Did you hear the one about....

Community organizing: it's not just a joke anymore.

During the 2008 presidential campaign it was standard right-wing pundit fare to poke fun at Barack Obama's history as a "community organizer." I freely admit to joining in the revelry. The title seemed as self-appointed and self-righteous as anything Hugo Chavez could cook up.

This is instructive. The fact that "community organization" struck such a minor chord with many Americans may tell more about the country and its conservatives than about Mr. Obama. What if taking one's positions, one's values, and one's principles into the public square requires something more than a single day at the ballot box? What if rather than liberal do-goodism, community organization is really... democracy?

A country founded in the manner of ours always faces a paradox: majority rule is democratic, but minority rights are essential to a free society. A republic cannot flourish when the majority is allowed to rule tyrannically over its minorities. Our first presidents were among the first to point this out. Our country fought a civil war over the concept. Our long, storied progress as a nation has been undeniably marked by the eternal struggle to settle this juxtaposition.

It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that one's perspective on the function of democracy is largely shaped by one's relative position in the majority/minority mix. Now, majorities shift over time, there are regular changes in political party rule, and it is too simplistic to suggest this dynamic is a dichotomy. Rather, dozens, scores, or even hundreds of individual viewpoints may find themselves at any moment in time part of either camp.

For the last 30 years, generally speaking, conservatives have found themselves in the majority camp. Elections might be close, setbacks may happen, but given enough force of will and determination, simply turning up at the ballot box in their numbers would ensure continued dominance.

Meanwhile, others saw themselves on the outside looking in. Blacks, the poor, immigrants...whatever. These were groups often marginalized in practice, if not officially. Enter the community organizer. The concept is as old as time: strength in numbers. Focus. Determination. Collective will to action. The point is to form a single voice out of the chaos of many. It is to stand together to rebalance the political landscape, and reassert the position of the minority in the broader context of the society. Clearly, some of the things advocated by the "community" might be ridiculous, they may be petty, they may be patently wrong. Nevertheless the vital thing is that they find in their unity a certain power. A power to shout out for what they believed is right. A power to demand a seat at the table, or at least a corner in which to stand.

In short: they participate.

Here is where we all can learn. The Libertarian/Conservative message is on the wane. Out of fear people are clinging to Uncle Sam. Maybe the majority/minority mix is changing. In reaction, it isn't beneath us to gather in crowded rooms over cheap coffee to air our grievances. It isn't beneath us to rally around those who share our concerns. It isn't beneath us to spend years to accomplish a goal we think worthy. And it sure as hell isn't beneath us to participate in the democratic process more than once every four years.

And maybe, just maybe those who espouse freedom and limited government need to step up and organize... or be organized.

Let's agitate, irritate, and bloviate over the need to teach economics to every high school student in the country. Why allow the left exclusive rights to be grumpy over educational inadequacy? Organize!

Let's organize to demand school vouchers. Let's reach into neighborhoods where conservatives don't tread, to find allies they shouldn't dread, to promote knowledge for every head. Organize!

Let's create a market driven health care system that isn't hostage to regulation, threatened by litigation, and funded by taxation. Organize!

Let's slow the advance of representation without taxation by making the tax code flat, fair, and fiscally feasible. Organize!

I remember hearing the old union cry: "Early to bed, early to rise, fight like hell and organize!" and thinking what a tired bit of nonsense it was. I also remembering a pastor exhorting our congregation that "O Lutherans, you will tap your toes in spite of yourselves." The pastor's point was that his stereotypically buttoned-down flock would be forced by the moment to express themselves in rhythm. And this is what conservatives must recognize: theirs is not an agitating nature. Theirs is not a marching strand. In short, theirs is not a minority mindset.

Nevertheless, it is time. It is time to stand up. Make a little noise. Fire a few shots over the bow, and never let the country forget the principles which form the foundation of this great republic.

I wonder....

