America is better than Utopia, Mr. President

Utopian visions have stirred men’s souls at least since the time of the ancient Greeks. The philosopher Plato unmasked the folly and the evil of all such schemes in his famous "Republic." He did not merely criticize a current tendency but a perennial human temptation. President Barack Obama is a utopian who believes that there are no limits to what can be done with political power. In contrast to the United States Constitution, the powers of which James Madison described as "few and defined," the ideological goal of the current administration is "transforming" the human condition.

Not content with equality in political rights and economic opportunities, Obama seeks to redistribute the wealth. To this end, he means to increase the income tax on the most productive and eliminate it for the least productive. By simultaneously commandeering votes with groups like ACORN, he will ensure that those who pay no taxes will access the money of those who do.

Obama has shown no respect for the law of nature that persons of the opposite sex alone should be married, that marriage should be upheld as a vital institution, or that unborn children should not be wantonly slaughtered. That is why he equivocates on same-sex marriage, ended restrictions on federal money for abortions overseas and for embryonic stem cell research, and supports legislation to end all restrictions on abortion whatsoever.

In perhaps the biggest conceit of all, our President actually says that he can negotiate with the world’s most aggressive dictatorships and make them see the wisdom of restraining their military ambitions. Iran and North Korea somehow will stop producing nuclear bombs and missiles, the Taliban and Hamas will see the error of their ways, and Hugo Chavez, Danny Ortega and even the Castros will change their opinion of us.

Obama pledged during the campaign to cut back on nuclear weapons unilaterally and has repeated the pledge recently. He says that our moral leadership will show the rogue nations of the world that we mean them no harm and that we can develop common interests.

The only sensible response to socialism at home and ill-conceived peace missions abroad is to point out that "there is nothing new under the sun." There will always be persons--and nations--who envy the success of others, blaming others rather than themselves. What talents they do possess they turn to tearing down others’ achievements. Socialism, as Winston Churchill so sagely remarked, produces nothing and makes people equal in their misery.

Mankind is certainly capable of improvements, as our ancestors showed when they founded the freest nation in the history of the world. But the enemies of the American Constitution, foreign and domestic, stretch the limits of human nature and wind up making things infinitely worse with socialism, communism and fascism.

The task of each generation of Americans is to elect leaders who understand that we are better off buying and selling with each other, in our neighborhoods or across national boundaries, than trusting governments to determine who should benefit from its power to redistribute the wealth through taxing and spending.

Those same leaders need to follow the maxim of Alexander Hamilton that nations do not have permanent friends, only permanent interests. Although the most reliable friends are those with a common heritage of liberty, we should never imagine that American independence can coexist with the fiction of a "community of nations." Many nations are as envious of our freedom, wealth and power as the least successful among us are of the most successful.

It is not in the character of the United States to be belligerent toward the world, but neither should it procrastinate while threats build up to such a degree that we lack the will and the means to counteract them and we are forced to wage defensive war, as we did in 1917 and 1941.

And certainly no America President should ever apologize abroad for policy differences with his predecessors, not to mention frivolously gloss over the great divide that separates the majority of Americans who embrace the Judaeo-Christian tradition and those who adhere to Islamic doctrines. For whatever Christians may have done in the Arab world a thousand years ago, there are no modern-day Christian equivalents of the violent Muslim minority that has declared war on the "Infidel."

Obama cannot legislate inequalities away or make the lion lay down with the lamb. Indeed, it is better for us to trade, as civilized nations do, than to seize wealth by force, as barbarians do. Meanwhile, we must always keep our guard up.

Obie the Obsequious

The other day President Obama seemed to bow upon first meeting King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. Americans should not bow to any person, for to do so would be to show your obeisance to them. "One does not bow or curtsy to a foreign monarch, because the gesture symbolizes recognition of her power over her subjects." (Miss Manners' Guide, 1990, p.697) We are born free and not subservient to monarchs or aristocrats. It is especially shocking for the President of the United States, who represents all Americans, to show such fealty to a foreign potentate. Juxtapose Barak Obama’s bow to King Fahd with Michelle Obama’s condescending pat on the back to Queen Elizabeth. To even touch the British monarch is a serious breach of protocol, but to do so in such a patronizing manner seems to show a great lack of respect. Note also the pat on the back given to President Obama yesterday by Venezuela’s Marxist dictator Hugo Chavez. Should an American head of state tolerate such condescension from a dictator?

