From Fiscal Cliff to Leadership Chasm

The fiscal cliff drama is over. Republican House Speaker John Boehner offered tax increases on millionaires. President Obama resisted reforming entitlements. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell initiated negotiations with the Vice President. Obama bided his time behind Biden. McConnell repudiated his "one-term President" reputation. The Republicans engaged. The Democrats did not. The Republicans demonstrated leadership. Obama returned to avoidance and irresponsibility. “I’m President for four more years,” Obama boasts, yet he refused to lead his country or party. The House of Representatives did not bow to Progressive pressures without a fight. Obama overplayed his hand. Republicans refused to play down theirs. The Senate prolonged its ineffectiveness under Democratic control. Although Washington averted one fiscal cliff, the chasm of deficits and debt remains. Obama lost the first round, highlighting his weakened mandate against a determined challenger, a Congress which demands accountability, not just talking. Obama cannot downplay his failure of leadership.

Mitch McConnell -- Daring Move

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell made a daring move in the last hours of the "fiscal cliff" negotiations.

He reached out to Vice President Joe Biden.

Mitch McConnell can no longer be saddled with the "one-term President" condemnation.

President Obama refused to budge. He refuses to stop the spending.

Yet he was more than willing to let his second take first place in negotiations at the last minute.

Who is running this country, then? Who is in charge?

President Obama has overplayed his hand already. He won reelection with a weaker mandate. Romney did not want to be President. That was President Obama's one saving grace.

Obama has stepped back into his own mess. The House of Representatives remains one chamber of government which will not bow to progressive pressures without a fight.

President for Four Years

"Now, if Republicans think that I will finish the job of deficit reduction through spending cuts alone — and you hear that sometimes coming from them ... then they've got another think coming. ... That's not how it's going to work at least as long as I'm president," he said.

"And I'm going to be president for the next four years, I think," he added. (Deal on the Fiscal Cliff)

President Obama once again betrays his progressive bias, a disdain for the essential checks and balances embedded in our federal government.

He may be the President, but he has to negotiate with Congress. Congress makes the laws, not the President, not the Judiciary, and certainly not the Fourth Branch of Government, replete with administrative agencies and Czars doing their own bidding outside the view, review, and purview of Congress.

How many executive orders does the President believe that he can enact without sparking more outrage from the states and the people?

The federalist experience is still in full swing. Thirty governors have refused to implement Medicare exchanges. Tim Scott, among other Republican state executives, has led the fight against the growth of federal power. One of two fatal liabilities lie in wait for this President.

He will run out of other people's money. He will lose any legitimacy of putting the interests of the people ahead of his own interests.

The "fiscal cliff" talks dragged out to the last minute. There is no excuse for such unserious leadership. None.

He may be President for the next four years, but that fact by no means implies that Washington remains his playground to do as he pleases. He is the Chief Executive, not the dictator.

"Do Something!" You Had Your Chance November 6th

Nbcnews.com has reported that "Main Street" is now madder than ever at the Beltway, more than Wall Street or Sesame Street or Easy Street. The Washington gridlock is (still) getting nothing done. The "fiscal cliff" of 2011 was engineered to be so steep, so severe, so severing that Republicans and Democrats would have no choice but to come together and come up with a gathered set of compromises.

One year later, one month later, one week, and now to the day, and no deal has been reached to prevent massive tax hikes on everyone, or to stop a massive sequester into every department of the federal budget.

“They should make a plan, make up their minds and do something!” Abigail Holt of Hartford, Connecticut

They were not in the business of making plans before, so why should they start?

"Washington, the country's biggest day-care center" -- Howard Kurtz, The Daily Beast

Where were the parents who were supposed to raise them right?

"Members of Congress who can't compromise probably aren't good lovers." -- Dr. Ruth Westheimer
Now it gets personal.

“It doesn’t feel like they’re doing much. I think they’ve lost touch with who the American people are. It’s a pretty elite group in Washington.” Rich Dodd of Houston, Texas.

Politicians out of touch? Really?

For all the bluster blanketing the Internet, one would assume that the polled respondents would take into account other verities.

Jonathan Carl, guest anchor for the December 30th edition of "This Week", followed up on this growing rancor and ridicule of the American people toward Congress. Some unique rants from individual American voters include:

"This country is hurting right now. We need to stop worrying about politics."

Politics, argument, a meeting of the minds to get things done: that's what government is all about.

"Sit down, get in a room, and don't come out of that room until you've got this thing taken care of."

One commented that a papal enclave set-up -- make a decision, or make your bed until you do -- would force some kind of deal from our leaders.

"It's absolutely ridiculous, and it should have been taken care of a long time ago."

It "should have" been taken care of, that ever-present, ever-elusive "should have", a liberal staple which drives too many arguments in our political discourse.

"If you have to get the job, then you have to get the job done."

Congress was designed to get as little done as possible. Checks and Balances, American Government. Ask you High School Civics teacher.

"We've heard the job is compromise. You have to work together to the get the job done."

Compromise depends on shared values and mutual respect, a common vision carried out with different tempers. This interest has disappeared from the halls of Congress.

"I have very little faith that they are going to reach a deal, and that really frustrates me."

Perhaps it's time for the American voters to stop having faith in the federal government for anything.
All of this fuss and ruckus about the fiscal cliff fallout gives the impression that the voters, the constituencies, every man and woman who had their say, had nothing to do with this final gridlock. . .
Ladies and Gentlemen of the United States of America: there was an election on November 6th, 2012. The majority of you voted for the same rabble that got little down for the past two years, so what do you have to say for yourselves?

President Obama was up for reelection, the same President who pushed a stimulus that did not stimulate, a health insurance mandate which will all but mandate that fewer people have health insurance, while those who still have it will pay more for it. The same President who oversaw a country with a record number of discouraged-unemployed, foodstamp recipients, followed by anemic growth in key professions and business circles.

This same President maintained troops in Afghanistan, where the native soldiers now train their firearms on those who trained them. This dismembering of the War in Afghanistan follows the Obama "apology tour" of the Middle East, followed by the "Obama-bystander" while Iran erupted in protests, which then gave way to the Arab Spring and then an Islamist Winter.The "no-fly-zone" support for Libyan insurgents paved the way for an "Al-Qaeda" satellite in North Africa, followed by the stunning deaths of our state department officials, a terrorist rout still under investigation.
President Obama refused to lead on debt and deficit reduction. He ignored his own "Simpson-Bowles" commission, which created the "fiscal cliff". Obama wants to spend, does not want to cut, and his government prints money ad infinitum, which will finish up value of the dollar and reduced assistance for the unemployed.

