The measure of a man

As I strolled shopping malls on Friday, enjoying the crowds and all of their holiday cheer, I couldn’t help noticing that bookstores and kiosks have their 2008 calendars on display. Prominently shown on every top rack is this calendar—the “countdown to the end of Bush” version. Closely underneath could be seen the “countdown to victory” calendars in which a person, if so minded, could look at the images of Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama for the next year. Truth be told, in the year 1999 there were no calendars marking the end of Bill Clinton’s term in office. As much as conservatives may have disliked Clinton’s policies and behavior as president, they did not spend the two years before he left office daydreaming about how wonderful life would be when he left.

On page 7 of section C of the Daily Telegram, this story ran regarding an amazing scientific breakthrough, which one scientist called “the biological equivalent of the Wright Brothers’ first airplane.” As the subtitle says, “Scientist report using skin cells, not embryos, to produce human stem cells.” Before President Bush was presented a hostile Congress by the 2006 elections, his only veto to that point had been of a bill to greatly expand federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. By the way, translate “Embryo” as “unborn human being.” Instead of reacting to emotional pleas by the likes of Nancy Reagan, who was convinced that embryonic stem cells could be used to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, and Michael J. Fox, who shamelessly exploited his own Parkinson’s disease to campaign for senatorial candidates who promised to spend more taxpayer dollars on embryonic research, and even John Edwards, who claimed that Embryonic stem cells were so wonderful that one day paraplegics like Christopher Reeve (since deceased) would be able to rise and walk again, Bush stood his moral and ethical ground. Look at the results: now there is definitive research with adult stem cells that show much more promise at curing disease than embryonic stem cells ever have shown.

This week, Australia elected a new prime minister, ousting Tory John Howard, a friend and ally of President Bush, in favor of Kevin Rudd, a Labor-liberal who promised that his first acts would be to pull the 900 Australian troops out of Iraq and sign the Kyoto Protocols against global warming. Once again, if President Bush listened to the likes of Al Gore, and made emotional decisions based on spurious and dubious science (oh, no, the poor polar bears ‘sniff’), perhaps the United States would now be bound to the ridiculous, useless, and ineffective carbon-reduction measures required by Kyoto and instead of a strong (everywhere but Michigan, that is) economy, we would be in recession.

Good news continues to come from Iraq. Civilian deaths are down for the fourth consecutive month. Even the Democrat presidential challengers cannot deny that progress and success on the ground has occurred, and concede that the 2008 presidential election may not be about “who can pull the troops out of Iraq first” but about things like taxes and the economy and national security. But what if President Bush had cared more about his personal popularity and whether people were making calendars about him and less about committing to victory and peace, not surrender and “peace” that just emboldens the global jihadists to strike again because America showed it did not have the guts to fight to win?

What I mean to say is, what planet do people who buy the “Bush—countdown to the end” calendar live on? What country’s prosperity and rights do they enjoy? How have their lives been ruined by his years in office? Sometimes a president’s greatness and legacy is not measured by their popularity while in office (Andrew Jackson, for example, who was incredibly popular but who is responsible for the Indian Removal act and the Trail of Tears) but by the long-term results of their decisions. Abraham Lincoln was reviled and despised by most Americans while he was president. (Yes, I am still factoring in the states of the Confederacy as Americans). Now, he is recognized as arguably the best president our country has ever had.

Either use your comment space to react to any of the stories above, or suggest another accomplishment (or terrible disaster, depending on your perspective) of the past 8 years that you feel is worthy of note by your fellow students.

Giving thanks

Be Thankful

If our pal Hugo Chavez’s antics last week at the Ibero-American conference weren’t enough, this week he decided to try out his toxic personality at the meeting of OPEC. Although the king of Saudi Arabia wasn’t as pointed as King Juan Carlos of Spain, he nevertheless made it clear that the other nations that produce oil (non-Citgo) were not interested in his confrontational, bash-America view.

However, that’s simply an update on last week’s topic. This week is Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving. I enjoy going to church, and being a host for a big family gathering, and making pumpkin pies. But for some, Thanksgiving is simply a time to wish “Happy Turkey Day!” and to indulge in overeating. If there is any giving of thanks, it is not offered to the Creator and Redeemer of mankind, but simply to family and friends. The day after Thanksgiving is a consumer binge-fest, as “Black Friday” makes or breaks many retailers’ hopes for a profitable year.

It could be worse, though. If we followed the advice of this web site, we would deconstruct the myth of the first thanksgiving and realize that Thanksgiving is not a happy day. We could follow the curriculum guide offered here or the one offered to Tecumseh students, and, instead of learning about the Puritans’ faith and lives, we would focus on the types of food enjoyed by Native Americans and the construction of the Mayflower and life at sea on a transatlantic voyage.

I found out recently that the Spanish phrase for Thanksgiving is “el dia de accion de gracias.” It struck me that this had a powerful connotation to it. God doesn’t simply want our “Hey, thanks, God, you’re awesome!” He wants action motivated by gratitude. He wants thanks-living.