Should our president also show outward signs of subservience to King Fahd? The majority of the world’s Muslims hold him in great regard, not necessarily because he is the king of Saudi Arabia, but because he is the guardian of the holiest places of Islam: Mecca and Medina. Islamic law demands that Dhimmis (Jews and Christians subdued by Muslims) show submission to their Muslim conquerors by bowing. The Quran (9:29) tells Muslims to “Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture [Jews and Christians who] follow not the Religion of Truth, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection.” Dhimmis are required to bow or lay prostrate before their Muslim master. To refuse to do so would mean certain death.

One wonders if that bow to the Saudi king and the pat on the back to the British queen tell us what to expect of U.S. foreign policy over the next few years. Will we damage the special relationship we have had with democratic Britain by offending their monarch, while at the same time showing subservience to the theocratic guardian of the Islamic holy places?

One might also wonder if our new president is a Dhimmi, who shows subservience to a Muslim master, or whether he is a Muslim, who shows respect for the guardian of their holy places. We should hope that it is a third possibility, that he merely doesn’t know what he is doing.

Giving peace a chance

Bill Kristol's piece today in the The Weekly Standard is a must-read for those who believe that the Obama Administration is playing fast and loose with our security. In the wake of the decision to release the details about our interrogation techniques during the Bush presidency, he quotes the current head of the CIA, Admiral Dennis Blair's attempts to provide some "perspective" to the decision to release this information: "(After 9/11) we did not have a clear understanding of the enemy we were dealing with, and our every effort was focused on preventing further attacks that would kill more Americans. It was during these months that the CIA was struggling to obtain critical information from captured al Qaida leaders, and requested permission to use harsher interrogation methods. The OLC memos make clear that senior legal officials judged the harsher methods to be legal.

"Those methods, read on a bright, sunny, safe day in April 2009, appear graphic and disturbing. As the President has made clear, and as both CIA Director Panetta and I have stated, we will not use those techniques in the future. But we will absolutely defend those who relied on these memos and those guidelines."

News Flash! It's a bright, sunny SAFE April, 2009! Peace is at hand!

For those who have been paying attention, a familiar pattern is emerging. The Obama Administration puts a high premium on symbols that are designed to show liberalism's kinder, gentler side. It has eliminated the term "war on terror" in favor of "overseas contingency operations" and has decided that even the word "terrorism" should be dropped in favor of "man-caused disasters". That's right: terrorism -- the brutal act of murder in the name of radicalism -- is now on par with global warming, globalization and other man-made problems.

Now in an effort to appease the left -- which is always extremely sensitive to the way things look and sound -- it has decided to let us (and the terrorists -- er, the purveyors of man-caused disasters) know that we will never use the techniques of enhanced interrogation again. For Obama and his merry appeasers, the mea culpa has become de rigueur: "we have been through a dark and painful chapter in our history" said the president in his statement announcing the release of the interrogation details. That's right: to this president, exposing murderers to loud music, cold temperatures and harmless bugs is dark and painful. I wonder if Daniel Pearl, beheaded by Khalid Sheik Muhammad (one of those "tortured") would agree?

It's all too much to stomach, really. The left again shows naivete in its understanding of the enemy we face by apologizing for tactics that have been a vital and necessary component of keeping the nation safe. Of course, those on the left never thought we were at war to begin with, so the change in tone and nomenclature is really more than a rebuke of George Bush. It is designed to right the terrible wrongs done to all those detainees caught up in the path of American imperialism. 

Do you think the purveyors of man-caused disasters will also give peace a chance?

Obama as world leader?

