Dear Senators,
One of the most important powers that our Founding Fathers vested into the Presidency was the power to establish and manage relationships with foreign powers. That power specifically includes the negotiation of treaties between our nation and foreign nations. But that power is not unlimited. Indeed, our Constitution specifically ensures that international treaties must be ratified by 2/3 of the Senate. This power ensures that the President cannot conduct foreign affairs without the overwhelming consent of the most deliberative body in our legislature. Just as importantly, the power of the Senate flows from the citizens of each state. Hence, all treaties must have the overwhelming approval of the states (and their representatives).
Given these facts, I implore you to carefully consider whether or not you will support the most recent nuclear arms treaties between the US and Russia. I have been a voting citizen for more than thirty (30) years. And in that time, we have lived under constant threat by foreign powers – including Russia. But throughout that time, we have been protected because our adversaries knew that we could and would use unimaginable force in response to direct attacks upon our nation. Indeed, our entire defense posture has been based upon the fact that our adversaries didn’t know if their actions might provoke an irrevocable response. The fear of such a response was the deterrent against direct hostile action.
However, this new treaty threatens the delicate balancing act that protects us. This treaty (and the policy delivered in association to the treaty) threaten us because we are going on record saying how and when we will respond. Indeed, the basis of the new policies seems to be that we will not respond (with our nuclear force) even in the face of chemical or biological assaults on our nation.
I’m a simple person. And if a bully knows you won’t respond to an assault, then that bully is more apt to assault you. Indeed, bullies (and tin-pot dictators) only respond to force and threats of force. In fact, most military scholars note that Europe might have avoided the Second World War altogether had European nations met the challenge of Adolph Hitler with force rather than weakness. Neville Chamberlain was wrong then. Let’s not try and repeat the mistakes that he made – especially when the possibility of unimaginable death tolls are a potential outcome. Look at what a small group of terrorists did to New York City and to the nation’s capital using two airplanes and several tanks of jet fuel. Consider the kind of civilian death toll that an emboldened terrorist group might be able to generate using NBC capabilities.
As a citizen who is counting upon the US government to protect myself and my family against all threats, I implore you to vote against this ill-advised treaty/policy.
Sincerely,
Lorin Olsen
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7
Category: Social Sciences
Contract With Americans + Fanning the Embers
Re: Global warning – on recess, late to return to class
| Lorin Olsen <cyclingroo@gmail.com> | Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 9:39 AM | |
| To: <Addresses suppressed> | ||
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Is Anybody There? Does Anybody Care?
Senator Sam Brownback
Senator Pat Roberts
As a concerned citizen of the state of Kansas and the United States, I am horrified by the US Senate’s proposed health care legislation. I cannot fully define all of the problems that I believe are built into this legislative leviathan. But here are some of my major challenges:
1. This bill supports the creation of a federal bureaucracy in the health care sector of our economy. And while I do favor ensuring that US citizens are never w/o catastrophic health care, I cannot support any plan that expands government control of the health care industry. There are several reasons for my concerns:
a) I have read the Constitution many times. And the 10th Amendment is clear: the federal government has no powers that are not specifically articulated in the Constitution itself. And I see no clauses in the Constitution that empower the federal government to ever regulate the health care industry. And while I do recognize the Supreme Court’s authority to interpret the Constitution, where can they find such powers? In a mythical penumbra of powers given Congress in the commerce clauses? This is an absurd exaggeration of what our Founding Fathers intended.
b) Apart from defense spending, the government does not have any kind of a proven track-record in these areas. At the same time, the government has proven to be a sub-optimal player in health care (witness the VA and Medicare).
2. This bill will further exacerbate an already uncontrollable (and fiscally irresponsible) expansion of the national debt. I know I can’t afford to pay more taxes – unless I stop buying anything but essentials. Of course, such reductions in spending will only further deflate the economy. Worse still, this bill will imperil the future of my four children and my one grandchild. Finally, it is positively obscene that this bill would collect taxes for years even before a single penny is spent for currently uninsured citizens. Is this because the program is not self-funding? And if it isn’t, what happens in the second decade when there isn’t any surplus remaining?
3. While the current bill has not been finalized, there is no way that we should consider extending health care to people that are here illegally. I support relaxed immigration. But I can’t understand why we want to spend tens (if not hundreds) of billions of dollars to provide health care to criminals who violate our laws. The utter hypocrisy of such a situation is unfathomable.
