ie:missional

I’ve had my iPhone for about 18 months now, having purchased it at the time of the first price break. Having never had an iPod or Crackberry prior, I felt the spending of the money was justfied as it was time for a new phone anyway.

With the new 3G S coming out in a week or so, I know there will be a truck load of people wondering if they should buy an iPhone or any one of the number of “buy-one-get-one-free” phones that seem to inhabit every retail shop.

Here are a few observations from my months of use:

First, the iPhone is extremely durable. The glass-like appearance of the screen belies is ruggedness. It is not that the screen cannot be scratched; it can, but not with normal use. Mine has no screen nicks at all and only a minor screen discoloration from the mistake of leaving it in direct sunlight in a closed truck on a very hot day.

Second, it has a great interface. It is important to remember that the iPhone is really a computer with a phone, instead of a phone with some cool applications or even an iPod with a built in phone. It has a complete operating system with regular software updates, just like your computer. Since it has a Mac style OS it is very intuitive, even to the point of being fun. Commands are simple and straightforward. It is almost completely idiot proof.

It works well. The touch screen works amazingly well even through layers of grime and skin oil. Only when truly dirty will it cause screen commands to jump or falter. A dry cotton cloth or shirt tail will take care of this quickly. Though I have dropped mine a few times, it never fails to work. I did jar the SIM card loose once from a direct hit on a concrete floor, but a quick hit to my palm in the other direction reset it immediately.

It is durable. Not only does it stand up to normal dropping and jostling, the battery still works as well as when new. An early concern was over the owner’s inability to change the battery; it must be sent to the factory. However, I have charged mine literally hundreds of times and the battery is still good. I do follow the age old advice to let it run down pretty far before recharging.

It’s just plain sexy. The thing just looks good and feels good. It has the perfect weight, not too heavy and not too light. You’ll never leave Chili’s and get three miles down the road before remembering that you left it on the table. I carry mine in my back or cargo pocket and it is easily missed. You’ll forget your sunglasses a hundred times before you forget your iPhone once.

I do recommend, without hesitation, that you activate your password protect feature. If you do not, then anyone who were to pick it up would be able to access any email account that you have tied to it. This could be a disaster. It takes 5 seconds to “clear security” and it is worth it.

Ricky Smith of RB Smith Grading in Buford is a great friend and discipleship partner. He and I meet almost every Wednesday with 2 or 3 other men at a Waffle House, the same place where Jesus met with His disciples. He drives large dozers, low-boys, tractors, etc in doing site work for gas stations, schools, and commercial buildings. A while back he bought an iPhone, but he drops it a lot. A lot. And since he rarely works over carpet, his drops really have impact.

Recently he dropped his iPhone screen down on a concrete curb, creating a spider web of cracks all across it, but short of shattering it out of the frame. Below is a picture of the screen after the EMTs got through with it. It is completely covered with Scotch tape. The cracks and tape are easily seen. The second picture is proof that it still works. The screen you see is after logging through security. The touch screen feature still works. [Note: The fuzziness is photographer error, not phone display problems.]

Get one; I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I regularly blogged about matters relating to the Southern Baptist Convention. After a couple of years of such writing, I retired from it and began to blog about other matters. I’m writing this particular post as a couple of friends, for whom I have great respect, have asked me to weigh in with a few thoughts on the proposed Great Commission Resurgence (GCR) in the Southern Baptist Convention. I’m not returning to the fray.

Though some, perhaps many, will take my writing as negative, it is only how things are viewed from my seat. I hope against hope for nothing but success for all those who are involved in this attempt and would be happy to be proven wrong.

Beginning at least as early as Dr. Jimmy Draper’s Younger Leader Initiative in the SBC, calls for major institutional, structural and Cooperative Program reform have been a part of conversation from the fringes to the center of SBC life and leadership. The Younger Leader discussion board that went online just before Thanksgiving of 2004 (now defunct) was flooded with concerns about the wastefulness of the current denominational structure and suggestions on how to address those issues. Those younger leaders ultimately divided into at least three branches: those who continued their path out of the convention, those who tried a concerted effort (ie, political) to effect change (I was here) and those who more or less eschewed the politics to focus on bringing change via their local churches. This is a simplification, I’m aware, but I think it holds up well enough for this post.