At one time, did people really run after trains? Hollywood is replete with the gesture. The dramatic moment where our hero must choose between his chugging choo and his loving boo. In a mere moment of musing, I have to ask.... really? I have run to catch a plane, but never with a romantic flare. I was never delayed by a special someone who had to confess a precious something in the last--just the last--precious seconds before my transportation was off sans me. Never did a life transforming moment hinge on the simple fact that this long, steel, coal fired beast would leave me behind.

It must be true that all this celluloid drama meant something. It meant something to the screen writers, and God help us, if it ever really happened, it meant something to us. Perhaps the drama of running to catch a lumbering train had nothing to do with the leaving. Maybe it had nothing to do with the train. Maybe, just maybe, it was all about the time.

In 1920 it was some 3,000 miles between Montana and the east coast. Today it is a few hours, if the connection goes smoothly. I remarked some years ago when I was first forced to deal with Chicago traffic that distance was measured not in miles--which are finite-- but in time, which is not. How far is it to....? "About 20 minutes." What is 20 minutes? That is not a distance. And yet.

In a world where travel required days, if not weeks, and life moved at a corresponding pace, the mere act of running after a train made sense. To miss it might be to miss out on years. A fate could be sealed by the decision to stay or leave. Drama was real.

Today, we too often live in a world that seems always at our command. In an age where New York and Los Angeles are a few hours apart, and marriage and divorce are even handier, time retreats to the background. Whatever we think of our technological prowess, our greatest triumph may have been over time. And yet.

In the end, time is that which we hold most dear, and which we cling to most elusively. When the world seems to quake beneath our feet, and when everything we think we know suddenly rises as so much steam-- let's remember that at one time just making a train on time might have been a life changing event. It might have meant choosing an education over a love, an adventure over a family, or a war over comfort. But in any event it meant a whole lot of time, which was sure to be precious to those who lost out.

Maybe we would all be better off if we had a train to catch.

Deficit to be slashed!

Well whoop, whoop, whoop. The Obama administration has declared its commitment to slashing the deficit in half by the end of the President's first term. This, they say, will bring it to about $513 billion.

Well grand. During the Bush administration we routinely heard about the unprecedented deficits topping $400 billion. So, President Bush proposed cutting the deficit in half by the end of his presidency--natch.

Imagine our surprise, the slash was overcome by circumstance, the deficit and debt ballooned, Bush left office, and now we get to live the scrip in replay. It isn't that there aren't compelling reasons for the government to be in deficit. It isn't that President Obama's actions are any more gauling that President Bush's.

My point in commenting here is simply this: We are hearing the same old rhetoric that we've heard from presidents for decades. We see the same old earnestness about "needing to spend today, but save tomorrow."

It is all bunk. And most profoundly: It is NOT change we can believe in. Those of us who thought the President's vapid campaign rhetoric would quickly evaporate have not needed to wait long at all. The sad thing is, slowly but surely the country, and then the world will come to the same dissappointing conclusion-- unless the President retakes his message from his handlers.

His weeks of doom and gloom. His calculated public appearances, missteps, and premature announcements. Tax scandals, unfilled cabinet posts. From these he needs not to retreat into a political CYA, but rather to step forth with the boldness that got him where he is.

We're waiting Mr. President, but getting a bit dizzy holding our breath.

The Incredible Socialist Machine

The Incredible Bread Machine

By R.W. Grant

This is the story of a man whose name
Was a household word: a man whose fame
Burst on the world like an atom bomb;
Smith was his last name; first name Tom.

Now, Smith, an inventor, had specialized
In toys, so people were surprized,
When they found that he instead
Of making toys, was BAKING BREAD!

The way to make bread he'd conceived
Cost less than people could believe!
And not just make it! This device,
Could in addition, wrap and slice!
The price per loaf, one loaf or many,
The miniscule sum of under a penny!

Can you imagine what this meant?
Can you comprehend the consequent?
The first time yet the world well fed,
And all because of Tom Smith's bread.

A citation from the President,
For Smith's amazing bread,
This and other honours too,
Were heaped upon his head!

