Barack Obama has made himself synonymous with “Hope”, but it’s a puzzling sort of hope. Obama, his wife, pastor, and liberal friends have nothing positive to say about America’s history. While Ronald Reagan spoke of America returning to its greatness, for Obama and the American left, there is no such greatness to return to. If they have hope, it’s that America will become a neutered pseudo-socialist state like Sweden.   And as much as I am proud of my Swedish heritage, that’s not particularly inspiring or hopeful.

Let’s review the American history that liberals like Obama and his pastor teach their children:

The founding fathers were white racist pigs, or they were gay; or religious bigots. Only on the rarest occasions can they be hailed as heroes, like when one of them writes a letter to a friend about “separation of church and state.”

Slavery was a unique American sin, one that we only gave up after the U.N. peacekeepers and Janet Reno stormed Robert E. Lee’s forces at Appomattox.   We invaded Mexico, stole Louisiana, slaughtered Indians who never once raised a bow and arrow against American civilians or each other. 

In World War Two, we liberated the concentration camps, but we should have done it sooner. And then we topped it off by nuking Japan for no apparent reason. 

We invaded Vietnam, murdered civilians for kicks, and then left, defeated.  

In the 1980’s, Ronald Reagan invented cocaine, the AIDS virus, and homelessness. He then deployed all these maladies toward traditional Democratic voting blocs, felons, gays, and urban bipolar alcoholics, respectively.

Then the Soviet Union fell, but no one knows why. This only produced more pain, as vile Americans gained more influence, waged war for oil, invaded Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Egypt, all of which led to the attacks of 9/11. 

We tell kids that they are divinely created beings. We tell them that they live in the greatest country in the history of the world. We tell them that they are the heirs of the “boys of Pointe du Hoc”, who stormed the beaches of Europe, and saved a continent. We tell them that they are the heirs of the band of farmers and tradesmen who took down the most powerful army in world, and won their freedom. We tell them about the economic juggernaut that their fathers built; a machine that out-produced an Evil Empire bent on world domination, and so consigned it the ash heap of history. We tell them they are the heirs of statesman like Washington, Madison and Lincoln, who fought for, built, and preserved the most powerful beacon of freedom in human history. We tell them that hope that is not a vacuous four letter word, but a real, sincere, intellectual belief that America’s story is a great one; a story that is still being written. It’s a story about the power of human freedom, even in the midst of human frailty. It’s a story about great courage in the face of tremendous odds. It’s the story of divine Providence when human wisdom and ability fails. That’s a real story of hope, that’s real audacity.

Every March, Americans are treated to the excitement that is March Madness. We love the upsets, the fearful way that number 5 seeds enter the court against their 12^th seeded opponents, knowing that more money, boosters, a nicer arena and all their other advantages are worthless if they can’t defeat this underdog on the court. There are upsets, surprises, at the end, an undisputed winner.

Every December, Americans are treated to another spectacle. 5 or 6 college football teams will finish with 1 loss (except a small school, who will be undefeated), and all will claim the right to compete in the championship game, based on everthing but their record. Debates will rage about strength of schedule, margin of victory, “quality wins”, and based on these esoterics, reporters and coaches will arbitrarily pick 2 of them to compete for the title. And the title will be anything but undisputed.

Since Florida in 2000, the Democratic party has been bent on turning the March Madness of American politics into a BCS-like fiasco. See, March Madness isn’t very fun if all the pundits and press love you, but you still lose the game.   And Democrats have been doing a lot of losing. In 2000, on the losing end of the only score that mattered, the electoral college, Democrats complained about “the popular vote”, and absurd arguments took place about which states were more important, and confusing ballots, early calls, and all the data except what mattered. Bush won Florida in a squeaker, and thus the 270 electoral votes to be President. In 2004, Democrats complained about Diebold, crowded polls, and Swift Boat Vets. But they lost.   And now we are treated to the Hillary/Obama civil war. Republicans quickly learned that the number 1191 was important. It was 50%+1 of the convention delegates. Win 1191, and you’re the nominee, no questions asked. But our Blue friends are engaged in all their usual BCS scorekeeping. “Sure, Obama’s ahead, but Hillary won California, shouldn’t that count for something?” “I know Michigan and Florida broke the rules, but we have to count those votes, it would be Un-American not to.” “If Hillary wins with superdelegates, that just won’t be right.”

Here’s a novel idea: Win a majority of delegates, win the nomination. If at the end of the election, you determine that the rules don’t suit you, change them for next time.   The Democrats combination of super delegates, open primaries, and proportional awarding of delegates is a mess. But everyone knew the rules in advance.

The Democrats BCS strategy of electoral politics has been a bad thing for the country. It’s with quite a bit of pleasure that I’m watching their party thrown into chaos by these very same tactics.