4. I am horrified that even one penny of my income would ever go to fund the unconscionable murder of unborn children. I won’t belabor a thoroughly noxious debate. But I cannot imagine the government forcibly taking my income to kill innocent children. By not supporting the funding restrictions of the House bill (i.e., the Stupak amendment), you will be forcing me to commit what I believe is murder. This is a fundamental change to our system of compassionate governance.
With these and many more things in mind, I urge you to vote against even considering this piece of legislation. From my perspective, such a step would vacate our claim that we are a nation founded upon the motto “In God We Trust.”
Sincerely
Lorin Olsen
Realtime Reporting Is Evolving…
…towards realtime collaboration. And the transition is exciting.
Yesterday was a busy day at work. It’s the busy time of year in the tax preparation business. And I’m always multitasking: planning for next year’s systems, supporting systems we’ve deployed this year, and consulting on systems that are experiencing trouble at any given moment.
But even on busy days, there is time to multitask on other matters. I knew that the Republican National Committee was holding their election for the new committee chairman. And I really wanted to watch what was happening – in realtime. As someone who uses social media as an avocation, I knew that there were ways of getting realtime feeds of data. I did a little checking and found that three or four of my favorite commentators were live-blogging the event. So I was quite excited.
I remember when I used to go to state conventions and state committee meetings. That was quite a while ago. When I used to attend, there really were smoke-filled rooms. Of course, many had smoke in them because I used to smoke a pipe. But that’s a different story… In the past, only an annointed few individuals were privvy to the rooms where important decisions were made. If you were lucky, an enterprising reporter might post a story in a local paper. And a few folks could get telephone updates from friends who were at the venue. But you never had any realtime view into the process.
That all changed with the advent of the worldwide web. And those changes accelerated with the introduction of blogs. If you knew someone who was attending, you could get an update of events within a few hours. And that was wonderful. But while you could receive data faster, it was an evolution and not a revolution.
But the last four years have seen some important changes. First, wireless phones have introduced the ability to get instant feedback (via SMS or the web). Second, text messages have been augmented with the addition of rich media – including both audio and video. Thid, everyone has these devices. So anyone in attendance at a meeting can communicate. These three shifts in communications have enabled everything I saw yesterday. And live blogging has been a real difference maker.
This week’s RNC meeting was something altogether different. Not only was there good communications (despite WiFi troubles at the hotel), but communications became multi-dimensional. Live blogging has always meant that realtime posts could be sent from conferences and meetings. But microblogging (using Twitter, Friendfeed and other tools) has meant that short and pithy bursts of info could be sent in realtime. More importantly, short messages could be sent form the outside to the inside of the venue. And this simple fact transformed everything.
I was sitting in Kansas City. I was not in the meeting room. But there were a few dozen people who were there and who were twittering the event. And these people provded multiple views (and voices) about what was transpiring. And I heard the voices of various operatives from many of the different candidates. But more importantly, I and other people could send questions or engage in realtime conversations about what was transpiring. This made those “on the outside” seem to be part of the process. This fact alone should increase excitement and participation by those who couldn’t otherwise attend. But I am sure that many people at the venue used the feedback from the remote audience as a means of gauging what the common folk might think of what was going on behind closed doors.
Of course, the only folks who were engaged in the #rncchair discussions on Twitter were twitterati and cognoscenti. But these folks were a fantastic proving ground for the technology. And the growing applicability of this technology was apparent to all. Folks who had broadband connectivity and a larger screen were at a tremendous advantage. They could provide and receive far more information for their use. I am sure that the various candidates’ teams had various levels of technology. And those with a good handle on the technology (i.e., those who posessed smartphones like iPhones and BlackBerries) were at an even great advantage. [Note: It was clear that Saul Anuzis’ team stayed in the race for a long time because he had mastered many of the communications channels available to him.]
As technology becomes cheaper and more ubiquitous, more and more people will gain more and more advantage from these technologies. And as the software and services become even more accessible (i.e., less complex) even more people will be able to take advantage of realtime participation.
In the end, the technology alone did not make a deterministic difference. Michael Steels won the race because he had a good plan and he executed it quite effectively. Many folks will point to a specific reason that they think was critical for Steele’s success. I won’t be so bold. I wasn’t there. But I know that Michael Steele didn’t lose the race due to an insufficient grasp on the communications technologies at his disposal. Indeed, why else do you think Michael Steels was so visible as a Fox News contributor? He knew the imporance of using communications tools to energize his base while broadening his reach. And the communications tools available to us today helped to make that possible.