"Do Something!" voters are shouting. They had their chance November 6th, and they reelected the same gridlock back to Congress. The current failings of this divided government were on full display for two years. Obama owns the failures of Washington grid-iron gridlock. As for the voters who reelected the same self-inflicting tag team, they got what they voted for.

Response to Guy Benson's "Worst and Best for 2012"

 

Guy Benson of Townhall.com claims that Romney ran a good campaign, but the odds were against Romney and in favor of Obama.

 

Sorry, Guy. . .

Romney was not a good candidate, period. It's time for party elites to put up their party-pooping and admit the quintessential obvious: Romney was no good.

 

I had written to the Wisconsin press as early as March hoping for a divided win and a brokered convention. Sunday Morning talk shows played out the possible scenario in which another dark horse candidate would emerge to coalesce the disparate factions of the party.

There was no party discipline, no rank and file respect for the rank and file. The Akin-Mourdock-Abortion debate distracted from the proper narrative: Obama was busting the bank, and therefore he had to be busted. Akin refused to drop out, when Romney should never have asked him to do so in the first place. The abortion fissure exposed a troubling fissure in the GOP platform: life at conception, no exceptions. The New England and Northwest constituents need some breathing room, but a party geared toward the Mountain West and the South can no longer cobble together a majority vote.

Too many GOP debates, too long a primary season, no strong candidates. Paulism exacerbated the GOP dualism between Tea Party and Establishment. I was a Ron Paul supporter, then switched to Gingrich. Gingrich stayed in out of pure chutzpah, nothing more.

No respect for Establishment coordination coupled with Tea Party enthusiasm. Tea Party-grassroots demands matter, yet the GOP is still stuck in "rich, white, male" maddening Mad Men mentality. Nelson Rockefeller would not feel welcome in this modern version of the GOP, yet he served as Governor and Senator for Northeastern New York. The Mad Men was not so mad about spending or debt reduction, but every Republican, moderates included, voted "No!" to Obamacare.

McConnell's "One-term President" to Romney's "47%" to the latest admission that Romney was not gunning to run or to win, plus every conceivable flip-flop from RomneyCare to gun control caused more problems than solved. Just saying "No!" is not enough. It never worked with "The Ward on Drugs", and it will make no difference in the Washington culture of spend and spend some more.

 

The GOP can do better. Outreach to minorities, like-minded accept for registration, and government for public works, tolerance for victimless deviance and social trends will open up the GOP to a host of new voters.

Senator: Durbin: Stop Playing Politics

On the December 30th edition of "Face the Nation", with guest moderator Lauren O'Donnell, Senators Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) and Richard Durbin (D-Illinois) debated the last minute negotiations about the fiscal cliff.

Durbin engaged in the same blame game suffused in liberal-progressive rhetoric, in which he handed down the same tired tirade of "rich must pay their fair share." The Illinois senator is playing politics with the national debt and the annual deficits which are hurting this country and damaging this nation's future.

With his conservative colleague sitting quietly by, Durbin came out swinging, blaming the Republicans for the hold-up over a comprehensive deal. Durbin identified "two basic issues":

1. What percentage of the American people will pay a higher tax rate.

2. How many of the richest who pass away should be spared from paying a higher estate tax.

Durbin then jabbed that "the rich" remain the highest priority for the Republicans. Durbin neglected to discuss the spending which drives the debt and dysfunction of our federal government. The previous week, Peggy Noonan slammed President Obama for refusing to deal on spending cuts. Congressman Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) has asserted over and over that Republicans are willing to discuss revenue, but only in the event of comprehensive, real, outlined spending cuts. Democrats have refused to lead, refused to deal, refused to get real, and Senator Durbin represents this smug recalcitrance.

The leaders in Washington should stop waiting for a bipartisan agreement, especially if the Senate's second-in-command, majority whip Dick Durbin, continues to paint the failure of fiscal cliff talks entirely on the Republicans. Republicans who are willing to raise revenue but demand spending cuts should not yield on tax increase alone. The party platform stands on limited government and fiscal prudence, neither of which will win if the "fiscal cliff" deal takes in only more revenue without spending reductions.

For the past four years, President Obama has done nothing, nothing, nothing besides pressing for a costly health insurance mandate, followed by dancing around the debt ceiling and avoiding deficit reduction. Record trillion dollar deficits have eaten away at the federal government's burdened bank account for the past four years, and the President has no one to blame but himself, along with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority leader Harry Reid. Obamacare is robbing Medicare by the hundreds of billions, while current Medicare recipients are taking three times what they pay in. New Obamacare taxes are setting in for the new year, and no one in the Beltway or the Mainstream Media is willing to announce it.

The Republicans in the House of Representatives are representing their several congressional districts, their exact calling. Their interests represent the interests of the country, not just the rich. One group refuses to raise taxes, no matter what, since the federal government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. Establishment types just want a deal, no matter how much that hurts the national credit card in the near future. To coalesce the diverse interests of his own caucus, Boehner floated raising taxes on millionaires, a proposal suggested by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California). Obama said no, and Boehner tried another plan, which also failed.

The unseen yet necessary element also missing from this debate, the tax hikes on the "rich", remains one of the most nettlesome and unsettling elements yet. Raising tax rates will not raise revenue. Rising tax rates will increase the number of trust funds and hidden tax shelters in this country. Tax hikes on the $250k and up constituency will hurt small businesses, which will hurt middle class consumers and working class unemployed. Tax hikes stifle innovation and inhibit investment. Tax hikes feed Big Government instead of making a Big Dent in the Big National Debt.

The Republicans in the House have passed two budgets. They have passed immigration reform. They have proposed Medicare reform. They have reached out time and again with an unmoving Senate and an unmoved President. Democrat Majority Leader Harry Reid and his caucus have not passed a budget in four years. Senate Republican Minority leader Mitch McConnell personally contacted Senate President Joe Biden to help move the impasse in Washington.

Senator Dick Durbin alleges that the Republicans are at fault for refusing to move on fiscal cliff negotiations. This comment betrays his unseeming ignorance of an overweening arrogance. Furthermore, Durbin readily assumes that his Illinois constituents are blind to their blind guides in Washington who are leading the federal government over a "fiscal cliff". Durbin and his liberal colleagues are also leading this nation into the red quicksand of national debt, one which is loading every citizen with an average of $50,000. Durbin's incessant penchant for politicizing, politicking, and playing political ploys must be put down.

Senator Durbin, stop playing games with our nation's financial future. Show some leadership in Congress, get a real deal passed, or get out of the way and let leaders like Senator Coburn show you and your Democratic colleagues how to cut deals which help the entire country, not just further your political career.

Response to Lauren Davis' Petition

Manhattan Beach resident Lauren Davis is a thoughtful, concerned citizen. When she learned about the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, she asked her mother how the shooter got the gun. Because Lauren thought hat the “easy” purchase of guns was the problem, she created a petition which would ban assault weapons, which the Manhattan Beach City Council signed. Lauren’s parents told her about NRA President Wayne LaPierre’s suggestion that armed personnel would protect our schools. Lauren presumed that every school would have to station armed guards.

