The President’s campaign theme was simple but effective because it found a receptive ear in the general populace. The campaign placards simply said “Change” or sometimes “Change we can believe in.” He suggested one such change in the course of his victory speech. It was subtle and important. He described our nation’s timeless creed as “Yes we can.” A creed can be timeless only if varying political opinions, mores or traditions cannot change it, meaning no matter how much things change around and in us our belief in the what the creed says never changes. I suppose the president’s formulation cannot change. It is so general. It’s like saying: “We can change” or “Yes we are” or “Yes we will.” What we are left with is an amoral call to action, just like the omni-present, value-free, urge to embrace “change.” As if changing anything we can change is the tonic for America’s perceived ills. But this is not our timeless creed.
To set the record straight, our creed is not some general, emotive, affirmation; it is a statement conceived in principle and purchased with blood. It is the Declaration of Independence. This act of independence, expressed through a document dated July 4, 1776, cannot be changed or amended; it is truly timeless. The Declaration is the historical event which created our country. And to deny it is like a child denying it has parents. Our true creed is as different from the new creed as patriotic cries from airy feeling, sacrifice from good intentions, medicine from placebos. Let the inspiring Dr. King remind us of the core tenet of our Declaration: “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.’” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963.
On the night of November 5, 2008 with all the world his stage, President Obama could have recited those heroic words of Dr. King. He could have inspired many with our true American creed. Indeed, our belief that all men are created equal is why people from all over the world want to come to our country. They want to believe in our creed even before becoming Americans, even before setting one foot here. They become Americans by their very desire for the freedoms we enjoy. They see America as the land of freedom and opportunity because of the principle of equality. They believe that everyone, no matter who they are or where they are from, has a fair chance to be happy. Those Declaratory words that surged through our Revolutionary parents and moved their minds and limbs to throw off the stiff yoke of England reach through time and beyond our shores to the farthest deserts and mountain reaches of earth.
Why didn’t the president follow the path of Dr. King? What is consistent between Dr. King and the Declaration is an acknowledgement of the natural law. This is the intellectual bond, or shall we say heritage that was passed from our Declaration to Frederick Douglass all the way to Dr. King, Supreme Court Justice Thomas and Dr. Alveda King, the niece of Dr. King, an outspoken proponent for the pro-life cause. Where does the president stand in this heritage? Outside of it. From the articulation of his campaign positions and goals and the adoption of a new American creed, it is clear that an understanding of the natural law is not the intellectual heritage of our new president. Rather, his heritage is one of pragmatic moralism, or more simply, relativism in pursuit of power. How else do we explain the urbane dismissal of the aborted born alive infant with the oh-so generous promise of a lonely comfort room but no comforting arms, no human touch for the defenseless, gasping human? The former Illinois state senator’s position was the product of intellect in service of the quest for power. (Welcome to the gentle barbarism of the progressive elite.) How else do we explain an agreement to sit down as if with equals those who would proclaim the deaths of millions of innocent Jewish lives as their national imperative? The answer is accomodation for the sake of power and position. And the past associations between our president-elect and various sophisticated ruffians are but another reflection of this feature of his intellectual heritage – these individuals promised access to political power and backing in corrupt Chicago. Such a heritage is not surprising. It lives and feeds on minds in our leading educational institutions, where teaching begins with a winking nod about searching for the truth and graduates with lettered disdain for the very concept of truth.
Which leads us to the tragic irony of our president. His election certainly is welcome and wondrous for it proclaims the end of effects of slavery. Yes his moral relativism leads us one step closer to an even more sinister form of slavery, one which results in the abolition of mankind. His vigorous embrace of embyronic stem cell research is no more and no less than the enslavement of one distinct human life unto his or her destruction for the benefit of another.
I am borrowing the phrase “abolition of man” from the brief and genius work by C.S. Lewis written in 1943 titled the same. The insight of Prof. Lewis was that man’s power over nature inevitably becomes some men’s power over other men. The starkest example of that is the technology of contraception which simply denies existence to a generation, or, through more precise techniques, selects whom in a generation should survive and whom should not. The timing of that book seems to be no accident. Shortly after World War II, it became clear that German scientists had energetically carried out their belief that some people were best used as experiments for the benefit of more deserving members of society. The categorization of “deficient” humans and the ghastly details of the experiments so meticulously recorded by that cruel regime are enough to shock even the 21st century mind.
Yet it turns out that these scientists were merely before their time and had not the technological advances to show the world in a more refined way the real benefit their philosophy could bring to the world. Their time has come. As the junior senator from Illinois, the president was a co-sponsor of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007, the effect of which would allow “excess” embryos from fertility treatments to be used in research. And let’s revisit the then-senator’s statement regarding an earlier piece of legislation he promoted in 2006: “Embryonic stem cells can be obtained from a number of sources, including in vitro fertilization. At this very moment, there are over 400,000 embryos being stored in over 400 facilities throughout the United States. The majority of these are reserved for infertile couples. However, many of these embryos will go unused, destined for permanent storage in a freezer or disposal. We should expand and accelerate research using these embryos, just as we should continue to explore the viability of adult stem cell use and cord blood use.” Sen. Barack Obama, Statement of Support for Stem Cell Research, Monday, July 17, 2006. The president supports the use of excess human life for the benefit of others.
