American Revolution Two

Last week, in an effort to further unite conservatives and remind us of our core beliefs,  over 80 conservative leaders representing millions of conservatives convened to sign “The Mount Vernon Statement.” The statement is “a declaration of leadership for a new generation of conservatives that defines the principles, values and beliefs of the conservative movement.”

In 1960, a similar document called “The Sharon Statement” was signed by the conservative movement’s leaders of the day and was a striking composition of American  governance and Constitutional Conservatism.

Both statements, though different in style and nature, are remarkable in their clarity and simplicity. I highly encourage you to read both of these brief statements for an inspiring reminder of what I call “the empowering realities of conservatism.”

For a primer, here are two of my favorite excerpts:

From the Sharon Statement:

“…That when government interferes with the work of the market economy, it tends to reduce the moral and physical strength of the nation; that when it takes from one man to bestow on another, it diminishes the incentive of the first, the integrity of the second, and the moral autonomy of both;”

From the Mount Vernon Statement:

“A Constitutional conservatism unites all conservatives through the natural fusion provided by American principles. It reminds economic conservatives that morality is essential to limited government, social conservatives that unlimited government is a threat to moral self-government, and national security conservatives that energetic but responsible government is the key to America’s safety and leadership role in the world.”

Read the complete statements here:
The Sharon Statement
The Mount Vernon Statement

Though certainly not comprehensive or all-encompassing, these statements serve as a great starting point to much wider and deeper study. And we must undertake a disciplined study of these bedrock principles as the articulation of these “empowering realities” will become ever more important. For freedom to survive and America to thrive, we must communicate with absolute conviction, bold courage and authentic patriotism these eternal truths.

Here are three excellent places to dive deeper:
The Essential Liberty Project
The Acton Institute
The Heritage Foundation

The empowering realities of conservatism: Educate. Invigorate. Liberate.

“My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do, for the freedom of man.”  – John F. Kennedy

When disaster strikes, it’s America that is first on the call list. When extraordinary resources, technology, and military strength is needed, the leader of the free world is always first to respond. I’m proud of that. We should respond first. We have the ability and the resources to save lives and so we should. But what if we didn’t?

The disaster in Haiti is uncommon in its degree of total devastation. The suffering and death caused by the earthquake of Jan. 12 is dreadful. Can you imagine for a moment, how different the emergency response and recovery would be without the United States? What if we just didn’t exist? Who would they turn to? Mexico? Canada? Venezuela?

It’s an important exercise to ponder this scenario, because the world would be very different without the Untied States. It would be a much colder, darker world, undoubtedly a lot less free and prosperous. How much of Europe would still be under Nazi control if not for the United States? Would man have reached the moon? Cured polio? Discovered electricity? How long would it have taken to put man in flight? Would anyone have been able to create our unprecedented quality of life empowered by unbridled freedom, self-governance, and the rule of law?

And yet, we are no doubt unpopular and often despised by those we assist and support with billions of aid, along with development, humanitarian, and military assistance. We’ve been supporting Haiti for many years and unfortunately it has not helped our relationship or their support for us, especially in the U.N. According to the Heritage Foundation, Haiti received $1.15 billion in aid from the U.S. from 1999-2006. From 2000-2007, they voted with us in the U.N. only 19.8% of the time. (Click here to read an excellent piece on how U.S. Foreign aid recipients vote at the U.N.)

Despite this disparity, I know a lot of people are determined to get down there to help and that’s the American way. But I also hope and pray that we don’t squander this opportunity to empower lasting change. Our State Department should be putting enormous pressure on the government of Haiti to clean up its systemic corruption and make concrete steps towards a system of government where basic human rights, freedom, and prosperity can thrive. We should expect nothing less, or the state of poverty and suffering of the Haitian people will continue despite the billions of aid and the countless man hours and resources we pour into it. 
(Click here to see where Haiti stands on the Index of Economic Freedom – this is very telling.)

It’s ultimately up to the Haitian government to save its people. Will we hold them accountable? Or will we continue to enable corruption and the status quo of poverty and suffering? (Case in point: It is precisely the corruption & negligence of the Haitian government that made this disaster so much worse and resulted in such catastrophic loss of life – read here for an explanation.)

I hope America continues to be first on the call list, but maybe we should reassert JFK’s notion of accountability and partnership when it comes to bringing aid and freedom to our fellow humans around the world…

Call  me crazy, but I think I’ve been hit with an arrow from Cupid’s political side. In the spirit of Valentines Day, I’ve set out to name five reasons to love Barack Obama and send him a Valentine this year. (Why not a “top ten”, you ask? Oh come on, I might be crazy, but…)

5.  I love Obama for giving us history buffs an easy pick…
When historians try to determine the worst president in our history, they will have an easy go at it. In fact, it will be much like trying to determine the greatest receiver in NFL history – which is never really the question. The real question is who is second to Jerry Rice. With only a year of his term in the books he has more failures, gaffes, double speak, damaging decisions and disgraceful actions than could fill an epic volume like Gone with the Wind. Trying to list them all here would be nearly impossible – unless you wanted a 10,000 word post…

4. I love Obama for showing us what an American President is NOT…
It’s a fantastic lesson, really! In case anyone had a question about what is and isn’t presidential, we now have the perfect poster child – and I mean child. His immature refusal to take responsibility for any of his failures, his narcissism (i.e. saying “I” 96 times in his 70 minute SOTU address), his arrogance & condescension, and his sheer inexperience and incompetence on display on a daily basis is breathtaking. Throw in his use of TV appearances (i.e. late night), the teleprompter (see last week’s post), his World apology tour, not to mention his shunning of our allies and catering to our enemies, and we have an astounding picture of everything an American president is NOT supposed to be. (Did I mention his radical anti-American, anti-Capitalist, anti-life views?)