The adults should have told Lauren that the United States enacted an assault weapons ban before, and it did not work. They should have also told her that schools are “gun free zones”, making them easy targets. They should have told her that in forty states, “good guys” are allowed to carry “concealed weapons”, and they prevent crimes. They should have told her that the presence of a firearm would discourage bad guys from shooting at a school. They should have explained that not every school would have to comply.

Contrary to “adult” assertions, the Second Amendment is not “complicated”. The adults should enlighten Lauren that gun control does not prevent “bad guys” from doing bad things.

Instead of children leading the debate on gun violence, parents need to explain the limits of gun control, teachers need to explain the Second Amendment, and our “adult” legislators need to craft reforms which will deter these crimes, like eliminating the ‘”gun free zones” at our schools.

Final 2012 Reflection on the State of Nation

The United States federal government is storming into another term of gridlock and grinding, halted leadership. On national media outlets, “Passers-by” and “Average Joes” in Main Street have complained about K Street and the Beltway. While whatever Wall Street wages should hang on their own heads, the concentrated majority of voters chose to send back to Washington the same divided government which the press, the political class, and the people vilified. The voters complain about the current state of dysfunction, yet they sent it back to govern once again.

The problem is not government. The Congress, President, and Judiciary are manifesting the same stop-gap, stalling checks and balances which the Framers intended. The problem is “us”, in that voters want what they want from the state, but they do not like what the federal government wants, which is more of our money and freedom.

The United States of America (not a united federal government) is defined by E Pluribus unum¸ “out of many one”, not one government, but one people. The rancorous division Washington springs forth from two clashing visions of this country’s future: a divided electorate of givers and takers, or a united nation committed to individual liberty and private enterprise; a country where government is preeminent, or one where the citizen, endowed with natural rights, chooses his communities and values without impressing them on others.

Wisconsin, Indiana, and Kansas have chosen a vision which sees the citizen, not the state. California is choosing more government. What about you?

Peter Pan is For Kids -- Life and Freedom are for Grown-Ups Part II

Children who never grow up never grow, never go anywhere, never know what opportunities await them.

Peter Pan did the same things every year. He played the same games, fought the same enemy, Captain Hook. One wonders what Peter Pan would have done for fun when Captain Hook was put away once and for all. Life would have had no reason, no purpose.

In a way, Captain Hook represents the Law, the same code of requirements which acted as a schoolmaster to keep the Israelites under guardianship (Galatians 3: 24) until the fullness of time with Christ and the age of grace through faith to come.

In the presence of rules, people either rebel or obey, yet either way there is no life. Peter Pan rebelled, with not much to show for his life of fighting. Most people try to obey the law, and they find themselves both defeated and depressed, a sense within us that we must meet the standard, yet we never can:

"But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:" (2 Corinthians 3: 7)

and

"The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law." (1 Corinthians 15: 56)

The Law is the "ABC's", the weak and beggarly elements of anything:

"But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?" (Galatians 4: 9)

The Law is "Weak and beggarly", it makes people sick and weak. Jesus came that we might have life and that more abundantly (John 10: 10).

The Law is for little kids:

"But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." (Galatians 3: 23-24)

The life of faith in the grace of God, that is for adults:

"25But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3: 25-26)

We are called to be children of God by faith, but that does not cause us to regress into sin, but to progress into the fulness of life, and liberty:

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." (Galatians 5:1)

To grow up means to enter into liberty. To remain a child will bring one under law, and into bondage once again.

The hope for those who still struggle to get on their feet, to step out on their own, is not to shame them into rugged individualism, but rather to demonstrate that the real freedom which everyone of us can have in Christ starts and ends with faith in Christ Jesus:

"1Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12: 1-2)

A life of faith is the greatest life of ease. It means yielding our bodies as a living sacrifice to the Holy Spirit, renewing our minds to the truth of who we are in Christ, yet this life is greater than the endless games and the boring talk that comes with childhood, in which young people, full of fears and cares and looking to themselves, rely on the empty leading of others or falling to empty rule-keeping which makes no one safe.

Peter Pan is For Kids -- Life and Freedom are for Grown-Ups

In the transition from childhood to adulthood, many of today's youth are resistant to grow up.

They are convinced that "growing up" means more trouble, more trials, and it just is not worth all of it. The prolonging of childhood seems like the way to go for most people.

About seven years ago, Time Magazine published a piece on the "Peter Pan" syndrome, in which college age youth were graduating, then moving back home with their parents. Instead of stepping out into the world to make the most of the hardships they may face and overcome the obstacles in their way.

Too many have gotten used to being taken care of, that all their needs are met, so why give up a good thing, right?

For them, the real freedom depends on not being tied down to anything.

The true story of Peter Pan would suggest why staying in childhood is not the freedom that men and women should desire. More importantly, the Word of God testifies that growing in grace and knowledge of the Lord not only engages people to achieve maturity in their lives, but grants them the freedom and life that most youth today hope to find in dependence on their parents long after they have graduated from high school, from college, or even when they have stepped out into their own careers.

Peter Pan's perennial, eternal childhood was not all that it was cracked up to be. In one account, whether from the original tales told by J. M. Barrie or not, Peter Pan finally catches Captain Hook, ties up him to a tree, and then uncovers a cannon.

"This is the end, Hook. No more games."

Peter Pan was going to finish off Captain Hook once and for all. Unlike the fanciful and fussy villain in the Disney animated  movie, this Captain Hook was not afraid to die. Instead of begging for his life, he taunted to little boy he will  never grow up:

"I have been a man. I have done great things. I have overcome much in my life. I am ready to die."

Peter than realized that all he had did not amount to much. A life of challenging everything, of resisting authority, of playing games, of doing what "he wanted" was not all that it was cracked up to be. Greater than Pan's power at that point, Captain Hook manipulated the Eternal child with shame. Pan ultimately let Hook go, and then sought out to grow old, to accomplish something, to add something more to his life than the same games that go nowhere.

"Forever a child" is forever empty. The needs of a human being go deeper than just getting by, than hoping for nothing but to "have fun". A man has a sense of eternity about him, and the times he spends doing very little but passing time eventually pass away into nothing of great importance. Something inside of a man wars against the endless and eventually mind-numbing "fun". There has to be something better than this.

Like Las Vegas, it's fun for a while, but the deeper needs of man go deeper, much deeper than staying busy.

We Are More Than Our Thoughts and Our Feelings

Man is more, much more than his thoughts and feelings.

Much more.