"Barnstorming from one ungrateful, uncooperative country to the next, signaling weakness, apologizing for America’s generosity and sacrifice? That’s not my idea of success," says John Andrews of Obama's foreign trip in the April round of Head On TV debates. But Susan Barnes-Gelt argues the President was impressive abroad and later in the piracy hostage crisis. John on the right, Susan on the left, also go at it this month over carbon emissions, school reform, illegal aliens on campus, and a legislative scorecard. Head On has been a daily feature on Colorado Public Television since 1997. Here are all five scripts for April: 1. OBAMA AS WORLD LEADER?

Susan: Obama's European tour was a resounding success. His intelligent, calm and deliberate manner impressed leaders, the foreign press and public. If we are going to join with our allies and our foes to address problems than aren't defined by jurisdictional boundaries, we must begin with respectful listening and focus.

John: Barnstorming from one ungrateful, uncooperative country to the next, signaling weakness, apologizing for America’s generosity and sacrifice? That’s not my idea of success. The Messiah’s dangerous inexperience and pacifism were obvious for allies to manipulate and enemies to exploit. Scary!

Susan: Obama proved himself by the way he performed, as commander-in-chief during the recent Somali kidnapping. His decision to authorize the Navy SEALS to free Captain Philips shows he knows when to use military force and that he remains cool under pressure.

John: Remember Bin Laden’s description of America after 9/11 – “the weak horse”? That may become truer than ever under this president. People still seem to like him, but our enemies have other ideas. The hostage rescue was good, but Obama’s weakness toward Iran and North Korea is not good.

2. CAP & TRADE BILL IN CONGRESS

John: The last six quarters have seen a declining economy and the last ten years have seen global cooling. There couldn’t be a worse time to slam American industry and American taxpayers with a huge new tax on carbon emissions. Obama’s cap and trade bill should die a quick death in Congress.

Susan: The Dems were naïve to fast track Cap and Trade legislation. A comprehensive policy confronting climate change, emissions and smart energy is a 21st Century reality. Bold action entails working with the American people to educate and develop strong grassroots support.

John: Do Obama and the Democrats care more about prosperity American-style or socialism European-style? Their policy on energy will tell us. Punitive action on global warming will hurt everyone. Full speed on oil, gas, coal, nuclear, and renewables will bring back the good times. Which is it, Dems?

Susan: John, you are so smart - but very 20th Century! The choice is not black or white - combustibles and pollution vs clean and green. The answer is both - and - not either - or. Cap and trade is inevitable - the question is not whether, but when. You'll see.

3. GRADING THE 2009 LEGISLATURE

John: Democrats went on a tear in the legislature this year. First they raised car taxes on everyone. Then they ripped out another fiscal guardrail from the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, never mind a vote of the people. Then they illegally targeted the worker’s comp fund. Don’t they know there’s a recession on?

Susan: Colorado's budget is a disaster, in large measure because of mandated constraints - TABOR, Amendment 23 and under - funded federal requirements. What does it mean when legislators must choose between educating the workforce or ensuring public safety? Colorado's fiscal challenges are epic.

John: The General Assembly gets an F for this 2009 session. F as in failure, F as in fake, F as in fiscal flop. Democrats bear most of the blame, they were in charge. Republican Don Marostica also flunked. Bill Ritter started things with his reckless budget a year ago.

Susan: Real budget authority rests with the Joint Budget Committee. The Gov is right to take cuts to higher ed off the table and I, for one, think he is smart to let the legislature come to consensus. My grade for the lege is short of a B - for BOLD

4. IMPROVING COLORADO'S SCHOOLS

Susan: Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was in Colorado - along with Senators Udall and Bennet - visiting our public schools. If the state is going to compete for $44 billion in federal dollars for education reform, leaders must address longer school days, teacher accountability and school choice - just for starters.

John: If dollars translated into learning, kids would show more academic mastery after we doubled real spending per student in recent decades. Instead mediocrity in the government schools worsened. Forget the federal honeypot. To improve the 3 R’s we need the 3 C’s – charters, competition, choice.

Susan: We need federal money to fix up decrepit schools so that kids can learn in safe, healthy and well-resourced environments. Neither local communities nor the states have the money to address failed facilities. Then your 3 C's charters, competition and choice should be part of the equation.