I’ll leave each of you the assignment to determine why Michael Steele won the chairmanship. In the meantime, I used a variety of tools to stay”in the know” – Twitter, hashtags (specifically, #rncchair and #tcot), Twitter search (at http://search.twitter.com) and Twitterfall (http://www.twitterfall.com). Twitterfall is fantastic. It provided a realtime rolling (or falling) ticker of a particular conversation thread. I was able to see who the talkers were as well as see who I should be following.
And for those interested in metrics… By getting involved in this one event, I saw my overall follower count (on Twitter) grow by over 20%. Of course, I started from a small base, but the real numbers were nonetheless impressive.
Finally, I would like to reinforce an important point: I do like to send “thank you’s” to the folks that followed me as a result of this event. I use SocialToo.com as a means of responding to all new followers. It is a great tool to help “personalize” the process of nurtturing your following. If you didn’t receive a “Thank You’ from me, drop me a note and I’ll send you a personalized email with my warmest thanks..
-Roo
For Better or Worse – Google Is The Center of the Universe
I got up very early this morning (~5AM) to the whining dogs. Our son had left a light on in the living room. So the dogs woke up early to the light. I dragged myself out of bed to give them a walk and then feed them. After about thirty minutes of light chores, I settled down to the computer to start to put together a post about the RNC Chairman’s race (which I will do later).
Over night, I was converting one of my DVD’s to a video file I can use on a portabe player. And everything was running very slowly. And I mean verrrrry slooooowwwwwly. Normally, I can get a DVD converted in five or six hours. But this one was only six or seven percent complete after eight hours. And nothing was moving on my system.
I had recently upgraded to Windows 7. So I figured that maybe there was some problem with Handbrake and Windows 7. So I got onto Google and did a quick search. I was then confronted with the fact that all of my search results were flagged as containing malware. That couldn’t be the case. After all, some of these sites were very trusted sites that I use all the time.
Google couldn’t be wrong. So maybe I had something on my local machine. So I started to run malware scans on my system. I ran both Malwarebytes as well as Spybot Search & Destroy. And everything was crawling along. So I started to get concerned that I had a more serious problem on my system. [Note: Paranoia is not always a good thing. I was starting to see risks lurking on every sector of my hard drive.]
I started looking at the process list and noted that I had my anti-virus scan in progress. This was quite odd as the weekly scan normally completes it’s work very early every Saturday morning. So I’m starting to get quite nervous. I must have some kind of “bad” bug that needed special eradication. I stpped the AV scan and saw that the video encoding started to move along. In fifty minutes, it had encoded a quarter of the file. So I’m figuring that Windows 7 Beta + Handbrake + a simultaneous AV scan may be a bad combination.
But what about the malware that Google tipped me off to? Since two different anti-malware tools proclaimed the cleanliness of my system, I started to relax. And since my video conversion was progressing, I stepped away from the computer for a couple of hours. When I returned, things were still slow. But that happens when a video conversion tool takes over 90% of the CPU.
So I decided to check some of my social networing sites. And I started with Google Reader. It was there that I found my answer: Google had implemented a bad piece of code. According to every source on the web, I was a victim of Google’s attempt to incorporate http://www.stopbadware.org into their search results. And a human error had literally flagged all search results as containing malware.
So with this tidbit of information, my problem is solved, right? Not really as I had just demonstrated the problem of trust and social engineering. You see, I “trusted” Google as a company that made few (or no) errors. Indeed, even their “beta” code is better than other companies and their “production” code. And to make matters worse, Google is the center of my universe. I search using Google. I use GMail for most of my personal email. I use GReader as the means of aggregating all the RSS feeds I consume. In point of fact, Google is the center of my Internet experience. And I had trusted them so much, that I did not even consider that they might have an error. I assumed that my system was at fault. After all, the people at Google are experts.
So what is a ‘roo to do. First, I must remember the words of our 40th President: trust, but verify. Then I need to remember not to be doing too many things at once. I was running a program for the first time on a new OS at the same time that I run anti-viral scans. Um, I’ll try and avoid that perfect storm in the future.
But I am also reminded of some corrolary applications for this situation. I should never make a man, a woman, a company, a government or even a political party take up residence in the center of my universe. After all, the center of my universe should be occupied by the only indivudal who is completely worthy of that role: the Lord God Almighty. Only He is completely trustworthy. No man (and certainly no organization) should be trusted so intimately or so completely. The results of such a misapplication of trust could be disastrous.
