individuals complete liberty to choose their gender, regardless of the "gender assigned at birth." (this is an actual phrase in California educational policy!) Money is bad - unless you make it certain ways and give up large portions to government functionaries to distribute to passive recipients.

Both Right and Left claim Jesus of Nazareth as their inspiration. The Right cites the strict moral codes of the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus renounces lustful thinking as well as adulterous behavior. The Left tries to transform "turning the other cheek" into anti-military policy.

Jesus transcends ideological categories and frustrates all who try to place him in a box. He will not be turned into a capitalist or a communist. He unites compassion and conviction, holiness and hope and his words and works are not those of either a CEO or a community organizer - though both can learn from him!

To my conservative friends I issue the challenge of holding business leaders accountable for the "compassionate use of accumulated wealth." To my liberal friends I challenge you to call for high moral standards, expecting more of people than mere impulse control.

The Bedroom and Boardroom matter - perhaps we need to learn to debate real issues in the Breakroom and find common cause as we battle ignorance, poverty, racism, sexism and the violence that dominates this planet.

McCandidate Meets Megalomania

As I observe the current presidential race, I am appalled at the dearth of discourse and surplus of superficiality that pervade the public square. We have serious issues to confront - ecology and economics, immigration and international policies, and a growing nanny state that wants to control our lives from prenatal care to permissive euthanasia. 

None of the serious economic or political issues seem to matter as our first post-American candidate runs for benevolent despot of the planet and his opponent is paralyzed because he is not able to play the maverick against his conservative base. We have a McCandidate in McCain who seems to love our country, but have no visceral convictions that will propel him to oppose the messianic aspirations of the least-experienced and least-qualified person to run for office since General Harrison in 1840.

The press seems more concerned with Obama's antiperspirant than his weather-vane statements of foreign policy and conviction that he will be dealing with the leaders he is meeting for "the next eight to ten years." I guess Barak Hussein Obama is planning on becoming El Presidente for Life by the end of his second term. After all, shouldn't we all be learning Spanish?

Meanwhile Senator McCain, who at least has a real voting record and reasonable abilities, cannot seem to find the guts to defend America from a man who will accelerate our national descent into dependency. 

It is time to drill for oil AND develop new energy sources. It is time to balance a budget, thus strengthening the dollar AND prosecute the war on terror more intelligently. It is time to seal our borders AND welcome all legal immigrants with open arms. It is time to make English the national language AND teach other languages in elementary schools (and perhaps graduate students able to read and write). It is time to call for personal responsibility AND regulate the mortgage industry more thoroughly. By the way, even the most negative statistics have 99.5% of homeowners still in their homes.

Barak Obama is dangerous to the future of our nation. He can not even recite the facts of his own upbringing clearly and his outright lies about his own on-the-record policy statements are cause for deep concern. He does not love America for what is best about her. Obama loves his vision of America - a semi-socialist, world-accountable, Leviathan where enlightened Harvard graduates guide the masses (especially the gun-toting religious ones) into a New World Order just like the EU.  Obama the person and Obama the political product are indistinguishable.

John McCain must find the fire again, the courage to confront and and the decisiveness to declare that the USA has been held hostage long enough and it is time to reclaim our first principles of life and liberty. Obama calls for sacrifice for the world's poor - McCain must call the dictators of developing nations to account. Obama tells us that we must step out of our cars and into mass transit - McCain can invite a new era of American ingenuity. Obama promises trillions in government programs - McCain must promise to cut trillions of waste from future budgets. 

The Boomer generation has seen our national debt increase ninefold in 40 years. Our savings are nil and our economic engines are lubricated with investors who care nothing for our values. We have, in the ancient prophet's words, "sown to the wind and reaped the whirlwind." Our material and sexual indulgence emboldens radical Islam even as it dulls our spiritual and political senses. We must not be the victims of Al Gore's paganism or the materialism of rapacious multinational corporations. 