John: Speaking of education, Susan, I have to praise Secretary Duncan and President Obama for tapping Peter Groff to coordinate faith-based school initiatives across the country. Groff did well as Senate President, where I once served, and he’s a tiger for educational opportunity. Colorado’s loss is America’s gain.

5. IN-STATE TUITION BILL FAILS

John: What do you know? Sometimes the system works. Illegal aliens won’t get favored treatment at state universities after all. The kid who snuck here from Mexico won’t pay a lower tuition while the veteran who commutes from Wyoming pays full tuition. Five Senate Democrats and 13 Republicans did the right thing.

Susan: Democratic Sens. Morgan Carroll, Jim Isgar, Moe Keller, Linda Newell, and Lois Tochtrop joined Repub's in defeating this bill,which had NO fiscal impact. Shame on them and shame on the partisan and mean-spirited myopia of the Republican minority.

John: Colorado’s hardworking, taxpaying, law-abiding families want no part of a college subsidy for scofflaw foreigners. You may call that mean-spirited. I call it common sense. Enough senators from both parties got the message from voters and killed the bill. The others, plus Bill Ritter, will pay the price in 2010.

Susan: Get a grip John.These kids are both law abiding and hardworking, hardly scofflaws. Any Colorado student who works hard enough to attend college ought to go and pay in-state tuition. It's in the best interest of every Coloradan to have an educated workforce.

Sorry for saving the world

One of the most frustrating things about the left is that they seem to have little use for history and even less regard for objective facts. Facts have little use when you just "know" -- in your gut and with every fiber of your being -- that you are right. Emotion trumps rationality every time. How well policies work is always less important than how they make you feel. Try telling a liberal, for example, that the evidence is clear that socialism in Europe has led to flat economic growth, falling birth rates and a 1970s-style economic and social malaise, and you will get a retort about social justice, the moral imperative of universal health care and the "progressive enlightenment" of European environmental policies. On the left, its better to be enlightened than it is to be rich, I guess. In an academic exercise, such tripe is irritating but tolerable. But when such denial of reality becomes the dominant force behind U.S. government policy -- on almost every issue of importance -- it is time to take notice.  I've written many times that Barack Obama lives in a "parallel universe" inhabited by lots of feel-good imagery, moral clarity and social justice. This is the universe of Europe, and his recent trip showed him quite at home among the hand-wringers and apologists who value symbolic gestures over concrete action.

On Sunday, for example, Obama spoke in Prague before a huge crowd and talked about setting the stage for nuclear disarmament -- a long-time moral imperative of the left -- even as North Korea was launching a test missile capable of delivering one of its newly-developed nuclear warheads as far as Tokyo. Mr. Obama responded to this clear violation of U.N. resolutions by referring it back to the U.N. for "further action" -- meaning more hand-wringing backed by timidity. In Obama's world, of course, the U.N. has a special moral authority, and is the arbiter of choice in this kind of crisis. Forget about its track record. The symbolism of China, Russia and France -- not to mention Syria, Gabon and Tahiti -- being in charge of global security is the kind of image that brings smiles to those who believe that the United States is "just another nation". You know who those people are, right? They are the ones now in charge of your government.

Image, as it turns out, is everything on the left. So you will forgive Obama for apologizing all over himself for American "transgressions". He goes to Turkey and apologizes in effect for America's war on terror -- saying that we "are not at war with Islam" -- when, in fact, we are at war with a significant, virulent strain of the religion. He apologizes for the excesses of American capitalism as the root of the current economic crisis, when in reality the engine of the American economy has lifted the standard of living across the world.

Obama is so sorry. In the ultimate irony, the most hubristic of presidents in modern times want to walk the globe with humility. He wants the world -- the same world that America, with its blood and treasure, has saved repeatedly from extremism of all kinds -- to know how badly we feel and how sorry we are. We feel badly for being exceptional, for leading and for fighting for human freedom.

We're sorry for saving the world. I guess next time, we'll leave you with Hitler, Stalin and Saddam Hussein.