So as of today, I don’t trust Google as much. And I am reminded why I should’t trust elected officials (of any party) so much. Reagan was right; trust, but verify.
-Roo
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi
I love the holidays. I love the joyful time with my family. I love the good cheer in everyone’s heart. But my cheerful heart is troubled this holiday season. The litany of challenges need not be fully itemized. But here are a couple of the things that leave me apprehensive:
- Our economy is in one of the greatest upheavals that it has ever experienced – at least, during my lifetime.
- Families across the nation are struggling to survive this upheaval. Thousands of hardworking and dedicated people now find themsleves without jobs. And it is horrifying to realize that you can no longer meet the needs of your family – especially during this overly-commercialized time of year.
- We have seen desperate people take desperate steps just to overcome their economic bondage. In Africa, these people have seized ships on the high seas – after all, they’re pirates. But they live amongst the normal fishing villagers of Somalia. And the fishing villagers seem willing to protect and defend them. They have felt econimic despair for generations. And that despair has been transformed into anger and hatred.
- We are still mired in international conflicts against a shadowy foe who seeks to extinguish our very existence.
- We have seen that foe kill almost 300 people in an orgy of hate and despair during the past week.
As I write and read this list, I am very frightened for the future that may await us. I see how legitimate concerns and fundamental inequalities can be transformed into irredeemable despair. Indeed, it is despair that has transformed a number of Afghans, Pakistanis, Somalis and Palestinians into the agents of terror which the West so easily demonizes.
These and many other challenges now face this world and the peoples of the world. In the last generation, many nations of the world turned to communism as the means of righting these wrongs. Indeed, even today, nations like Venezuela have turned to agrarian “communism” in a vain effort to transform their circumstances.
And a generation before that, we saw the Nazis exploit the fear and despair of Europe in a murderous effort to seize control of the world. A horrific economic tsunami led to the collapse of Germany and the rise of Nazi Germany. In the warm confines of our comfortable houses, we wondered why the German people would ever despair and turn to such evil. But we are now faced with an economic tsunami that may well challenge every one of us.
But amidst the chaos, fear and mounting pressure of despair, I also see the transformational power of hope. In the United States, the people have voted to “hope” and work for a better future. Don’t misunderstand these words. I did not (and do not) support the politics of Barack Obama. But President-elect Obama has revealed one of the most fundamental truths about America: we are a hopeful and a decent people. I certainly pray that his message of hope will be the start of an amazing resurgence of America’s good will.
Yes, there are inequalities in our nation. And there are some indecencies which boggle the mind. But at our very core, we are a people that rise to challenges rather than shirk them. We embrace a fair challenge. And we will fight against indecencies that we see around us. As a people, we are uniquely willing to look in the mirror, recognize our own shortcomings, and strive to overcome them.
But while we can change much, the fundamentals of this world have never changed. There have always been inequalities. And every one of us can be counted upon to live down to our lowest impulses. Despite the grand and noble gains that America has represented, we are only a representation of the best that can be achieved by fallen man.
And thus enters the infant. At this time of year, we are reminded that one infant can transform the world. And this is such an upliting message: one child CAN transform the world. But if we leave this as a story of hope triumphing over despair, we miss the real point of the story. There was something extraordinary and special about this child. This is not the story of ANY child making a differnce; it is the story of one special child making the difference. If the story of the virgin conception wasn’t enough to proclaim the uniqueness of this child, then the host of angels proclaiming His birth might remind us of the fact that this was not any ordinary child. This child was unique and unrivaled in the history of the world.
While the world of Israel was under siege from the cruelty of Rome, God delivered His own solution. He did not rely upon the warm-hearted good cheer of the dozens of messiahs that arose throughout Israel. Instead, God chose to enter a world that had willingly and intentionally spat into His face. His children had abandoned Him – and then cried out to Him when their despair became too great.
Are we not in the very same situation? For generations, God has blessed us. And God has used us to help others. But we have come to rely upon ourselves and not rely upon Him. We see our own greatness and fail to remember that God is the only truly great one. Whatever we have achieved is because we have trusted Him to guide us. God led people to this nation. God cared for those people. Indeed, the Thanksgiving holiday is a testament to trusting God for our daily bread.
But now we are at a crossroads. God is asking us to trust Him (and not ourselves). God is asking us to care for one aother. God is asking us to set aside our own selfish sense of accomplishment. We need to let our glory pass and remember the glory of the Child. We must remember that this child came to die on our behalf. The birth of this child is hope. But the death of the Christ is victory. If we want to become all that God has in store for us, we cannot stop at hope. We must be prepared to sacrifice ourselves – and we must accept the sacrifices of others. And we must accept the most important of all sacrifices: the substitutionary death of the Christ.
