Who will lead the Republican Party?

The talking "heads" (or throats if you refer to radio hosts) have been debating about the vision and leadership of the Republican party all week! Michael Steele (who?) is the elected chairman and Rush Limbaugh has just resigned as the unofficial head. Colin Powell has tried to take a lead (by creating his own round hole into which he can jam his square peg) and Newt Gingrich has launched his own unofficial / official campaign to maybe want to possibly think about seriously considering a potential leadership role that might eventually lead to the Presidency. Glenn Beck has created a "networking" site that would allow people to connect and never be alone and yet its membership has only just grown past 650,000 - not quite enough to surround 'them'. There has been quite a bit of rhetoric but the substance seems thin and in our first '100 days' not much has truly been accomplished.

In all the talk about leadership there has been a dearth of conversation about philosophy, ideology, and conviction. The problem revolves around the lack of baseline fundamentals. Even conservatives have fallen into the trap of relying upon gut feelings and emotional responses. Long forgotten are concepts of absolutes and foundational truths that form the platform for reasoned and balanced argument. The Founding Fathers are reverently cited and their ideals rolled out with great accolades but few have taken the time to realize that these ideals were not original with the Founders - meaning that the Founders only discovered existent truth they did not create truth. So what's the difference?

Existent truth is unchanging - it does not flex with circumstances or waver in the breeze of public opinion. Its immutability gives hope and security for those who follow it because trust is placed not in personalities or movements but in a greater, eternal, omnipotent power that cares for His creatures and His creation. In fact, the Founders referred to Him as The Creator but the Bible calls Him the Lord Jesus Christ.
Existent truth is all-encompassing - it is applicable to every area of life and every individual. All citizens of the Earth can enjoy the blessings and benefits of a system that was created for them and all their needs. It offers blessings to the good and judgment to the evil in perfect balance and harmony and by the way, the choice is up to you!

There is much more that could be said however, the start is that debate over leadership sift out to understanding of ideology. When the foundations are secure, the other pieces more readily fall into place. Incidentally, no personality that abandons existent truth or twists it with rhetoric will be able to lead those who build on the base of existent truth. Let the talking heads talk and the politicians politic, but let the people who love truth - existent truth - define a party and locate a leader, no one is really interested in another popularity contest!

Freedom Is Not Free - (and neither is anything else!)

The catch phrase for Memorial Day is almost always "Freedom is not free". It is a powerful statement as we consider the sacrifices of thousands of American patriots over the years. From our very foundations (the signers of the Declaration felt certain that they would pay the ultimate price for their independence - and signed anyway!) the cost of freedom was always heavy but most definitely worth it. For more than two centuries true Americans have placed blood value on the liberties we enjoy, but more and more we are surrounded by a society of citizens that believe the cost should be paid by someone else. Someone else's ideas. Someone else's sweat. Someone else's money and someone else's expense. Something is seriously wrong with this picture.
When the Continental Army marched to fight against the British soldiers, they willingly faced the greatest army in the world at that time. Each colonial soldier knew that his life might quickly end with the sound of a shot or the slash of a saber yet on he marched. At home was his family who knew he was not fighting for the privileges that some government or king would grant him, but rather for the rights guaranteed by the Creator. He knew that those rights did not provide for his needs, his cares or even his safety - he knew only that the ultimate prize of this "revolutionary" war would be opportunity. Opportunity to choose his own path in an ordered civilization, to exercise his own judgment in a civil society and to control his own destiny in the sight of God. He probably also realized that the pendulum of opportunity swung from the heights of success to the depths of failure however, in a truly free country, the key is that the pendulum keeps swinging!
Freedom is not free and it was never meant to be. There is always a price to pay. Patrick Henry realized that, for those who did not truly value life as dear or peace as sweet, freedom might be purchased at the cost of chains and slavery. That's the price that many are willing to pay in this current day. Prevent "climate change"; Provide healthcare; Save the banks; Supplement the industries; Tax the rich - tax the poor spend it all and tax some more. And at every turn more indpendent thinkers, innovative workers and industrious citizens are enslaved and chained. The pendulum is slowing and soon all opportunity will be lost. When will America wake up?