Keep Us Free

Looks Like It's Obama - Be Afraid

The Democratic National Convention just concluded their meeting of the rules and bylaws committee.  They have determined to seat all delegates from Michigan and Florida giving each delegate a half vote.  This essentially hands the nomination to Barak Obama.  However, Harold Ickes concluded his remarks by saying that Clinton has authorized him to take this issue all the way to the August convention in Denver.

Anyone old enough to remember 1968?

Obama is the most liberal, the most socialist, and the most  anti-liberty candidate in the race.  And, unless he completely derails between now and then, stands the greatest chance (between he and Clinton) of beating McCain.

The Virtue of Responsibility

For nearly four centuries men, women, and children have sailed, flown, and walked to America driven by one primary impulse: The pursuit of liberty.

For much of this time these dreaming, idealist pioneers believed that in this sweet land of liberty they would have an unprecedented opportunity to succeed in life beyond the wildest dreams of their ancestors in their motherlands.  They also understood the other reality, that liberty afforded them just as much opportunity to ruin their lives and the lives of others as it did to succeed.  These pioneers knew that any success, prosperity, and happiness they would realize in this new land would be fully their responsibility.  They understood that their quality of life here would be closely proportionate to the degree that they assumed responsibility for that quality of life.  There would be no king to ride in and rescue them from their foolish choices.  And they were willing to take that risk because they also understood that unquestioning allegiance and subservience is the price one pays for a king's protection.

Much has changed since the first anchors were dropped into the shallow waters off our coast lands.  Our society has grown complex.  Our age as a civilization reveals both the glory of our achievements and and the scars of our treachery.  Men and women have succeeded in living good lives beyond what their ancestors could have imagined.  But men and women have also succeeded in ruining their own lives and the lives of others.

Amidst this complexity, our battling politicians entertain us with almost daily conversations and debates about the extent to which government should intervene to ensure our happiness by protecting us from ourselves.  Perhaps it's an appropriate time for us to think deeply about our future and ask ourselves some serious questions.

Do we desire to remain a free people?  How free do we wish to remain?  Is there value to be found in the possibility of a ruined life - be it through failing to wear a motorcycle helmet or seat belt, eating too many trans-fats, or drowning ourselves in debt we can't afford - in that such a possibility drives us to make wise choices rather than foolish ones?  Or would we prefer to settle for the existence of perpetual social childhood under the watchful eye of a nanny government that will extricate us from every self-imposed difficulty - at a massive price.

From the mills to the corporate boardroom to the Underground Railroad, America was built with the strong backs, courage, and sharp minds of men and women who dreamed of a preferred future for them and their neighbors, and then risked everything to create it with neither government incentive nor interference.  Our future as Americans still affords us the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  But it is your life to live.  It is your liberty that must be cherished and defended with both ballots and bullets.  And the pursuit of happiness is your pursuit to undertake.

The Civil Virtue of Engagement

The Associated Press released a story recently about the growing tendency of young adults to disengage from the news. The Pew Research Center conducted a survey in 2006 which indicated that 27 percent of Americans age 18 to 29 hadn't gotten news the day before from any source, including newspapers, television, radio, or the Internet.

In explaining their disconnect, some of the respondents spoke of weariness with the sheer volume of news that is available, lack of time, lack of interest, and disgust with the ways in which the news often focuses on the dark side of humanity.

It's true that we are the most news-saturated generation to ever live. We are surrounded by it 24 hours a day in formats and through media that our predecessors could never have imagined. And it is likewise true that there is much in the news, in both content and delivery, to elicit disgust and frustration

On the surface, it may seem self-serving for a newspaper to extol the virtue of being engaged with the news. And self-serving it would be if news were nothing more than a product packaged and sold for a profit.

However, news is much more than mere words on a page, voices in the air or pictures on a screen. What we find in today's news are the reverberations of yesterday's choices, decisions and actions. What we agonize over, debate and act upon today will bear offspring in tomorrow's headlines. And tomorrow's headlines will reveal to us if today's actions were right or wrong, and offer us another opportunity to act differently.

Amidst all of their reasonable explanations for disengaging from the news, these young adults can discover an alluring invitation to write the future chapters of our civilization, if they will look more deeply. To do this well, they must be men and women who understand the times and know what we, as a people, should do to prevent our story from becoming a tragedy.

This requires that they gain an understanding of the dynamics of life in today's world. And it necessitates that they be attentive to history, gleaning wisdom from the headlines of past generations and applying that wisdom to the unique context in which we find ourselves today.

In so doing, they can become more than mere consumers of news, but informed, intelligent makers of news with the power to guide the generations behind them.

"President of the World?"

I'm watching the televised proceedings of the Democratic rules and bylaws committee on CNN.  They are meeting to reach a resolution to the problem of the Florida and Michigan delegates.  At this moment, Arthenia Joyner from Florida, a Clinton supporter, is screaming at the committee all of the reasons that the Florida delegates must be seated at the convention.  She just made two statements that show the mentality that undermines and threatens our liberty.

She was speaking about her privilege of being able to personally meet the candidates, look them in the eye, and ask them the question, "What are you going to do to solve our problems?"

This is an underlying problem in America.  We have become a country that looks to our government to solve problems.  This is not the historic role of the federal government.  The America that was once great was an America in which THE PEOPLE found solutions to their own problems free form the intervention and interference of the government.  We have abdicated personal responsibility, creativity, and innovation to Washington D.C. when it should be flowing freely in our streets, homes, and marketplaces.

The second statement she made was something along the lines of the Democratic nominee being the next - pay attention here - "President of the free world!"  Umm, Mrs. Joyner, the person elected in November will be the president of the United States of America, not the free world.  However, your statement does betray your ideal of the power and reach of the federal government into our lives and the lives of our global neighbors, a reach that would have caused the framers of our constitution to shudder.

Will Somebody Please Awaken the Giant?

Hello… Excuse me… Ahem. I beg your pardon, but would somebody please rouse the sleeping giant? No, I’m sorry. I wasn’t clear. I don’t mean the mighty military this time. I was referring to the giant formerly known as “the people.”

Hello Sleepyhead. Aside from a few occasional disturbances after which you quickly drifted back into your dreams, I know it’s been fairly quiet. I don’t blame you for your slumber. But you need to know that something dreadful happened while you slept. Your country was stolen from you. Yeah, you missed that. You probably have a distant memory of the days in which your nation was governed by you and your neighbors. I think they still talk about that in history class, although I’m not really sure. Well, you need to know that things have changed.

There are two parties who have taken over the system and seized control of your life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. The fabric of both parties is woven with threads of special interest, corporate interest, and self-interest. Meanwhile you seem to have lost interest. Therefore, they have lost interest in you.

Some of us have been talking and are wondering what has happened to your soul. You know, the soul that once refused to tolerate a long train of government abuses and usurpations of your liberty, even if it cost you your life. We recall your soul when it was one that would not hesitate to stand up and say, “enough,” when others attempted to control your destiny. You used to not back down from a fight when your way of life was under assault. Though you were never blameless, out of your soul used to flow an ethic of hard work, personal responsibility, ingenuity, creativity, and concern for one another, all of which flourished in the fertile soil of freedom that you claimed for yourself.

Well, if you’re up for it, we could sure use you. The constrictor-like grip of the controlling parties can’t be broken without you. In fact, I fear that we will eventually be irreparably crushed. So I plead with you. Wipe the sleep from your eyes. Allow the convictions of your ancestors to restore your soul. And pledge to one another your lives, your fortunes, and your sacred honor in a renewed determination to be free people. Now is a good time for another party. If you’re interested, let me know. I’ll bring the tea.