 ABC’s Nightline ran a story on Wednesday night about Creationist tours of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. I happened to attend one of these tours as a 2^nd grader, so my interest was piqued. As expected, the Christian tour guides were mocked for not believing or respecting “Science”. To drive home the mockery, Nightline pointed out that the tour guides believed the biblical account that 7 or 8 generations of humans before the flood lived for 800 years on average. But, crowed Terry Moran, “they believe this period was approximately one thousand years.” Then came the chalkboard graphic showing that 7 times 800 would be 5600 years.   I nearly fell out my chair. What a sad collection of 800 year olds, struggling 780 years to have children, only to die seconds after they succeed, then repeating this horrid luck for 8 generations. Does Mr. Moran have living parents, grandparents, or children? Terry Moran has probably interacted with grandparents, parents, siblings, and children.. Since the average lifespan is around 80, that means that Terry Moran is 320 years old. Either that, or his assumptions were a bit off. You decide.

Not content with that gem, Nightline weighed into the Iraq War, whining that a recent poll shows that fewer than half of Iraqis are glad that we invaded. Even as awful as Barack Obama’s pastor tells us that America is, creating virus, selling drugs, and whatnot, would more than 10% of Americans be glad we were invaded by a foreign power? Even an invasion by docile Canadians would be greeted with extreme resentment. War is terrible, and being invaded by outsiders is surely unpleasant and irritating at best. If 45% of Iraqis think that all that suffering is worthwhile, it’s pretty certain that we were in the right. Keep in mind, 20% of Iraqi’s where on the dole from Saddam’s kleptocracy, so they probably aren’t going to join the war supporters in the near future. Of  the 80% of Iraqis who could be persuaded (thieves and murdurers don’t typically celebrate falling crime rates),  somewhere around 60% are glad the United States invaded their country. As Ronaldus Magnus would say, “Not bad, Not bad at all.”

From The Corner...

Missing Fred video...it brings a tear to the eye. 

Of course the important thing at this point is that we stop the McCain train to the White House, or more likely, the McCain train to a drubbing by Hillary or Obama, so all the Fred-heads, Huckabites, and all the rest need to support Romney.  But boy I wish Fred were still in it. 

Well, the vaunted Backspin endorsement wasn't enough to keep Fred alive in South Carolina.  Fred's withdrawal from the race is a big loss.  No candidate articulated conservative principles better than Fred.  2008 is going to be a tough year, when we need a good salesman for conservative ideas, not just a slick campaigner.  Fred was, as many have said, "a depth guy".   The debates will be poorer without him.

Not only is it disheartening that Fred lost, its disheartening why he lost.   He lost because he "didn't want it enough".  It is refreshing, positive, to have a candidate who wants to be President, but isn't a narcissist who has devoted every waking moment of his adult life to becoming President.  Fred was willing to campaign for president, but he wasn't willing to do absolutely anything to win.  We need more guys like that.

Fred lost because he's not flashy.  He doesn't give a good soundbite, but if you can spare 90 seconds, he can layout some pretty deep, principled, and wise policies.  We as Americans, and Republicans in particular need to take a hard look at our process for choosing a president.   If principled depth is always doomed when faced with shallow soundbites, it will keep the best leaders out of office.  How we fix that, I don't know, but admitting the problem is the first step.

We often complain that our generals our fighting the last war.  It is equally, if not more true, that our politicians are waging the last campaign.

The McCain-Feingold bill restriction campaign donations is terrible law, and a gross abrogation of free speech, (did the founders really intend for freedom of speech to extend to pornography, but not political statements on the eve of an election?) but I believe it will soon be irrelevant, and that's a good thing!

We all know why people give to politicians, some give for noble reasons, supporting the candidate they like, some for less noble reasons, attempting to purchase influence.  But why do politicians need so much money?  Because for the past several election cycles, campaigns have relied on incredibly expensive broadcast television commercials to get their message out.  Those days are fading, and it's not hard to imagine a world where tacky political ads with ominous voice-overs have gone the way of the stump speec h from the caboose of a train.

We live in a world of TIVO, DVR, 500 channel sattelite packages, and YouTube.  How long can networks continue to charge high prices for ads that no one watches?  How long will politicians still focus their campaign on raising $5 million to air a tacky ad that cost them $5000?  The next way to reach the masses hasn't been found yet, but YouTube offers a tremendous medium to get a substantive (see Fred's video below), quality message out, with almost no distribution costs.  It hits a limited market, but it hits it well, and with incredible efficiency.

The end of the lame 30 second attack ad will be a good thing for our political process, a good thing for getting the money out of politics without a single government regulation.  It can't come soon enough.

(I am Darrick Johnson, and I approved this message.)

The long awaited endorsement from BackSpin is out:  Fred Dalton Thompson.