There is still time to see our nation go "back to the future" by recovering our values and vision. We can have economic growth that is environmentally sensitive. We can make cars more efficient without creating a nation of mass transit drones. We can be generous to a needy world while making sure our own poor are cared for. We can call for personal responsibility by urban dads while ending redlining and stimulating local economies. We can recover moral responsibility without theocratic intolerance. 

How to vote in the fall? I will vote by default for the least dangerous candidate while putting all my efforts toward moral and spiritual renewal of people and communities who care about our future. I ask you to join me in recovering our best history and hope. There are more Trumans and Eisenhowers yet to be discovered. Truman fought Communism; Eisenhower warned about the "military-industrial complex." Both presidents pushed Civil Rights forward while affirming traditional moral values. These men teach us how to argue about our differences while building on our common interests. 

Join me in the opportunity of our lifetime...

Common Sense 2008

"These are the times that try men's souls..." Thomas Paine penned these words in his famous tract. Common Sense. This broadside was published in the bitter winter of 1776 as the American Revolution appeared to be over before it had really begun. Victories in battle were not forthcoming, and volunteer solders were nearing the end of their enlistments. 

Paine's stirring words to the general populace and to the fighting units rallied enough folks to keep the Revolution alive and the cause of liberty moving forward. Paine excoriated the "sunshine soldier" and the civilians whose patriotism adjusted itself to the tides of battle. He called for commitment. He called for courage. He called Americans to realize the epoch-making moment they were creating. 

I do not have the eloquence of Thomas Paine, but I am just as passionate about the historical crossroads faced by our society. If the (apparently) moral majority of California do not rise up in November and pass the Marriage Amendment, we may find ourselves ruled by a small cabal of people who despise the values we stand for and who ultimately want to destroy the liberties our Founders and forefathers labored to endow to us. 

The Marriage Amendment is not about intolerance toward gays and lesbians - it is about defining the most important unit of social cohesion known to humankind. 

The Marriage Amendment is not about creating a theocracy - it is about democracy rooted in a virtuous citizenry committed to family.

The Marriage Amendment is not about Civil Rights - you can not give rights to a chosen lifestyle.

The Marriage Amendment IS about recovering personal responsibility - a commitment sorely lacking for past five decades.

The Marriage Amendment IS about our future. For the past 40 years we have been told that we must limit family size and that the world will not hold up under the strain of overpopulation. Our materialism, narcissism and misplaced idealism are bequeathing a tragic destiny - we are not replacing ourselves! As economic conditions have improved, populations stabilize. This is good. There are, however,  unforeseen consequences to the erosion of traditional values and the increases in abortion rates. Our current Boomer generation has not produced enough offspring to support them in their old age.

The Marriage Amendment is not a single-issue statement, but a doorway for us to reconsider what values will build our future. With much of the world in need of basic necessities, why are we consumed with consuming, with shopping as a recreational sport? We give our children iPods, but they do not know our Constitution. We drive $40K cars, but will not help our school teachers with supplies. We expect the government to bail out our poor financial decisions, but we are not giving our children a good breakfast so they go to class ready to learn.

It is time for some 2008 Common Sense.

Less self-regulation means more government regulation.

We may defend the concept of marriage, but if lust and pride divide husbands and wives, our efforts are only symbolic and self-defeating.

Conservatives are compassionate and generous with their own money, while liberal policies seek governmental redistribution. Why not transcend this difference with personal sacrifice and sound fiscal policy? 

We can not have all the "guns and butter" we want. Fighting terrorism requires lean, mobile forces ready to strike. We will not, however, win the hearts of non-Western nations if we are perceived as a colonizing force. This "off-book" war is a trillion-dollar bill for future generations. The answer is NOT "cut and run" but careful strategic steps to prepare us for the long-term.

Common sense. We can drill for oil selectively AND explore alternatives, with generous tax incentives. We can build a new nuclear plant while hastening the day when no uranium will be needed. We can balance a budget with caps on spending and eliminating waste - if we have the courage.