But isn't it a wonderous thing,
How quickly fame is flown?
Smith, the hero of today,
Tommorow, scarcely known!

Yes, the fickle years passed by,
Smith was a millionaire,
But Smith himself was now forgot,
Though bread was everywhere...
People, asked from where it came,
Would very seldom know.
They would simple eat and ask,
"Was not it always so?"

However, Smith cared not a bit,
For millions ate his bread...
And everything is fine, thought he,
I am rich, and they are fed!

Everything was fine, he thought,
He reckoned not with fate.
Note the sequence of events,
Starting on the date,
On which the business tax went up.
Then, to a slight extent,
The price on every loaf rose too:
Up to one full cent!

"What's going on!" the public cried,
"He's guilty of pure plunder!
He has no right to get so rich
on other peoples hunger!"

(A Prize cartoon depicted Smith,
With fat and drooping jowls,
Snatching bread from hungry babes,
indiferrent to their howls!)

Well, since the public does come first,
It could not be denied
That in matters such as this,
The Public must decide!

So Anti-Trust now took a hand,
Of course, it was appalled
At what it found was going on.
The "Bread Trust" it was called.

Now this was getting serious,
So Smith felt that he must
Have a friendly interview
With the men in Anti-Trust.

So hat in hand, he went to them.
They'd surely been misled;
No Rule of Law had he defied.

But then their lawyer said:
"The Rule of Law, in complex times,
Has proved itself deficient.
We much prefer the Rule of Men,
It's vastly more efficient!

"Now let me state the present rules,"
The lawyer then went on,
"These very simple guidelines,
You can rely upon:
You're gouging on your prices if
You charge more than the rest.
But it's unfair competition if
You think you can charge less!
"A second point that we would make
To help avoid confusion...
Don't try to charge the same amount,
That would be Collusion!
You must compete. But not too much,
For if you do you see,
Then the market would be yours -
And that's Monopoly!

Price too high?
Or Price too low? Now,
which charge did they make?

Well, they weren't loath to charging both,
With Public Good at stake!

In fact, they went one better!
They charged "Monopoly!"
No muss, no fuss, oh, woe is us!
Egad, they charged ALL THREE!

"Five Years in jail," The Judge then said
"You're lucky it's not worse!
Robber Barrons must be taught,
Society comes first!"

Now bread is baked by government.
And as might be expected,
Everything is well controlled.
The Public well protected.
True, loaves cost a dollar each,
But our leaders do their best!
The selling price is half a cent.
Taxes pay the rest.

This isn't an original work, nor was I the first to think it was appropriate today.

Why Can't We All Just Fight Like Hell?

President Obama's signature first act was to be a "stimulus" package of breathtaking proportion. He was to ride into office on a wave of national concensus and push through the Congress one (1) trillion dollars in new spending. He was to wow the members of Congress to such a degree that he would achieve 80 votes in the Senate. He was to heal the nation, bring food to the hungry, heal the sick, and make everyone an expert at Wii tennis.

In turn he has hosted Republicans at cocktail parties and mocked their opposition. He has decried the politics of the past and endorsed Nancy Pelosi's politics of fervent failings. As it stands the "stimulus" is in some trouble. Republicans are standing their ground--or wherever it is Republicans stand. The country is growing skeptical of this breath taking spending plan. Rank-and-file Democrats aren't sure they support $1,000,000,000,000 in government debt. The world has changed since 1.20.09. Reality bites.

In reality our government was set up to dither. It was intended to fret, flail, and falter. It was a train-wreck choreographed by the masters. To steal and adapt a turn of phrase: the process of forming legislation is nasty, brutish, and long. It was never intended to be quick. Never meant to be easy. Does not, and should not lend itself to expediency.

Hugo Chavez, Kim Jung Il, and increasingly Vladamir Putin may issue edicts that abruptly and summarily change course for their nations, but America was formed upon different rules and different ideals. Here even the most pressing issue demands debate, oppossition, and reasoned consideration. Even after a watershed election. Even after a dark period. Even in a crisis.