Yet we live in a world now more than ever, which teaches us to honor our feelings and reflect on our thinking as a sure and final arbiter for life.

This awful trend has distracted us from the "Awesome" of this world, this universe, and the Eternal Providence which outlines, defines, and confines this wonder.

The disrespect for man's fallen nature, the lack of grace toward our fallen man, the growing trends of rule and regulations to instruct men and women on the unspoken courtesies fall into place because the modern impulse has deluded us into believing that we know more than our elders.

Our previous forebearers had many things which they needed to learn, wonders which they had not discovered or discerned, but the stable, unchangeable, invisible verities cannot be dismissed just because we have promoted the opinions of men instead of the truth.

The modern temperament, which tells us that we make our way in the world, has reverted too many people back to the tribal impulse of fitting before being left out.

The greatest need of man is acceptance, identity. This foundation has not changed. No amount of learning, innovation, or discernment can change this unchanging, undying need in man.

We are  more than our thoughts and our feelings, yet if we do not establish ourselves in something certain and stable, then our thoughts and feelings unheeded, undefined, unchecked become the final arbiter for our decisions and our values. Following from these shifting uncertainties, may will latch onto anything that is close by, for better or for worse, and to his great detriment.

Wisdom is Beyond Knowledge

"And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure." (Isaiah 33: 6)

Wisdom is a person, Jesus Christ.

"30But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:" (1 Corinthians 1: 30)

God made Light, or Wisdom, before he made anything else:

"And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." (Genesis 1:3)

and

"The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.

"I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was." (Proverbs 8: 22-23)

Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:  ) is from everlasting to everlasting, and He is our wisdom.

Yet even the older academics who challenged church dogma, they recognized that an order, a structure, a certainty existed outside of our thinking and feeling.

There can be no knowledge without Light, without the true Source, the Logos (John 1: 1) which was and is and is to come.

To discredit the beginning of all things is to discredit any exploration of things that are, or of things to come.

The older academics declared: "Credo ut intelligam" -- I believe that I may understand.

Belief is not "blind faith" but accepting what already exists, because to prove something which is obvious will then render one oblivious.

The wisdom of God is greater than the knowledge of men. In fact, men can know nothing what His wisdom to begin with, which has been since the beginning.

Ph. D. -- Petty, Hopeless and Dumb (without the Truth)

"I believe that I may understand"

Belief is not a flimsy premise, but an essential foundation which resides outside of the consciousness of mankind within his limited sphere of existence.

The older academics of the Renaissance may have questioned the status quo, but they never rejected the final authority of something greater than anything they could ask, think, or be.

The world as we know it remains a world limited by "as we know it."

Our understanding is forever limited because of our senses or the forays of our knowledge based on our senses.

The mores of our behavior are not the product of our reason, so wrote Scottish Enlightenment Skeptic David Hume. His conception of truth and understanding undid the Rationalism and the Empiricism of his day.

Descartes' "cogito" falls apart not just  because of an "I" connected to a word. The very language he was communicating in, the arguments  he was making, and the production of the book in which the writings were recorded, all had occurred before his musings occurred.

The human mind on its own cannot establish reality.

Locke, and later Berkeley, posited reality based on our senses. If all of our knowledge is based on our impressions of reality, then does one readily assume that the world disappears as soon as we close our eyes? A close-minded argument, to say the least. Yet even assuming the premise that all our knowledge is based on our impressions and sensations, then we cannot know anything at all, since the moment that I let go of something that I can hold, or stop looking at something that I cannot see, then I no longer have "empirical" knowledge of what I had discerned before.

The primacy of the human intellect falters before these glaring conclusions.

Before man could reason, he had to have a reason to reason, yet the origins of our lives and communities cannot be empirically proven or rationally deduced. As Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek posited in The Fatal Conceit, the traditions followed from instinct and preceded before human reason. Yet rationalism puts a primacy on what man thinks, or what he can think, with disastrous moral implications.

The Ph.D. degree, or the Doctor of Philosophy credential, in too many ways is based on these faulty premises. The mind of man on its own cannot generate information. Yet from the German academics of the nineteenth century, the rejection of medieval classicism gave way to the arrogance of modern progressivism. Rather than revering the eternal verities of previous teachers, who had argued that scientific inquiry will expand, but political and human interests remain eternal, Progressives believed that our understanding of the world, current respect for previous traditions, also needed to be changed.

The dissemination of learning in universities transitioned from inculcating the values of the ancients to questioning them, to rejecting them, to dismissing the very foundation of stable realities and truth. French sociologist (or historian, or psychiatrist) Michel Foucault culminated this perverse regression with "truth is a thing".

If that is the argument, then nothing has meaning, even the learning in which one engages. The eternal search for truth and stability does not change for man, even if his reason concludes that the search is both interminable and fruitless. However, man's reason at best can receive and ponder information. Creating truth and instituting ideas remain a domain outside of man's intellect, no matter how broad or deep.

Economics, like a number of academic inquiries, is a "dismal" science because the subject reduces man's capacity to understand. He can respond to the information, yet he cannot postulate different responses or suggest different ways for the world to work. They rest at best "idle speculation" or "dangerous insurrection." Some traditions and accounts cannot be changed. The mind can question or speculate, but the truth of the matter cannot change.

The Ph.D phenomenon would incite individuals to believe that they can command a wider understanding of issues and thus dismiss the interests of those "not inclined to understand."

In truth, because the graduate academic community refutes the reality that truth, traditions, and other telling elements exist outside of the scope of one man's understanding, they have embraced the very stupidity which they claim to disclaim.

Ph.D may very well me "Petty, Hopeless and Dumb" as the investigations of most researchers furrow into petty interests, specific questions touching on the slimmest of issues with at most a slight impact on our world, all premised on ideas which have no basis in reality. A "Doctor" who wishes to impart something must accept that the traditions which he questions have enabled him to possess the faculties to question them in the first place.

Otherwise, his inquiries will become "hopeless", in that they are suffused with falsehood, based on "castles in the air" assumptions which resist the very steps that they stepped on to arrive at the conclusions which they have concluded.

The research of a Ph.D which ignores the primacy of faith, which recognizes realities which cannot correspond to limit, testable verifications, will be left "dumb", having nothing intelligent to impart, and imparting nothing intelligible, since the arguments proceeded from a false foundation.

About Guns, Freedom, and "RNL's" Take on the Second Amendment

Publisher James Preston Allen comments that “the shock of the moment seems to incapacitate our rationale and confront us with our own national hypocrisy.” Yet he finishes his editorial with “We are all responsible for [the Sandy Hook Elementary] tragedy.” Irrational hypocrisy, indeed. How am I responsible for this crime, or the teachers and parents who watched little children perish, or the police who rushed to the site? If Connecticut’s “concealed carry” laws had not been frustrated by “gun free zone” exceptions, those children would have survived.