Some philosophers or moralists will argue that this excess life is not a “person.” That is a semantic fog fit for the weak mind. Our scientific understanding of what happens at conception and through nourishment of the zygote shines through and dispels any fog, namely, that a unique, individual boy or girl comes about with all the distinguishing features of eye color, hair color, shape of nose, shape of ears, shape of feet, sound of laugh, sound of cough, sound of the future “I love you mama” . . . sound of life, ready to come to full blossom only through nourishment in the womb.
Yes we can . . . ? Let’s try: Yes we can – cure Alzeihmers through repeated experimentation with embryos. Or, why not hypothesize the following: Assume that our erstwhile scientists really believe that the most potent form of stem cells are in the late-term fetus. Now, since the aborted born alive are so much living waste, why not put that excess to use? Reformulated the creed is: Yes we can – cure Alzheimers through repeated experimentation with aborted born alive humans. There is no material distinction between the first and the second proposition. None at all. In fact, given the president’s focus on being efficient with “excess” human life, the second is almost required. Instead of a comfort room, we would mandate that a hospital administer death-causing agents so the born alive can be used in the research wing of that same hospital. And since medical poison might affect the cell tissues of the infant, what this will come down to is suffocation by a comfort pillow. Now that’s real change. Though not change we want to believe in.
The allure of the president’s new American creed is that it resonates with every American’s natural optimism. We are the “can-do” nation. Nations admire “American know-how.” So of course we like to hear and want to believe that we can overcome obstacles, we can together make real change for the good. But no one wants change at the expense of our true American creed: We believe that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. All have equal dignity. No man is deserving of slavery. And no man should be the tool of another.
Are we embarrassed to be the best? Are we supposed to yield to other nations when we hold the light of freedom? Last I looked, we were the only ones to land on the moon, touch Mars, send ourselves beyond our solar system, zealously protect religious and political freedom, feed the hungry the world over, topple modern dictators and abusers of women and children. We and only we.
And now we are supposed to take this idea that the likes of Red China, and Former Red Russia will displace us? The likes of rulers who stamp out followers of Falun Gong or assasinate Politksaya just for pursuing the truth? No and never no. To cede world leadership to these wealthy Pol Pots is to cede the future of humanity to the few who want to control our dreams, our lives, our very bodies.
Rise up America. Throw off your debt-induced stupor. Shake off the blandishments of the envious and the harassment of those whom we shook off when we started over 200 years ago.
Our Governor brings this sentiment home in her speeches, her writings and her actions. Her latest Facebook entry at http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=148659543434 is very practical — let’s responsibly develop our vast resources and take away the leverage of those who would enslave the world.
As of 11:45 am Eastern time, Mrs. Palin has 906,725 Facebook supporters. Let’s make it a million! There isn’t any doubt that once her book hits the shelves popular interest in her life story will grow and approval of her will also grow. We eagerly await the publication and her account of her accomplishments, challenges, and failures as well as her roguish skewering of all the critics and haters.
In a word, she is our mother. In a few more words, she is the expression and in many ways the attainment of the highest aspirations of man: Freedom, family, security, wealth, unparalleled human accomplishments in politics, science, art, medicine, education, technology, sports, entrepreneurship, protector of the weak, defender of the oppressed — this is who we are. This is the greatest nation on the earth.
No doubt other countries are excellent in their ways, but if we are not going to be shamelessly proud of our country, no one will. And it is important, so important that we are for without the light and hope of freedom we bring, without the incredible innovative powers of our people, without our tireless generosity, without the promise of religious and political freedom which we offer to the entire world and which is captured in that golden torch on Ellis Island — all the world suffers.
Our Governor is unapologetically proud of who we are and who we have been. And we stand with Sarah Louise Heath Palin, descendant of the Pilgrims, in her unwavering voice for America here and abroad.
The Wall Street Journal reported here http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125368057547633229.html#mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLTopStories, on its review of a recording of Mrs. Palin’s wide-ranging keynote address at the CLSA investors forum. From the description by the Journal, the Governor was true to her limited government, free market principles. For example, she pointed the finger at the Fed for the recent financial crisis. According to the Journal:
Mrs. Palin blamed the U.S. Federal Reserve’s low interest-rate policy of previous years for setting the stage for last year’s global financial crisis. She opposed appointing the Fed as the chief overseer of systemic risk in the U.S. financial system. “The words ‘fox’ and ‘henhouse’ come to mind. The Fed’s decisions have created the bubble,” she said.
There is indeed a perception that heavy-handed Federal interference pushed banks into higher risk lending practices which were at the core of the financial meltdown. She also proposed the elimination of the estate tax and capital gains tax and predicted this would reinvigorate the US economy. She stuck close to free trade principles and differed with the Administration regarding the recent tariff tiff between US and China. Though she also exposed the West’s self-delusion regarding a freer China:
She said greater political openness in China could help soothe tensions. “Many believed that with China liberalizing its economy, greater political freedom would follow, but that hasn’t happened,” she said. “The more open [China] is, the less we’ll be concerned about the military buildup and its intentions.”
