It's been a while since I strayed into the realm of politics, but I cannot help but point what a fine Treasury Secretary Nobel-laureate Paul Krugman would make, especially given his correct predictions regarding the housing bubble, his research on currency and crises, and his reasonable approach to the current Wall Street bailout.  This country could do a hell of a lot worse - and has.  (Hey, and my track record isn't bad!)

You may have seen a commercial staring a crusty old oil man from Texas named T. Boone Pickens, talking about reducing our dependence on foreign oil.  Watch this video to find out more about his plan - or you can go to his site and see for yourself what he's doing.

Here's an interesting read regarding whether to use paper or plastic bags.

Senator Joseph Biden (D - Delaware) makes a strong case for Senator Barack Obama to choose him as his running mate, here.  All that foreign policy experience would go a long way toward shoring up Senator Obama's perceived weakness in this area.  Alternatively, Senator Biden would make an excellent choice for Secretary of State.

Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony.
 ~ Mahatma Ghandi

So, we're a month into this parenthood thing, and one thing is abundantly clear:  A burp is the cork holding in the hiccups.  And, yes, you can quote me on that.

I saw this magnetic message attached to a Mercedes SUV in traffic the other day.  Irony aside, it made me wonder:  Pious patriot, or polarizing politico?

Pious Patriot:  The text is plain enough.  This person believes in God and they love the United States of America enough to pray for His blessings (albeit magnetically) on behalf of the entire country.  There are no politics involved.  it is just a friendly appeal meant to be shared with the motoring public.

Polarizing Politico:  The text is plain enough.  But, this magnet has less to do with prayer and more to do with identifying its owner as a "right" thinking American.  Everything about this message is political.  It is the divisive, evangelical politics of Karl Rove expressed in four simple words, wrapped in the colors of the flag, and twisted around an old oak tree with the express intent of invoking and reinforcing a very specific set of frames in the minds of passing motorists.

Which is it?

The occasion of a new beginning is often marked with a few hopeful words - birds sing morning song, lovers exchange wedding vows, even public officials swear inaugural oaths.  Every story, it seems, owes the world an introduction.  So, what good would this story be without one?

Like most Americans, I believe in the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Like most Americans, I believe in the Constitution of the United States of America:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Like most Americans, I believe in President Lincoln's definition of democracy, from his Gettysburg Address:

... government of the people, by the people, for the people...

These are the hopeful words of new beginnings.  These are the Communicable Thoughts of our ancestors, infecting the very essence of our American sense of what is right and true and fair.  These are the light in Lady Liberty's torch, inviting the huddled masses to a better life.  And, these are the subject herein.

Yet, with each passing year since the attacks of September 11, 2001, I grow increasingly concerned that too many of our elected officials (on both sides) do not share these beliefs.  For operating outside their constitutionally justifiable powers, I blame the Bush administration.  For failing to check the executive branch through their constitutionally mandated role, I blame Congress.  (The Courts have proved a more formidable, if too slow, a foe to tyranny.)

But, I reserve the ultimate blame for you and I.  We are "the People" described in the first three words of the Constitution.  This is our government.  We let them go off course.  We did not hold up our end of the bargain.  And, while progress was made in the 2006 elections, there is much, much more work to do.

These, too, are communicable thoughts.  And, these, too, are the subject herein.

Thomas Jefferson believed that in a little revolution every now and then:

What signify a few lives lost in a generation or two?  The tree of liberty must from time to time be refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants.  It is its natural manure.

Thankfully, our Constitution provides us the ability to alter our government every two years, without need of musket or powder.  But, We the People must exercise our right to "institute new government."  We the People have the power to right our country.  We the People can change the course of the war.  We the People are responsible for restoring our nation to its rightful place as a beacon of freedom for all the world.

It is high time We the People begin speaking in the hopeful words of a new beginning.