“Community Voice” Ari LeVaux repeats “F--- the NRA”, then labels it a “bullying organization”. He then argues that only one in five hunters joins that group. The Second Amendment was never about going hunting or shooting away criminals. The Second Amendment protects the individual citizen from the government. The Supreme Court confirmed this interpretation in District of Columbia v. Heller and United States v. Verdugo-Irquidez. In “Project Censored”, Random Lengths News reported that “the Obama administration’s continuation of the previous administration’s assault on civil liberties” remains in full force. So, the Framers’ concerns about Big Government as Big Bully were not as paranoid as today’s “anti-NRA” and “pro gun-control” advocates would claim. On another note, as I have written before, President Obama merely seamlessly advanced President George W. Bush policies. Obama gets praised, W. gets derided. Anyone seeing a double-standard?

Despite the “left-wing” ideological rage which slanders the NRA as a demented institution bent on supporting guns over people,  this institution helped advance civil rights. During Reconstruction, freed African-Americans supported the NRA in order to arm themselves against domestic, government-sponsored terrorism: the KKK. Despite emotional populism and cultural misinformation, Second Amendment advocates deserve recognition for standing up for gun rights. NRA President Wayne LaPierre is right: “The only way stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

Of course, if the opinions of “right wing ideologues” or “bitter people who clutch their guns and their Bibles” do not appeal to the media or political elites, then the numerous studies by academics, journalists, and think tanks from across the political spectrum may sway the undecided. From Kleck and Gertz’ comprehensive study “Armed Resistance and Gun Control” (1995), to the comprehensive review by the National Academy of Sciences, to the Cato Institute, research suggests time and again that gun control does not control guns, but prevents the “good guys” from stopping “the bad guys.”

For the record, I do not own a gun and I do hunt, but I do not like a government which takes away the rights of others, nor concur with commentators who blame “society” for the crimes of the few.

Governor Christie: Rethink Gun Control

Three police officers were just killed at a police station in Gloucester Township. Earlier, two women were shot near Essex County College. New Jersey media is stepping into the gun control debate with greater vigilance because of the recent spate of gun murders.

On ABC's "This Week" Newark Mayor Cory Booker claimed that thirty-four gun murders occur every day in the United States. Politifact.org rated the statistic as "mostly true", yet Booker neglected to distinguish between gun deaths in self-defense vs. gun-deaths perpetrated during the commission of a crime. His referenced statistic does not factor in where these gun deaths occur, whether in rural or urban areas, nor the role which the mass media has played in the spurts of mass violence in this country, or the diminished capacity of state mental institutions to house individuals with diminished capacity.

In the wake of these tragic shootings, the New Jersey state legislature pledges to enact stricter gun control laws in a state which already has one of the strictest gun laws in the country. One would expect the state legislators to exercise more restraint and discretion following the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy, especially since policy decisions following a traumatic event yield unintended consequences without necessarily enacting the intended reforms.

Governor Christie wants to advance gun control to stop these tragedies. He is showing his true colors, a gun-control advocate from his days as a federal prosecutor, most likely. No one should question his caring and concern for his constituents. On most issues, Christie leads from the right, and he is right. On the question of gun control, he is wrong.

This country certainly needs a serious debate about the gun violence manifesting in this country. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a gun-owner in a gun-owner's state with an "A"-rating from the NRA, has advised that every issue related to gun violence be put on the table. Every issue. The saturation of violence in our mass media, but also the whipped-up hysteria from media report and response must be included. The access to guns requires reviews and background checks as a measure of fitness. Still, the recent massacre at Aurora, Colorado had no prior record of criminality or insanity.
The forcible institutionalization for the mentally ill for those with diminished capacity has diminished in recent years. The Fort Hood military reported their growing concern about the religious fanaticism of army psychology Nidal Hassan, yet he remained in practice long enough to shoot his colleagues. Before that massacre, the college administrators of Virginia Tech had possessed limited authority to incapacitate student Seung-Hui Cho before he unleashed his private arsenal on the campus.

Washington D.C. had one of the highest crime rates in the country, and also one of the strictest gun laws. When the Supreme Court struck down the inhibiting individual handgun ban in the National Capital, the murder rate dropped considerably. Currently, Chicago has the strictest gun control laws in the country, and now holds the dangerous distinction of five hundred murders this year. When the US District Court struck down the city's gun ban, the crime rate began to decline. Other studies, from Kleck and Gertz of Central Florida to the National Academy of Sciences to the Cato Institute, have suggested that gun control does not diminish gun crime, while great gun access does not lead to more gun deaths. Even brandishing a weapon without firing has discouraged criminals.

Despite the negative perception of the NRA, President and CEO Wayne LaPierre's points are well taken: "The only protection against a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with gun." Not more gun control but less will protect our communities from future assailants. Removing the "gun free zone" stipulations from our schools will make them less likely targets for potential murders. Proper reforms and compromise from public sector unions would help. The crime rates in Newark have climbed past seventy homicides, in part because of massive cut backs in police. The Trentonian reported that crime rates are soaring in the wake of police cut backs, as well.

In the absence of police support, the notion that more gun control will protect New Jersey residents is just plain ludicrous. Holding back the "good guys" from possessing firearms will not prevent the "bad guys" from holding them up. Governor Christie, Mayor Cory Booker, and the New Jersey legislature must rethink their response to gun violence. Governor Christie's charge that police and fire unions refused to negotiate lower pay and pensions needs further scrutiny. Public officials need to step up and give their communities a break.

Impulsive political reforms in response to raw emotion or cultural misinformation will only exacerbate the gun violence which impacts communities without warning and without remorse. Local community leaders need to demand their right to bear arms, and demand that their local peace officers assist Trenton, Newark, and the state government with the budget demands facing everyone in New Jersey.

Response to "Sticking to their Guns"

Santa Monica Daily Press Columnist Jack Neworth indicts the “self-righteous” NRA for blaming everything but the guns for the Newtown, Connecticut massacre.  Choosing to see the gun fully-loaded against us instead of for our protection, Neworth decries the 62 mass murders in thirty years, but getting rid of the guns is not enough to undo the evil in the hearts of men, or the madness of the mentally ill who perpetrate these atrocities.

Neworths’ survey ignored the results following gun bans. In 1994, the Brady Bill outlawed assault weapons. In 1995, Oklahoma City exploded. In 1999, there was Columbine.

In 2002, the DC Sniper took down ten people in city with highly restrictive gun bans, and one of the highest murder rates. When the Supreme Court struck down the gun ban, the murder rate went down. This year, Chicago had 500 murders, and the strictest gun laws.

In 2007, the Virginia Tech murderer had worried university employees, but legal constraints prevented any preventative measures. In 2009, the same political correctness prevented military officials from committing the disturbed psychologist Nidal Hassan.