All in all, the Governor appears to have given a solid address. Congratulations to her!
According to breitbart.com, Mrs. Palin’s speech will be closed to the media because the speech sponsor, CLSA (part of the French bank, Credit Agricole) did not want her to adapt her remarks for the media. Breitbart reports that it is not uncommon for the CLSA event to be closed door for that very reason. See http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.9773a6028cbfd3f93a04aa1f37c2801f.551&show_article=1.
Typical liberal media response? — whine and moan — “She won’t let us in” or they just keep on with the trash talk like at huffingpost.com which suggests that the speech may be a comic relief stunt in the “Borat” style. See: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/02/sarah-palins-clsa-speech_n_274951.html. As if the 1,000 attendees, the Washington Speakers Bureau, and CLSA were all in on the gag. It is really incredible how stupid people can be when all they have is the thin gruel of spite and hate to feed their writing. CNN casts but a scant veil over its snide attitude, but it does helpfully quote the communications director of CLSA:
“What we look to do is invite our keynote speakers who we feel are opinion makers, who are newsworthy and who we feel our clients — a very broad international client base — would be interested in hearing from,” [Simone] Wheeler said Monday, noting that CLSA is a politically neutral, independent brokerage. “We certainly believe that Sarah Palin will be — she has been in the news — we believe that she will continue to be a newsmaker in the future and therefore someone we feel that is definitely of interest to fund managers.” http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/22/palin.hongkong/index.html?eref=rss_latest.
Given what our Governor has been able to accomplish with her recent Facebook and op-ed commentary on healthcare, Ms. Wheeler’s comments are well-founded.
Now, how are all of us who weren’t invited to the speech going to find out what the Governor said? There is a section on the Washington Speakers Bureau website for “Remarks” from their speakers. See: http://www.washingtonspeakers.com/speakers/speaker.cfm?SpeakerID=6467. Perhaps that will be a good place to check out after tomorrow.
We wish you well Governor. We know you will enlighten and inspire and that this but the beginning of many successful engagements. We wish you safe travels home.
We are entering dangerous waters now. It appears as a matter of public relations that the White House and some leading Democrats have backed away from the Government-run healthcare option. But this is exactly the moment that conservatives should not relax or relent. Backroom political dealing, Pelosi-Reid arm-twisting and strident supporters of socialized medicine shouting away at the President could change what appears to be an important victory into a most subtle, yet insidious, defeat.
Now is not the time to relax. Now is the time to push forward with ideas and options that reduce Federal intervention in our healthcare choices. Now is the time to shine a light on the monstrous shadow of unfunded Medicare liabilities. Now is the time to let free market principles, like cross-state competition, reinvigorate our country. The multitudes of tea party demonstrators who marched in Washington last Saturday are just the people to continue the fight until the anathema of socialized healthcare and all its support in the halls of power are truly dead.
The events of September 11, 2001 were evil, cowardly, tragic and heroic. No one of us can ever fully comprehend how our lives were changed. And though we will always remember the sadness and evil of that day, the goodness and courage that we showed shines through and parts those dark clouds. Here is one blogger’s tribute to an NYFD Lt: http://raymondpronk.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/project-2996-remembering-lt-vincent-gerard-halloran/. It is very moving and it just one of the many stories of that day eight years ago. Our Governor too offered a heartfelt tribute and charge: http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=24718773587 She knows as only a mother can know about the dangers her son faces as he battles for America.
May we remain vigilant.
Does this rhetorical flight of the President last night really resonate with our American citizenry? Aren’t we the land of “the government that governs least governs best?” And, if I might add to what is truly American political gospel, “the less the Federal government governs, the better we we are.” And the idea that if the Federal government fails to create 53 new offices and agencies to administer $1,600,000,000,000 of healthcare regulation is somehow “too little”, I hate to see what a President like our current one thinks is too much Government.
This is a particularly unique opportunity for us to reclaim our Constititutional heritage of freedom and reject the growth of Government and its necessary consequence of diminished liberty. The Governor, in her rejoinder to the President’s speech posted on her Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=24718773587, once again hammers away with ideas and options that do not increase the size of Government. She repeats and reiterates ideas of tort reform and competition across state lines. How can any prudent Federal legislator simply ignore these legitimate ideas and dive head first into the nauseating and mind-numbing mess of HR 3200 or any of the other options (including the unwritten White House one)?
Oh and next time if you have the chance to ask a Congressman if they read the bill and they answer yes, ask them if they understand it. If they say yes, then prepare yourself by asking three specific questions about the draft of the bill and see how they answer that. My guess is they will either ignore you, criticize you or say they don’t have enough time to answer. Don’t stand for that — we should not be bullied into agreeing that the people of this great Nation cannot engage their representatives on this most important topic.
As of 4:45 pm Eastern time. That’s about a 140,000 increase in the last month alone! I predict 1 million by Thanksgiving. Not too shabby for someone the major media wrote off when the Governor resigned. Next up: Hong Kong dynamite speech!