Every time you hear the bells ringing this holiday season, remember the promise of hope – and remember the responisbility of the Christmas child.
-Roo
Social Media Schizophrenia
It is Saturday afternoon and I’m spent. This week has been full of lows – and highs. Here is the brief rundown:
1. My Country – The lows: The election has confirmed my belief that conservatives are now in the wilderness. The Republican party got thumped in the election – and deservedly so. The only thing the Republicans didn’t lose was the ability to conduct Senate filibusters. Everything else was washed away in the tidal wave of anti-Bush sentiment. And if I could have voted up/down on Bush alone, I would have joined the masses. But I was unwilling to cede all power to the Democrats simply to send a message to the Republican party.
The highs: As I noted last week, the rejection of the current Republican party establishment is a GOOD THING. We need to purge ourselves of encumbrances like “party affiliation” and “reaching across the aisle” to embrace watered-down policies. Don’t misunderstand me. I am in favor of embracing our fellow Americans – even when we disagree. But let’s not be so willing to compromise our principles in order to be loved by all. The prophets of the Old Testament dd not worry about whether their message was accepted by their listeners (and readers). Rather, they spoke truth to power. And that is what the conservatives in exile must begin to do.
I think I may be writing a whole lot more about this in the future. But for now, know that I am both disheartened as well as elated. I don’t believe that conservatism has been rejected. Indeed, we haven’t seen real, honest-to-goodness conservatism for quite a while. So now is our chance to proclaim that truth.
In the meantime, I am so incredibly proud of my country. First, there was tremendous participation in this election. Second, we took one huge step towards erasing a legacy of social schisms. Our forefathers struggled about whether to include emancipation of slaves into our Declaration of Independence. The first step towards John Adams vision of equality came with the Emancipation Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln. The second step came with the US Civil War. The third step came with the civil rights efforts of the fifties (esp. the US Armed Forces) and the Civil Rights Act of the sixties. And the most recent step came with the election of an African American President. This was truly a remarkable election that every American should be proud of. It demonstrates all of the best things about America.
2. My Family – The lows: My middle daughter has been having a very tough time at school. I really don’t want to go through all of the details as this blog is publicly available – and her challenges are very private. But suffice it to say that she started the week very disheartened.
The highs: After several days of struggling with herself and seeking the counsel of others, she has come to some decisions. In candor, I do agree with her decisions. But I am still brokenhearted as I don’t know if she is fully invested in her decisions. Indeed, I suspect that she is only grudgingly accepting he unanimous counsel of others. But she has taken the first steps towards returning to the mission that God has set out for her. I’m praying that God speaks to her in intimate and affectionate ways. I’m praying that she sees His hand guiding the way – even while His other hand is lifting her up to keep her from stumbling.
My third daughter came home for the weekend. And she brought seven friends with her. They came to KC so they could experience First Fridays in the KC arts district . They were all thrilled to walk around art exhibits, munch on appetizers and act all artsy-fartsy. OK, that is harsh. I can’t truly appreciate the visual arts because of my poor eyesight. But I really shouldn’t discount the joy that some people receive when looking at a wonderful piece of art. Fortunately, they all enjoyed the art and the joi de vivre they experienced.
BTW, Bailey has some great friends. They spoke with us. They laughed with us. They discussed politics with us. And they ate our food. So a good time was had by all.
And the biggest family high point this week was my wife’s return to full-time employment. Three months ago, her previous employer had to terminate a large number of employees. And my wife was assigned to projects that were being reduced. So she was released. And while I know exactly how Cindy felt, I couldn’t really help bear her burden. She has had to bear a lot of the emotional burden herself.
But as of this past Monday, she is now fully employed. And her work is both more challenging and more rewarding than her previous assignments. In almost every way, she has been kicked up the work ladder. For this, I am so very grateful to a God that has met our family needs while He guided her to the right interviews with the right people. Now I’m paying for her success with a new team and a new company.
3. My Job – The lows: One of the projects that I was working on was halted. The software worked. The inter-corporation communications worked. But the product was still canned. And the basic reason for the project termination was the general economy today. Our key financial partner declined to under-write the loan instruments that were pivotal to the product. So the product has been suspended – at least for now.