After two years of blogging multiple times a week and gaining insight into the mechanics, politics and personalities of the SBC, I came to the conclusion that attempt at denominational reform were hopeless and efforts to bring it about were futile, bordering on bad time management. (One can read those posts here, here, here and here. Independent of my own writing, Michael Spencer came to very similar conclusions regarding the collapse of evangelicalism Part 1 and Part 2.)

Recently Dr. Danny Akin of Southeastern Seminary issued a call for denominational reform under the name Great Commission Resurgence which term has been credited with coinage by Dr. Thom Rainer, president of Lifeway Christian Resources. This original 13 point message was distilled into ten points and promoted by current SBC president, Dr. Johnny Hunt, who, as I understand it, intends to make it a focus of the 2009 Convention in Louisville. As of this writing, the document boasts 3,346 signatures, which is less than the annual attendance of the SBC and .0002% of the claimed 16M SBC membership, but, to be fair, substantially more than movements of the recent past have garnered (ie, The Memphis Declaration and the Joshua Convergence).

Responses to the GCR document have been, shall we say, wildly varied. Shortly after Danny Akin’s message, Baptist Press published a subtle rebuttel from the normally far afield Dr. Malcolm Yarnell who did not disappoint. Dr. Hunt has taken flack for proposing such a thing as the GCR, accusations about base motives are swimming just under the surface. A document attempting to call the SBC back to a focus on the Great Commission has not been signed by 75% of the Executive Directors of state conventions/fellowships, who, ostensibly, are for the Great Commission, and there is suspicion within the ranks over who would be the president of a potentially combined IMB/NAMB mission agency. With the less than stellar performance of late at NAMB and the perennial candidacy of the SBTC’s Jim Richards, I do not know that much trust would be engendered by a search team, assurances of “God’s will being done” notwithstanding.

My thoughts are few and, sadly, are little changed from the thoughts that led to me abandon any hope of a true change in the SBC from a vestige of a nostalgic past to a rebirth as a missional powerhouse. Nevertheless, here are a few for what they are worth.

1. The SBC has ADHD. EKG, GPS, GCR. The SBC sounds like alphabet soup or the federal government. There is scarcely enough time to promote one program or idea before it makes way for the next one, none of which catch hold. There are programs that emanate from different offices and different entities (The Net and F.A.I.T.H. for example) giving the impression that some entities are actually in competition with each other. This is not even to get into different promotions within given states that alternately duplicate or ignore national movements (Promise Keepers becomes Legacy Builders in the GBC).

2. There is too much turfism. The local association, the state convention and the national convention are often at odds with each other over who is to do what, when and where. State evangelism offices and directors are at odds with NAMB. The entities are concerned about money and who’s getting it. For years at least one of the seminary presidents has been pushing hard for a “seminary offering” to be observed in the convention’s churches, but has been rebuffed. The states balk at the idea of sending a greater percentage of funds to X-Comm, though the IMB is now unable to send M’s who are currently trained and ready. Much of this is related to denominational protectionism or fiefdoms that must be protected at all costs, even kingdom costs.

3. The SBC’s greatest strength, autonomy, has become its greatest weakness. Since each level makes it’s own decisions independently of the other levels (though each claims to be the servant of the churches), there is not enough cooperation and often redundancy. When Dr. Akin mentioned “bloated bureaucracy” he was met with cries of “foul” from other areas. No one thinks that their own area is bloated only that others are. For that reason, as some have noted, passing a resolution on this document means little since the states and not obligated to do anything as a result (Others have noted that restructuring will not bring revival). Even if a study committee returns and makes recommendations for streamlining, each individual state would have to act independently and would be loath to do so for fear of another state keeping or receiving more CP money.

4. There is not enough trust. Everything that I learned in two years keeps me believing that there is ample reason for this, but this is a terrible situation. Adult men and women all of whom are assumed to be maturing Christians, but cannot trust that there are no agendas other than a kingdom agenda. There is not even trust on the upper levels of leadership; how is there going to be trust down the line? Anyone who has read Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team knows that trust is foundational to effectiveness.

5. There are too many viable options for education, fellowship and mission. Southern Baptists no longer need an SBC education. The proliferation of online education has made it possible to have more (and sometimes cheaper) alternatives. Not being forced to move in order to attend seminary may be a bane to the schools, but it is a blessing to the students. Not only that, but currently I’m in a degree program that is not offered by SBC seminaries and is a less expensive option even counting CP subsidies.