Every primary and caucus voter should watch Fred's message to Iowa voters:

Rudy, Romney, and Huckabee all have their weaknesses, and their strengths, but the most important quality in a candidate is going to be the ability to communicate conservative principles.  We as Republicans have to stop trying to win elections 'on the cheap.'  For too many years, we have taken the lazy road to campaigning.  We try to sell voters on tax cuts, because that's an easy sell, and then we try to offer all the candy that Democrats offer.  Democrats offer 'free health care', and Republicans respond by offering limited free health care.  Republicans get into a bidding war, throwing money at a dysfunctional education system.  We need a candidate who can make the case to voters why socialized medicine is a bad idea, not just an expensive idea, but an assault on personal freedom.  Our education system is a mess, primarily because of the NEA, not because $17000/year is insufficient to provide a student with an education.  Fred Thompson, better than any other candidate, articulates those conservative priniciples.

If the issues in 2008 are health care and education, we have to change the debate, get out of the big goverment bidding war, and courageously educate voters about the faulty premises the democrats debate upon.  Fred can win, he can speak plainly and clearly to voters.   Negative ads about Obama's inexperience, or Hillary's...well, you name the characteristic... won't win in 2008.  And even if they did, they would provide us with no mandate to accomplish the things we need to do.  If we have to promise an expansion of government health care to win, what are we really winning?   Fred has the right ideas, the right principles, and the ability to persuade, that's why he ought to be our nominee.  Go kick some butt in South Carolina Senator Thompson!

While I'm not a fan of the nature of a lot of the attacks against Mike Huckabee, I agree with a lot of the criticisms.  Huckabee would be a terrible nominee, even though he probably is a very kind, nice man.

The Temptation of Pride...

Reagan spoke of the temptation:

    I urge you to beware the temptation of pride - the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil.

The liberal democrats in this country aren't the USSR, but its nonsense to suggest that Hillary Clinton's agenda should be acceptable to evangelicals if she were only pro-life.  Mike Huckabee doesn't want HillaryCare, but his plan varies only in degree.  He wants government mandated 'preventive care', which sounds smart, and efficient, but it really means a government that tells you what to eat, what to wear, how to exercise, and on and on...

Huckabee applies biblical mandates, given by God to individuals and the church, and applies them to the government.  Taking care of the poor and downtrodden is God's command to his church, but Huckabee asks the government to do the work.  It sounds nice, but it's not conservative, or constitutional.

Huckabee's big-government, big-hearted Christianity is symptomatic of a movement I have seen amongst my fellow conservative Christians, especially since the 2004 election.  Perhaps rooted in a legitimate fear appearing to be Republicans before being Christians, a lot of churches and church leaders have been searching for liberal causes to endorse, as if that would absolve them for swinging the 2004 election toward Bush, and put them once again, "above the fray".

The church shouldn't be a lock-step organ of a political movement or a party, but finding false balance isn't the answer.  Mike Huckabee's brand of conservatism exhanges reflexive support of the Republican Party with reflexive support of bad liberal ideas. 

The ideas that made this country great, the ideas of limited government, individual freedom, and personal responsibility are found in the Declaration of Independence.  The Declaration's ideas came not out of the ether, but from a group of predominantly Christian men, seeking God's wisdom in understanding human nature and the proper role of government. 

Big government, no matter how benevolent its intentions, abrogates the rights of man, the rights endowed by their Creator, as the Declaration of Independence so clearly states.   Mike Huckabee doesn't seem to grasp that important truth, and the Republican Party, the country, and evangelicals need to find a candidate that does. 

 Mike Huckabee has vastly over-achieved.  Once consigned to also-ran status, he has achieved the defining characteristic of a viable canidacy, massive negative press...

While I think Rudy or Romney would be preferable to Huckabee, the attacks against Huckabee (and his supporters), leveled by the backers of the two front-runners seem ill advised.  Giuliani backer George Will ridicules Huckabee for asserting his belief in a biblical, 6 day creation.   While a candidates views on origins shouldn't be that important, is it wise to ridicule the beliefs of  the large portion of the country who have the audacity to believe that the 1st chapter of Genesis is just as true as the 3rd chapter of John?  George Will comes from a proud tradition of conservatives, but it is also a losing tradition, conservatism that is only cold pragmatism, no vision, no values beyond that which is prudent.  Will's attacks bring us closer to a Goldwater-esque party, defined by pessimism and principled electoral failure. 

It is particularly galling to hear the so called 'moderates' of the party reject Huckabee, and ridicule his supporters, because he defies party orthodoxy on tobacco. (He has supported a national ban on smoking in public places).  I don't agree with Huckabee on that issue, but for 20+ years, social conservatives have been told to abandon 'single issue' voting, and support pro-abortion, pro-gay agenda candidates so long as they would give us a small tax cut, or veto an earmark once in a while.  Are they really asking this, when they can't countenance an anti-smoking candidate?  I certainly hope not.

There are valid criticisms of Huckabee (more on that later), but the viciousness and ridiculing nature of these attacks is terribly destructive both for conservatism, and for the Republican party as a whole.  Ridiculing the beliefs and concerns of the long-suffering, (and electorally essential) social conservative wing of the party isn't going to prove effective, and brings us closer to 8 years of Hillary.