In 2012, the Aurora assailant had no prior record of criminality or insanity.

Connecticut’s “gun free zones” for public schools neutralized the “concealed carry” provisions.

. Nor to undo the declining morality and stability in this country.

 “The best defense to a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun”. LaPierre’s declaration was neither pandering  nor pendantic, but a necessary recognition of the evil in a troubled world.

His survey of the gun issue ignores two fundamental realities: this is a fallen world full of fallen people, and state power or collective action cannot root out this evil.

Bounce Boehner (But Not Because of the Fiscal Cliff)

 

John Boehner (eve of Fiscal Cliff 2012)

Congressman John Boehner (R-OH) helped lead the Republicans out of the minority back into a stunning majority rule. 2010 was the grand shellacking that rebuked President Obama's power grab. The President pushed Obamacare and Dodd-Frank, then he ignored the jobs and economic growth crises afflicting every taxpayer in this country. Boehner had a tough job ahead of him for the next two years. He had a decisive Tea Party caucus, plus a Democratic Senate to compromise with, yet for the past four years, the US Senate has done nothing but kill sensible legislation while refusing to cut spending and drastically reduce the scope of government in our lives.

The debt-ceiling debacle in 2011 helped Republicans and hurt President Obama, who has refused to lead, refused to compromise, refused every overture to get anything done in Washington. Republican Congressmen like Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina put military cuts on the table along with entitlement reform. Dan Boren (D-Oklahoma) voted to repeal Obamacare, along with David Matheson (D-Utah). Boehner was peeling away conservative Democrats, and he could have taken in more.

It's tough to be a House Speaker, especially when he represents a conference committed to limited government, yet there he stands at the helm and has to work with Democrats who want to expand government, no matter what the cost or the consequences. The speakership depends on leadership which can work behind the scenes as well as in front of the camera. Not just posturing, but purposeful positioning which brings both sides together while offering convincing reasons for doing so. The Tea Party caucus was willing to deal when necessary, but no one would have known, since the House Speaker rarely spent any time explain his views or his vision to the country.

The fiscal cliff dance has pushed Boehner into a near-impossible bind. The voters want to cut spending, the President wants to keep spending, and the Democratic majority in the Senate stays spending its days doing nothing. Boehner advanced a plan which would raise taxes on millionaires, the majority of whom support tax increases. Boehner demanded entitlement reform, too; the President refused to deal. Boehner should have called it quits with the President and dealt with Senate leadership or taken his frustrations to every talk show in the country.

Instead, the Speaker tried to pass "Plan B," which got an "incomplete," since he pulled the bill at the last minute. How could he not have known that more conservative GOP members would never deal on "Plan B"? Furthermore, his acquiescence to have a fiscal cliff in the first place was a bad move. Decisive responses needed to be in order from the beginning, but Boehner has been kicking the can down the road along with the rest of the Washington Establishment.

Boehner failed to meet with the diverse leadership in his conference or in the opposition. How many times could he have crossed over and worked with conservative Democrats to get a deal, one can only guess. If the Senate Majority leader Harry Reid refused to deal, then Boehner and the GOP needed to expose their recalcitrance to their districts and the national media. Following allegations of Boehner's "purge of conservatives" to his failure to meet and greet with conservative Democrats along with Tea Party Republicans, a caucus of Virginia Republicans are pressing their Congressman to vote out Boehner as House Speaker.

As the leader of the House of Representatives as well as the standard-bearer for the Republican Party in Congress, Boehner had a responsibility to strike every deal he could with his members, both Establishment and Tea Party types. He needed to bring his own members to the table to outline the proper strategy for the entire GOP caucus, minus the slim number of uncommitted marginal elements. He needed to reach out to the Dixiecrats in the South who would resist their own Democratic Party to respect the fiscal prudence of their constituents. He needed to influence the Presidential campaign more directly, as well, by pressing Romney to stick to one message without wavering to the left or the right after his first set of debates in 2011.

Because Boehner has settled for bickering with a President who refuses to deal, because he has been bent on getting by without getting ahead, because he has refused to bring in Democrats in the Senate as well as the House, the GOP conference in Washington has no choice but to bounce Boehner. Former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich reached out to the media and party elites outside of the Beltway. Boehner needed to do the same thing, yet he has not. Gingrich took responsibility for the GOP's poor showing in 1998 and resigned. Boehner must do the same.

Leadership depends on cautious conviction, followed by careful compromise. Boehner's convictions are caving in, and his compromise is craven. House Speaker Boehner, step down and let someone else take the lead in the House. Newt Gingrich knew when it was time for him to go. It's time for you to take the hint and butt out of House leadership.

Romney Lost Because of . . .Himself

Rabbi Steven Pruzansky of Teaneck, New Jersey rolled out a cynical, uninspiring, and ultimately inaccurate evaluation of Romney’s defeat. Even “weeping prophet” Jeremiah the prophet declared that the mighty wrath of YHWH would give way from “mourning to morning”, for “his mercies are new every morning.”

Some of the Rabbi’s points are well-taken. Americans reelected” divided government”. More than a “facile explanation, “white voters” did not show up, a devastating statistic which Pruzanksy underestimates. Granted, Mother Nature did not tether Obama to a sudden, windfall win, nor did Romney surrogate “Fatman” Chris Christie sell out his nominee. No faux “improvement” in the economy give Obama a boost. Pruzansky charges that “Obama handouts” bought the election, that a tide of “gimme now, pay back never” has taken over America, never to be turned back. Minorities hunkered down on the Democratic platform because the President looks like them and paid their way.

Pruzansky is wrong all the way. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal rightly went on the attack after Romney claimed that “Obama came bearing gifts” won him the Presidency.“47%” included retirees on Social Security and pensioned veterans (former US Senator John Sununu in Time Magazine had softened the blow of this harsh statistic, still alarming, yet not parasitic). No one can say with a straight face that they define the“Welfare kings and queens” who voted for Obama in droves. Such elitist, cynical pessimism is insulting.

Regarding bought minorities, immigrants who push their way through the line legally cannot be bought. Cuban-American US Senator-Elect Ted Cruz of Texas posed the glaring and glorious question: “Have you even seen a Hispanic panhandler?” Not George W. Bush, who won 44% of the Hispanic vote in 2004. Today,“W.” is teaching the GOP “Minority Outreach 101”. About low information voters, Linsday Lohan supported Romney (not the greatest example, but she represents the white “low information voter”). An African-American Latina who supported Romney, Hollywood actress Stacey Dash appeared on The View and got Hollywood Hell for her independence and integrity.