We are blessed to live in a country like ours, but many have forgotten the providence of God in its place in history. This article on the Marquis de Lafayette, George Washington’s aide-de-camp, revealed the sad truth that hardly anyone knows anything about the American Revolution any more. This isn’t surprising, considering the statement of one of the committee members who designed Michigan’s new graduation requirements for World History: We don’t care if someone knows who Julius Caesar was. Just make sure everyone knows that Columbus was evil and that to celebrate Thanksgiving is tantamount to celebrating the Holocaust.

When we sit down to dine on Thursday, let’s reflect and consider how we might engage in “accion de gracias.” Think about how, in just one region of the world (south central Asia), people are either worried about a state of emergency called by a military leader loosely allied with the United States (Pakistan), rampaging monkeys who slap women and steal from peoples’ homes but the authorities won’t do anything because they are supposed to be the incarnation of the powerful monkey-god (India), or suffering from the cataclysm known as cyclone Sidr (Bangladesh), where the death toll already has exceeded that of hurricane Katrina and may soon push 10,000. Let’s not be so quick to ignore pleas for help from the less fortunate, or only respond to those in need if we can get a jeans day out of it.

God, make us grateful Christians.

Why don't you just shut up?

An LCS graduate, who says he continues to occasionally read this blog, stopped in for a visit on Friday. He related an incident in his university classroom in which he said that a certain type of equality was impossible because humans are competitive and always want to get the upper hand, and, once they achieve that position of power, they want to retain it. The professor’s reaction was “That sounds like something Hitler would say.” The intellectual revealed a fairly typical socialist/progressive reaction to any conservative challenge. Instead of dealing with the substance of the argument, just start yelling “fascist” or “Nazi” or “Hitler.”

This past weekend, King Juan Carlos of Spain actually told the communist president of Venezuela, “Why don’t you just shut up?” As if to add to the insult, the article relates that he used a form of speech used for personal acquaintances or children (Wow—so he said tú and not Usted). Apparently, at the Ibero-American summit, Hugo Chavez had said that the former prime minister of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar,was a “fascist” because he had been an ally of the United States in the war on terror. So the king reminded him that Aznar had been duly elected by the people of Spain and needed to be shown respect. Chavez, of course, would have none of it. The Spanish people agree with their king, however.

Yes, there are many people in the world who do not like the United States. Many of them also happen to live here. Actor Sean Penn made a trip in August to Venezuela, claiming that he was a journalist looking for a story. There the star of “Fast Times at Ridgmont High” and “Mystic River” was, though, applauding Chavez’ claims of “American Imperialism.” Penn was welcomed by Chavez as an honored guest because he was clearly “anti-Bush.” Little did he know that Chavez also believes the US film industry to be “imperialistic,” so he has started to make movies himself. It’s part of his fight, he says, against US imperial hegemony (that’s for you, Julie and Lisa). Hmm, Der Führer and Leni Riefenstahl, anyone?

Sometimes the blindness of these foolish dupes is amazing. Hugo Chavez is sitting on a lot of oil, so he spreads around his wealth to make himself popular in Latin America. As he does so, he guarantees universal health care and says that if the United States wasn’t building its empire in Iraq, they could actually do some good in the world, both of which are very popular with our nation’s liberals. However, they seem to have no idea of the nature of the wolf they are lying down with. In an upcoming vote, constitutional reforms that will enable Chavez to consolidate power in the central government and to allow him to continue to rule perpetually are on the ballot. And this is the same Chavez who closed down television stations, claiming that they were corrupting Venezuela’s youth, and who wants to forbid his countrymen from giving their children unusual names.

I wonder how James Monroe would feel if he could somehow see what has happened in Latin America since the United States declared the newly independent nations to be off-limits for imperial expansion by the European powers (the Monroe Doctrine) and extended its promise of protection around them. It seems as though these nations and their communist leaders, supported by the likes of American leftists like Sean Penn, simply cannot help blaming America rather than acknowledging the uselessness of their own economic and government system.

One year to go!

Today is the first Tuesday in November. It is election day. In another year, we will know who the 44th president of the United States will be.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that the 2004 Iowa caucuses were held and third-place finisher Howard Dean unleashed his famous scream that some believe cost him a shot at the presidency. But within two months, the first ballots for president will be cast in Iowa and New Hampshire, quickly followed by primary contests in Michigan and Florida and South Carolina. By the middle of January, the front-runners in each party will probably be established, and the year-long battle for the White House will be on.

Many of you who read this will be eligible to vote in November 2008. What do you think of the candidates in each respective party? If you are a Democrat, it seems all but certain that Hillary Clinton will be the nominee. Opinion polls show her closest competitors, Barack Obama and John Edwards, trailing by at least double digits. On the Republican side, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, and John McCain seem to be the front-runners, although many consider Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul to have a lot of support as well.

In this blog, express your preference for a given candidate. I’ve provided links for each of their names so you can research their positions a little bit before responding.

The right to vote to choose our leaders is a privilege that not everybody in the world (and, historically, not everyone in the United States, for that matter) possesses. I hope that in the year ahead, you will be attentive to the presidential campaign because the person we choose will lead the country possibly until you graduate from college, marry, and start a family!