The highs: While the one product was terminated, the overall system will be used for other products this season. So work proceeds. And even if it didn’t, I have so many other projects that I am working on. I’m not worried about my continued employment. Nor am I worried about my standing in the eyes of executive leadership. In many ways, I have the privilege of being considered a “go to” person in the organization. So I am quite pleased.
4. My Twitter Egosphere – The lows: About a week ago, I was reading a note from Jennifer Leggio (a freelance writer for Ziff-Davis) about her philosophy concerning following and unfollowing people on Twitter. Actually the article was about Qwitter, an app to track who quits following you (and what the last posted tweet was before they quit following you). It is a true vanity app.
Early in the week, I got a note from Qwitter that Jennifer had unfollowed me. Normally, I don’t care about who follows me. But this time, it actually struck a raw nerve. After everything else that happened this week, I actually felt a little upset that someone I respected had unfollwed me. I didn’t feel so bad that I sent Jennifer a note. But I did feel bad enough to tell Noah about it.
The highs: Noah sent a quick note to Jennifer and asked her what had happened. It turns out that I hadn’t offended her with anything I had said. Rather, she was having Twitter problems and inadvertently unfollowed a ton of people. So Jennifer sent me a very heart-warming note apologizing for unfollowing me. That was truly unexpected. But it occurred at the same time that everything else was swing upward as well. So this warm note and ego boost came when everything else was on an upswing.
5. My Social Media Metaverse – The lows: I have way too many social media networks that I am part of. The current list includes: Twitter, identi.ca, Friendfeed, Brightkite, Del.icio.us, Google Reader, Flickr, GoodReads, StumbleUpon, GMail, Jabber, GTalk, AIM, Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Last.fm, Blip.fm, and a few other services. I am often overwhelmed by all of this. So I’ve focused on Friendfeed as my social media aggregator. And the folks from Friendfeed have now added the ability for Friendfeed posts to be sent to an IM account. In my case, I’ve decided to try this with my GTalk account.
The low associated with all this integration is that I have so much social media stuff and it is now funneling to one place – me. I can’t just turn stuff off. I have grown accustomed to the buzz. I hate being swamped. But I love being informed of all sorts of things at the same time. I have so many inputs now arriving at my frontal lobe. And every beep, tweet, blip and alert is begging for me to switch focus. It’s great to be connected. And it is a real pain to be connected. But as of now, I can’t imagine not being connected. I feel like an addict that just needs one more hit of stimulation. Arghhh.
The highs: After the addict comment, I don’t need to repeat the highs associated with social media and networking . But I am quite excited about the levels of integration that are starting to coalesce into something almost discernible. As everything begins to congregate through Friendfeed, the link to IM poses an amazing integration point. With XMPP based IM integration, it will be possible to set up processes that run on my system – and under my control. These processes can be intelligent agents that will consume XML from an XMPP server. And as XMPP and OpenID are starting to come closer to one another (see http://openid.xmpp.za.net/), the possibilities become quite mind-bending.
Whew. That list just skims the surface of highs/lows for this week. There really was so much more. But amidst all the sensory and emotional input that is causing my “virtual” schizophrenia , there is one thing that remains constant. No matter how much is going on in this world, I know that my God loves me. And I know that however I feel (whether high or low), nothing can separate me from that love.
Romans 8:38-39 – For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things yet to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Welcome the Wilderness
We stand at a pivotal moment for all conservatives in America. In the past, social conservatives, fiscal conservatives and pro-military Republicans banded together and elected Ronald Reagan as a standard-bearer for our vision. Since then, we have “held our noses” while voting for a string of moderates: President George H.W. Bush (in two elections), Bob Dole and two elections with President George W. Bush. [It is important to note that many conservatives thought they were electing a kindred spirit in George W. Bush. Time (and a few trillion dollar programs) has proven this hope to be quite misplaced.
But the true conservatives in America now have a chance to consider who they truly are – and what kind of future they will strive to build. It is time to reject the pleas of political party leaders who urge us to elect someone who is “acceptable enough” for them. Don’t misunderstand me. I am not suggesting that we vote for Obama. Heaven forbid. Nor am I suggesting that we not vote for McCain. That choice must be made in the solitude of the voting booth. Instead, I want us to be prepared for a future that I fear awaits us.