Then the Rabbi defended Romney by inferring that the Republicans could not have found a better candidate , that Romney ran his best campaign. Yes, they could have. No, he did not. Oy vey! These canards must be shot down, stuffed, and pilloried without avail.

Despite Romney’s seven years of campaigning, 2008 GOP candidate McCain had called Romney the “real candidate of change” for his many flip-flops. The moderate-to-RINO New York Times columnist David Brooks chuckled when Romney claimed the conservative helm at the 2008 Republican convention. From July 2011 to April 2012, Romney coasted (or roasted?) along at 22%, while one GOP contender after another hovered around rankings. The National GOP insisted on stringing out the primary process. Establishment and grassroots dueled over “Romney vs. Anyone But”.

Romney was “severely” unreal and out of place at the 2012 Conservatives PAC convention. Krauthammer called the 2012 candidates “a weak field.” Townhall.com blogger Brian Hawkins set up“NoRomney.com”.  Romney bet “$10,000” that he win, followed by “self-deportation”. RomneyCare (the blueprint for Obamacare) was tied to the former Massachusetts Governor’s neck like a dead, blue elephant. Seventh in the ranking for months, former Senator Rick Santorum bounced ahead (barely) in Iowa. The attorney General of Virginia switched his endorsement from Romney to Santorum midway during the primary season. Santorum’s sweater vests and etch-a-sketching lasted until the Great Lakes primaries. A Big Government, No Child Left Behind, Amtrak, Medicare Part B Senator (i.e, George W. Bush sans accent), Santorum held on for four months, but dropped out when the money ran out.

Romney sat out the summertime, while Obama burned up his record at Bain Capital.” Romney was a no-show in Ohio. The GOP Convention faithful got a bigger charge out of “Dirty Hairy” talking dirty to an empty chair. Obama editorialized Romney’s editorial as “Detroit go bankrupt”. Only “Late Show” David Letterman despised Obama’s depraved mendacity. Former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu did all the punching on MSNBC and CNN. Romney “French-kissed” Obama during the final debate.

After November 6^th, one party spokesman admitted to me: “Romney was not my first choice or my second choice.” I had concurred in press and by word of mouth. Ron Paul was first, followed by “the Republican reptile” Newt Gingrich.  Another South Bay Republican accommodated:  Romney was “best of show” out of “not so much”.

But the biggest reason why Romney lost was. . . Romney. His own son acknowledged that “Dad” did not want to be President. He only ran again out of obligation. Flip-flopping within before flip-flopping from Bay State governor to Nationwide challenger: Romney was, a mixed messenger who did not believe his message. Neither did we. From “47%” to “Binders full of women” to ducking questions with “Ask my church” on CNN, Romney played defense in a game that he did not want to win.

Romney’s mediocre loss is hope for the GOP. The messenger failed, not the message. 2012 was an aberration and a course correction. GOP Captivity can turn into restoration. “Mourning” will become “Morning” in 2014. A leader who wants to win will win in 2016.

Scott Brown for Senate, and a Better GOP

US Senator Scott Brown

US Senator Scott Brown represents what all United States legislators should represent. He overcame an abusive childhood. He worked his way through law school. He knows what it's like to endure poverty, but he also knows what it takes to get people out of poverty into prosperity, not through government handouts with other people's money while stealing away opportunity because of "the soft bigotry of low expectations."

Brown is working class, army bred. He cares about his family. He has not sold out to Wall Street, not does he juggle derivatives. He is as far removed from "financier" and "chandelier" as the next guy, nor does he do what the Party Establishment tells him to do. He's not afraid to criticize members of his own party. He told Todd Akin of Missouri to step down from his US Senate Race because of the Congressman's views on pregnancy, rape, and abortion. Brown is a pure centrist, making the most of a tough situation brought on by Washington and poor leadership from both parties. He is bipartisan. He works with both sides of the aisle. We need his balance of core principles and careful compromise. Brown represents the future of the GOP, a "Live and Let Live" Republican who knows how most of us live, yet wants to let us live our lives as we see fit.

The Republican brand took quite a beating in the Bay State. The leader of "Red Mass", "edfactor", opined on his blog "The Mass GOP is. . . dead". He also identified a series of steps that the Massachusetts and the entire New England GOP can do to bring back their numbers:
"I think we need to talk about what coalitions will get behind Republican ideas
before we talk about party registration numbers."

Absolutely. Many black Americans find that they agree with conservative principles first, then they become Republicans. The same is just as true for Hispanics and other minority groups. For good reason, the Mass GOP leader writes: "I think we need to become much more inclusive." His most salient remark, one which I believe the majority of Bay State voters would agree on, follows: "I think we need, more than anything else, to distinguish ourselves from the national GOP."

Rather than targeting the national GOP as a nebulous whole, no one can ignore that the Party's standard-bearers in 2012 were not strong: Mitt Romney and John Boehner, who either said too much or said nothing at all. Romney ran to his right, which left him out of step with centrists and independent. Recently, one of his sons admitted what most GOP operatives felt in their gut: Romney did not really want to be President. He had the head for the race, but not the heart. Beyond the transition from his previous moderate record to the more conservative policies in the 2012 election, the flip-flop of Romney's heart and soul sold him out before November 6th. As for the House Speaker, Boehner has refused to take the lead or the message to the country about a recalcitrant Democratic President or Senate which are leading this country backward into second-tier financial status. He has not brought the disparate members of his caucus together, and he looked down-right desperate after his "Plan B" got an "incomplete".

Regarding the disjunction between the Northeast with the rest of the country, the National GOP needs to extinguish its former "Southern Strategy" mentality and embrace a "Fifty-State Strategy " as former Vermont Governor Howard Dean crafted together after the Democrats' poor showing in 2004. A more inclusive, less rigid, more independent GOP must become, and Brown can bring the New England GOP brand back from the "six-feet-under-ground" foundering that the GOP suffered. He can also teach the National Party Establishment a thing or to about compromise, tolerance, and integrity. Anyone with sense or self-respect should disdain the empty rhetoric which preaches "Obama won because he gave gifts." There can be no greater gift that bringing a man out of poverty and teaching him to stand and run. The government does not have to dictate a citizen's path forward, nor can the government pay every man's way with another person's money.

Senator John Kerry's nomination for Secretary of State may remain a mystery to some pundits. Ben Nelson (D) of Nebraska or George Voinovich (R) of Ohio would have also qualified as centrist nominees that could break through the US Senate's partisan gridlock. However, Kerry is ready to do the job, and his advancement would make Scott Brown's reelection all the more open and welcome. Brown deserves to be reelected to the US Senate. He can bring along a political party reestablished on a positive vision of respect for the states and the individual, one which honors choice and limited government, one which will honor the diversity that makes this country great without grating on the same distinctions to the hurt of other nation-wide candidates.