Common sense. We can defend traditional marriage without oppressing adults who choose different arrangements.

We can support Israel while searching for real leaders who want peace. As soon as a radical leader (like Sadat in 1978) will acknowledge Israel's right to exist in peace, there will be hope.

We will not always be popular with the global elitists who want to put America in her place and force us to submit to "world opinion" (actually the opinion of a few arrogant, wealthy folks who think they know better than the rest of us). 

We can seal our borders and construct "Ellis Island"-style Welcome Centers in California, Arizona and Texas to welcome LEGAL immigrants.

We can improve our local public schools by holding BOTH parents and school administrators responsible for student improvement.

We can reduce teen drug use, pregnancy and other social challenges for young people by introducing a simple notion back into the public square: a moral conscience. We are so afraid of any shame we have forgotten that some sense of responsibility is a moral necessity. When an unmarried teen is pregnant, she and her companion must be called to account - AND helped with compassion and financial support. Young men in particular must be held accountable for their actions.

Common sense. Will we find it is time?

Political Morality

The recent California Supreme Court Decision to support gay marriage is an arrogant exercise in expedience that threatens the foundations of civilized society.

I do not need to resort to histrionics or homophobia - here are the clear issues.

One: No civilization or culture in the history of humankind has ever given equal status to homosexual unions.

Two: there is no incontrovertible proof of a genetic disposition to homosexuality.

Three: Civil Rights are a subset of natural rights - protecting the freedom of people who have no choice about their gender or race.

Four: The radical activists have a visceral hatred for what they see as "heterosexist oppression" and their strategy is to destroy the traditional family and substitute it with government control.

Five: If you are a traditional family man or woman and later "come out" as gay or lesbian, the world celebrates your "discovery." But woe to the gay man or lesbian woman who wants to change - any therapist encouraging such change is subject to professional sanction!

Six: Gay/Lesbian radicals must actively recruit through schools and the media in order to swell their ranks of adherents. They often talk of the fluidity of gender and contrast the "gender assigned at birth" with the chosen lifestyle of later years. Granting Civil Rights to current chosen behavior flies in the face of the universal principles that secure real liberty!

Seven: We are creating generations of confused, narcissistic, and self-destructive people. It is one thing not to prosecute private adult behavior - it is quite another to promote identities and lifestyles that ultimately destroy our future.

Eight: We must decide what actions we are going to permit, prohibit and promote as a nation. Where do we draw the line? How young is too young for "marriage"? How many partners? The California "Supremes" have undermined the unique place of heterosexual monogamy - we now have no standard except the one we "feel" at the moment!

The current (justifiable) outrage at the polygamous cult in Texas reveals a core morality we share: 1) it is wrong to have more than one marriage partner; 2) It is wrong for adults to have sexual relations with minors; and 3) not any family setup is acceptable.

It is morally inconsistent to promote gay/lesbian unions as equal to traditional ones while condemning another group's moral universe!

Here is Insight Nine: The deeper subversion behind the Supremes' decision is the destruction of any religious foundations to morality and another blow to the Judeo-Christian consensus that is the bedrock of law for 400+ years in the West. 

If the Texas group has been a gay-lesbian-transgender new age/pagan/secular commune in the California mountains, outrage would last a day and be forgotten. Eventually the leaders would be the subject of term papers in "gay studies" courses at prestigious universities!

The Texas cult must be shut down and the children given all the help we can muster. The leaders should be prosecuted for statutory rape. 

Throughout history, consenting adults have privately chosen to depart from social norms. When the exceptions become the rules, the collapse of civilization is inevitable.

Please note that I have not quoted religious documents or party platforms. There is no need - thoughtful people will see through the agendas and vote to amend the California Constitution in November. 

Get involved in making sure that the California Constitution recognizes the inherent value of rightly-defined marriage - a monogamous, lifetime union between one man and one woman.