In fairness, liberal Democrats have been waiting for their chance to shape the future of America. They have waited since Hubert Humphrey and since George McGovern. Carter was not a liberal Democrat. He was an ineffective moderate who was ill-prepared to lead this nation. And Clinton was definitely not a liberal Democrat. He was a calculating and politically successful pragmatist. And for the last eight (8) years, liberal Democrats have had to wait through successive Republican victories for their next chance. But now, liberals can rejoice as they are on the cusp of achieving a watershed change – albeit with a stealth candidate.
And conservatives should take heart from the example of the long-suffering liberal Democrats. Since Ronald Reagan left office, the Republican party has been led by moderates, pragmatists and more than a couple of scoundrels. Some might argue that there have been conservative Republicans in power. And this is true. But at the highest levels of government, conservatism has not been practiced for a very long time.
Indeed, it is absurd for anyone to think that George W. Bush was a conservative. He and his Administration have been responsible for several of the largest government expansions ever. This includes the following major “accomplishment”: the largest health care program ever (in the form of prescription drug coverage), and the largest governmental takeover of private property ever (in the form of the most recent mortgage bailouts).
Similarly, liberal Democrats have had to “hold their noses” while Clinton systematically dismantled the programs of the Great Society. They saw welfare programs disassembled in favor of pay-for-work programs. And liberals have seen affirmative action and social justice programs transformed into watered down versions of the original programs launched in the sixties.
On the cusp of the most dramatic shift in the political landscape since Reagan, conservative Republicans need to reflect upon what is still to be done – not what will be undone in a liberal administration. We need to be energized by the things they truly believe in. Indeed, we need to learn not to settle for “good enough.” We need to strive towards the unassailable goals of limited government and personal responsible. In my mind, the best palliative for a possible liberal victory is in knowing that we can survive exile under a “liberal tyrant” – just as we survived the tyrannies of George III. We can survive the tyrannies of a liberal Congress just as we survived the tyrannies of fascism and communism last century. And we can emerge from such an exile with a renewed fervor for the things that really matter.
In many ways, we must be forced to realize the errors of our ways. Like a repentant sinner sitting in the pews, the conservative culture in America must “step forward” and admit its sins. We must ask for forgiveness from our fellow Americans. Indeed, we have not given our best. We have been willing to settle for “good enough.” We have been willing to compromise our very essence. But that time is over. Like the repentant sinner, we must first confess – and then we must put our new-found commitment into action. We must decline the temptations to seek minor advances via compromise. Instead, we must stick to our principles and forge ahead – despite the short-term costs.
If we don’t win next Tuesday, let’s welcome the crucible of the wilderness. It is there where God molds prophets and leaders. We must seek to build a moral argument that was plainly understood by our founders: “Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.” (Thomas Paine)
From Vanity to Transformative Energy
It has been invigorating – and startling – to see how social networking has been used during this election cycle. When our presidential campaign began (over two years ago), the pinnacle of Internet technology (in politics) was the static website, the email distribution list and the online cash register. Basically, it was a testament to first-generation web technologies. Yes, there were exceptions (like some of the forays of Howard Dean’s 2004 campaign). But the de rigeur Internet investments were fairly pedestrian.
Since the last presidential election cycle, there has been a whole lot of maturing that has occurred. First, the technology itself has matured. We have gone from unidirectional content publishing to multi-channel advertising and bi-directional communications and involvement. Today, a supporter can subscribe to any number of channels and/or feeds that interest them. Followers can: provide their email address, read a candidates’ positions published on a website (or on Facebook or MySpace), or even see speeches on YouTube. Most politicians have a presence on Twitter (or Friendfeed, if they are truly forward-thinking). In short, politicians have many ways of getting their message to current and future supporters.
And this is a great start. But to go from broadcasting information to building a community of involved activits, a candidate must successfully blend Web 2.0 technologies with some personal “connection” to his or her supporters.
Like Howard Dean before him, Barack Obama has been able to capitalize on personal charisma and a fundamental “distrust of the older generation” to build his support base. If you are active on Twitter, it doesn’t take long to see the “personal” attachment that people have with Obama – regardless of the positions that he espouses. Indeed, I have seen many “conservative” people who have decided to vote for Obama because he has “connected” with them on more than a policy level. In many ways, this sense of connectedness is the same thing that Ronald Reagan was able to do with the “Reagan Democrats” during the 1980 campaign.
On the flip-side, John McCain has had little success achieving a sense of connectedness with his supporters. Most of his supporters are not “connected” to him or the campaign. Rather, they currently support McCain because they oppose Obama. In many cases, Republicans support McCain as their second choice candidate; many Huckabee, Romney and Giuliani supporters are only grudging supporters of McCain. And in many ways, this is so reminiscent of the 1976 campaign where many conservatves only grudgingly supported the candidacy of Gerald Ford.