TEA Party no Longer Partying

I supported the TEA Party elements of cutting spending, limiting government, and reinstating Constitutional rule.

The movement has drifted from the pragmatic to the problematic.

In the last two election cycles, TEA Party activists have killed successful primary candidates for the general election, and shoo-in Republicans have lost out.

The GOP needs to ally the Tea Party and the Establishment elements in this country.

We have seen the results of limited government libertarianism pushed to its limits: Barry Goldwater. Yet like the majority of libertarians, the argument for less government must be replaced with more of something else.

His signature quote defines where reform can turn into self-righteous indignation:

"I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!"

"Extremism" is a violation of liberty. "A pursuit of justice" can never be moderate", nor should we center our lives on attaining just at all costs. The final rendering in a case or a conflict cannot be the defining future of man.

And a representative Democracy cannot be based on extreme approaches to anything, nor justice as a means or an end for everything, to begin with.

Just telling people that the government is not supposed to do anything creates more fear than regard. God has established authorities in our lives, and they carry the sword for a reason, whether they do poorly or not does not have to affect or wrongly influence us (Romans 13: 1-7)

Like Progressives, Libertarians of the Goldwater variety espouse a vision in which men and women are ruled in a more complete fashion. For Progressives, the state would adjudicate everything, a concrete version of Rousseau's "General Will". Libertarians want government removed entirely so that men and women can be led from within by their own will.

Only through the power of the Holy Spirit can such leading and prospering emerge. The Holy Spirit governs throughout the world, outside of man, nations, and time itself. The Holy Spirit prompts men and women from within, so that they do not have to depend on outside authorities to lead and prosper them.

The governance of the Holy Spirit cannot be dictated by the state or through force. The extremism of liberty and the moderation of justice will never exist in any country.

The absolutist libertarian impulse refuses to recognize anything but the most minimal authority in the lives of the private citizen. Murray Rothbard advanced a theory of complete private governance. Such a scheme runs contrary to Scripture.

Goldwater lost by the largest margin for a Republican Presidential candidate in US History. Romney's loss was not nearly as bad, but it was egged on by this notion by TEA Party elements which just want to cut, cut, cut.

There is no cutting outright unless there is something to replace it. Life is more than fighting for one's rights, and the alarmism which sponsors people to engage in vitriol to  make one's point vitiates at the same time.

I attended a TEA Party rally in Torrance, CA just one week before the 2012 Presidential election. I felt threatened and out of place. I did not like the sense of vitriol which I perceived from some of the members, although I respect their respect for the Constitution and Limited Government. But just as Reagan's rhetoric about "Government is the Problem" could not excuse him from working within government, so too shouting "Taxed Enough Already" will not get the message through without accepting that even in the  most secure and respected of stances on issues, compromise must play a part.

The primary challenges over the past two cycles have kicked out moderates or liberal Republicans instead who would have won the seat. Granted, Republicans like Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe favored spending, though not as much as the Democrats, it was Olympia Snowe on the Senate Finance Committee who worked with two other Republicans (Chuck Grassley and Mike Enzi) to work with three other Democrats to come up with something. The comity on that committee is sorely needed yet sorely lacking in Washington today.

Yes, our leaders must shrink the government, but we cannot shrink the citizenry in the process. Yes, we need to respect the Constitution, but the Constitution was put in place to help form a "more perfect union", not foster private, uncaring disunity among the disparate elements and interests. Government is instituted to protect our rights. Do we know what those rights are? Have we outlined how the expansion of rights without natural law has crippled the rights accorded to us in the Amendments of the Constitution?

The proliferation of rights by judicial, administrative, or legislative fiat is wrong, but the right to organize, to practice one's faith, to express one's opinion, to pursue happiness: those rights cannot be removed, and our government needs to protect them. As for "Big Government" or "Government Helping People", let the states and the cities do that job: they do it, and they do it better. The TEA Party made their points in 2010, and now they have to allow their leaders to govern. The libertarian-progressive pursuit of the perfect or ideal candidate will never come. A tax increase with real spending cuts is the way to go.

Another Letter to Evangelical Voters

During the final two weeks of the 2012 election, I was surprised by the number of people whom I called who told me that they were praying for Craig Huey and Mitt Romney to win the election.

Do they not know and believe that they are seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus? Do they not know or believe that all of our enemies are being brought under our feet?

"And [God] hath put all things under his [Jesus'] feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." (Ephesians 1: 22-23)

We are seated in Christ at the right hand of the Father:

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" (Ephesians 2: 4-6)

To many believers in the Body of Christ want to change our leadership. They are convinced that they must influence who sits in power in Washington, in Sacramento, or in our local communities.

Yet all authority comes from God:

"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God." (Romans 13: 1)

So, what are we supposed to do, then?

"Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. 6For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. 7Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour." (Romans 13: 5-7)

"For conscience sake" does not refer to the conscience of the believer, for our conscience has been perfected in Christ:

"1For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 2For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins." (Hebrews 10: 1-2)

and then

"For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." (Hebrews 10: 14)

"For conscience sake" refers to other people, who may interpret our freedom in Christ as licnense to rebel against all authority, just as some Jews for conscience sake would not eat food offered to idols, since they were still tranfering from the Old  Covenant to the New.

Should believers retire from the public square? Of course not! Get out there and tell people what you believe, and let people know that you support certain candidates, or none, because of the values you chose to stand by. Perhaps it would be best, though, not to endorse candidates in connection with one's religious affiliations. Like grace through faith, one's choice for who to vote for is a private matter, one which should never be conflated with one's standing in righteousness.

If Evangelical voters want to influence this world, their country, and their communities, then preach the Gospel, tell people that through Christ they can receive remission of sins and justification from all that they could not be justified through the Law of Moses. For our government will only reflect what we our country, our culture, and our citizenry reflect, nothing more, nothing less.

However, in no wise should we fear whoever is in office. Christ is our peace, not the President, not the Governor, not the Legislature. It is disconcerting to read and hear from so many believers that they connect their peace and prosperity to the person in office.

Let us all meditate on the first verses of the first Psalm:

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

"But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." (Psalm 1: 1-3)

We are blessed not as a result of not walking in ungodly counsel, or standing with sinners, or sitting with scorners, but blessed people just do not associated with such cursed people.

What does the blessed man do? He meditates on the Word. We have the Word living in us, Jesus (Colossians 1: 27), and His Spirit flows in us, leading us in righteousness, peace, and joy (Romans 14: 17)

For every Evangelical voter, your "job" is to believe on Him whom the Father has sent, Jesus! Do you not see Him as greater than your past, your present, your future? Do you not see Him as the Savior who saves you every day? Then there is no reason to pray to God to change the course of an election from a posture of fear, but from a stance of hope and peace, knowing that whoever wins, God's blessings will flow in your life.