3. I love Obama for showing us what true Leftist ideology is all about.
Seriously, has it ever been more clear? Obama’s obsession with control and consolidating as much power in the federal government as possible is striking and about as conspicuous as two love birds on a date. Not only do we have record breaking deficits, unemployment and national debt, we have a radical agenda in plain view – government-run healthcare, state-run banking, auto and financial industries, advancing the abortion and gay agendas, massive tax increases, the bullying of private citizens, the redistribution of wealth, war on the private sector and cozying up with the likes of thug dictator, Hugo Chavez…

2. I love Obama for igniting the largest and most significant conservative movement in our history. The sheer speed at which he’s tried to enact his socialist policies has forced millions of Americans to choose between liberty or tyranny. The stark contrast between his view of America and the one held by most patriotic, freedom loving Americans is stunning. The evidence of this conservative ascendancy is ubiquitous – the Tea Party movement, Conservative candidates winning in dark blue states, the rejection of gay marriage in California and other states, tremendous growth in membership of conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation, the star power of Sarah Palin, etc.

1. I love Obama for giving us a golden opportunity for real change…
For the first time in a long time, we’ve got a genuine opportunity to enact restorative change – the kind of change that we’ve been needing after decades of unchecked Liberalism and creeping Statism. Every administration since FDR (raw deal) has grown government. We’ve been the proverbial frog in hot water, excepting this program and that regulation – all in the name of compassion & progress. In reality, we’ve been losing our freedoms and eroding the Constitution, while the moral fabric of our nation has been ripped apart by the Left’s unceasing class warfare and injection of political correctness. Instead of a continuing erosion effect, we’ve had an earthquake of sorts to arouse and stir the American spirit to finally fight back.

What about you? Can you think of additional reasons to love Obama and send him a Valentine?

Political correctness has become a deadly censorship that must be stopped if America is to survive as a nation. It is our nation’s number one enemy and poses a greater threat than Osama Bin Laden and the Islamic Jihadists. It is political correctness that prevents us from clearly understanding and properly identifying this enemy. It keeps us from calling a spade a spade, and thus pandering to evil. Political correctness enables appeasement and passivity to a dangerous and dreadful degree as exemplified by the Jihadist attack killing 13 at Ft. Hood, Texas.

In order to break free from this prison of political correctness in which we have locked ourselves, we must first see it for what it is. We hear about it constantly, but I believe a clouded understanding of it keeps us bowing to its demands, and thus enshrouded in fear.

Political correctness has been defined in many different ways. One of the most accurate was expressed by President Bush (the elder) when he wrote on a blog after the Ft. Hood attack, “The notion of political correctness declares certain topics, certain expressions, even certain gestures, off-limits. What began as a crusade for civility has soured into a cause of conflict and even censorship.”

Political correctness has ultimately created a state of fear preventing the expression of truth. People do not communicate what they really think or believe for fear of offending others. This is the essence of this cowardly phenomenon that is, at its core, a lie.

It is also completely backwards if looked at in a rational sense. If I allow poltical correctness to be a factor in my interactions with others, then what I am actually communicating to them is that I don’t think they have the strength and confidence of character to appreciate and respect another person’s opinions, beliefs and convictions, if they happen to think or believe differently. 

In other words, political correctness is an insult to another person’s inherent self confidence and self worth – it is a veiled condescension. The person attempting to be politically correct is basically saying, “I think you’re too fragile to deal with something different, and therefore I will put on kid gloves and cater to your weakness.”

Summarily, the manner or posture of political correctness should be offensive to those it is meant to “protect.”

What is the consequence of such absurdity? A severely weakened citizenry. A nation of timid souls and sheepish people. We are relegated to keeping quiet and passive in the face of injustice and evil. Guy Rodgers, Executive Director of American Congress for Truth, may have said it best:

“…a culture of political correctness actively fostered in academia, government, the media, and in the military and law enforcement, has created a climate of fear in this country that has not only compromised our safety and security, but compromised our cherished ideals of a free press and free speech. It has also produced an unwillingness, and even an inability, to accurately define our enemy. This has left us highly vulnerable to the creeping advance of “cultural Jihad” and the infiltration of government, media, academia, and the entertainment industry by committed Islamists whose ultimate objective is the downfall of our constitutional form of government and the imposition of Islamic shariah law.”

Thus is the state of our current prison sentence. We must break free or America will fall. Doing so will require bold speech and action in the face of persecution. The unvarnished truth must be championed and touted by every God-fearing, red-blooded American, every day and in every way.

May God help us speak the truth in love, for it is the only thing that will set us free…