But there have been two events that have altered the course of the McCaign campaing. The first was the nomination of Sarah Palin as the party’s vice presidential candidate. In many ways, Sarah has been able to “connect” to dissatisfied and disillusioned Republicans. At the same time, she has been able to reach a number of independent voters. Much of this reach beyond the party failthful is due to her energy, vitality and personal attractiveness. Indeed, she has been able to reach many people on a personal level. Indeed, many of the GOP faithful talk about their support for her rather than their support of McCain.
The second event was the elevation of Joe the Plumber. Through an odd set of circumstances, an “everyman” in Ohio has captured the hearts of many Americans. Many folks see him (or the ideal he symbolizes) as someone who represents their interests. They saw an indifferent Obama making decisions that will fundamentally alter their futures. And many folks don’t like that. Uncertainty often breeds the kind of fear that can affect elections. And the Joe the Plumber issue has created a great deal of uncertainty about Obama.
Fundamentally, both events demonstrate the simple fact that people want to support the familiar. They want to connect with their leaders. When McCain can offers two surrogates for their need to connect, many folks will gravitate towards those surrogates. When Obama offers himself as the person that can relate to mainstream America, then the polls swing in his favor. In short, people want to connect with their leaders.
And modern technology is all about “connectedness” and community. When systems and technolgoies draw folks together, they foster this spirit of community. And most Americans will willingly invest in communities of shared interests – whether they be Sunday School classes, churches, local school booster clubs or even political parties. People want to belong. And they will work for that sense of belonging.
In many ways, the use of technology in politics has finally moved from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. In the first generation, technology was used to fulfill the vanity of the candidate (or his/her followers). But with the advent of social networking and Web 2.0, we are truly seeing involvement of the citizens – and unleashing of their effort and energies.
In the final analysis, we have been created with a need to join together and serve one another. The rock band Switchfoot says it well: “We were meant to live for so much more; have we lost ourselves?” There is a fundamental part of the human heart that needs to be part of something bigger than our own selfish interests. We want to tell our children and our grandchildren how we were part of something transformative. Indeed, I believe that this is part of what made “the greatest generation” so great: they overcame econmic hardships as well as the tyrranies of totalitarian dictators. They were transformed from their pety and selfish concerns into a community of shared purpose and vision.
In politics, we can reach beyond ourselves – if we try. And with technology, we can reach others in amazing and innovative ways. But it is not the method that matters. In the end, it is the message that must transform us. In our current election, I pray that everyone takes a step back and asks whether they are supporting the position or the package. If we are supporting the package, please understand that we are often disappointed when we unwrap a package and learn that it is not everything that we had hoped for. Nevertheless, the act of reaching beyond yourself is one of the most transformative acts you will ever intitiate.
So get involved. Think and pray about your vote. And always remember to be grateful for the awesome privilege of getting to decide your own future.
We’re On A Mission From God
The past few weeks have been disheartening. While Harriet Miers is a fine lawyer and an able administrator, no one will ever know what kind of a constitutional jurist she will be. I hope that this odd footnote to history will be both a learning and a growing experience for her – and for us.
It’s time to move on – Jake and Elwood style!
I won’t recount the torrent of blog posts typified by folks like Hugh Hewitt or our spirited Captain. I could opine about this for quite some time. But that’s not what we need. We need a uniter and not a divider. And we are looking for the band to get back together.
I’ve missed the unity and the sense of purpose we have all felt. So it really is time to get the band back together. Like Jake and Elwood, we’ve done our time – and it wasn’t fun. It’s time to get the music playing. Yes, we will probably end up in a few country music cages (like the Judiciary Committee hearings), but it will be fun – and we’ll be back together again.
President Bush, I respectfully request that you resume your role as the uniter and not the divider. Bring the band back together and nominate someone who will unite the band. We respect and honor everything you’ve accomplished thus far. And we will stand behind you. But please nominate a strict originalist. Don’t appoint a legislator. And don’t appoint a stealth candidate. Please appoint someone with a clear record and a firm and unwavering voice. We will support you. You made the right choice regarding bringing democracy to the Middle East. And you stood fast despite the withering criticism from the left – and from our allies. But you chose wisely and properly – and we supported you because of your firm resolve and moral clarity. We pledge ourselves to do so again. Bring the band back together.
-CyclingRoo-
Tags: The Blues Brothers , SCOTUS