Networks such as Acts 29 and Glocal with discussions like ChurchAsMissionary have made it possible to have meaningful partnerships outside rigid SBC structures and, in many cases, individual churches provide more church plant money than all levels of the denomination combined. Fellowship is as readily attained in online communities and impromptu phone calls than at the Monday Morning Pastors Conference at Shoney’s.

6. God does not need the SBC. At least one SBCer, Jedediah Coppenger, has written a lament about the drop in Cooperative Program funds relating to international missions asking if the Great Commission is filing for bankruptcy. While I appreciate the concern, I cannot join the chorus of despair because I do not think that God is dependent on the SBC. Was there no fulfillment of the Great Commission before the founding of the Southern Baptist Convention? If not, how did the gospel get to our ancestors? Was the modern missions movement founded in Nashville? Did Adonirum Judson go through the International Learning Center?

A few years ago I sat in a room with 20 or so other men and ladies and we discussed the future of the SBC. My primary contribution to the conversation was this: “If we are not prepared to admit that God may be envisioning a future without the SBC, then we are not prepared to envision a future with it.” That is, the SBC must be willing to at least seriously and thoughtfully consider that God is done with the SBC before serious thought can be given to a potential future. Otherwise we think and act from a position of triumphalism–that God needs us to fulfill His plans, when, in fact, He does not.

7. There is more concern about job security than about soul salvation. Every time someone mentions b’cracy, downsizing, and streamlining, someone usually brings up the fact that people will lose their jobs. So? And? I see a commission in the Word to take the gospel to all the world, but see nothing about denominational job creation. This particular concern should never enter the discussion. It simply is not relevant to the mission. Glorifying God by getting the gospel to those who have not heard is the mission; everything about the SBC should flow from and into that.

8. There is no compelling vision. Still.

9. We do not need a Great Denominational Resurgence. In case you spend all of your time inside the SBC beltway, the GCR has already been pegged as such by some outside your circles and a few in them. I just don’t know anyone who is crying themselves to sleep at night because of the SBC. Over the condition of our world? Yes. Over the lost? Yes. Over the denomination? No. Pastors are leading churches to be involved in the Great Commission. I know scads of them who have adopted unreached people groups, have partnered with M’s and nationals, have sent countless teams and planted churches all without denominational assistance. Why spend so much time and energy trying to change the saddle on a dying horse? Pastors and churches should recognize the efficiency and effectiveness of channels that exist outside the bureaucratic structures of denominations and exploit them to the fullest.

10. Any study team will likely have the wrong people on it. The order of thinking that could get the SBC out of this mess will of necessity be a different order of thinking than got the SBC into this mess and that “different order” kind of thinking will have to come from different people none of whom will be asked to serve. Why? Because they are on the fringe. The fringe is where creativity happens. Revolutionary thinking scares the status-quo which is why it gets pushed out to the fringe.

One SWBTS professor wrote that the SBC is led from the center. This might be true when there is consensus, but is decidedly not true about leading a revolution. Revolutions always begin at the fringe because the center is inhabited by the status quo. Imagine a study group filled with fringe dwellers who bring back a bunch of wild ideas about streamlining, combining, restructuring…stuff that will actually work. Then it gets beat half to death by a bunch of turf protectors, before being subjected to everyone in the blogosphere, then it finally limps into the annual meeting only to be suffer 20 lashes and then pass the votes of not one but two consecutive June meetings.

And while all that energy has been expended trying to change a denomination, the fringe dwellers are out changing the world.

You can find the actual search engine here, and information about its developer, Stephen Wolfram, in this article at Wired.com.

Wolfram Alpha is a revolutionary (if it works as claimed) search engine that answers question (”How far is the earth from the sun?”) with specific, real time information rather than a page of possible answers based on what matches previous internet contributions (in the way of Google, Yahoo and Ask).

People who supported former third-party presidential candidates like Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin and former Georgia Rep. Bob Barr are cited in the report, in addition to anti-abortion activists and conspiracy theorists who believe the United States, Mexico and Canada will someday form a North American Union.

Militia members most commonly associate with 3rd party political groups. It is not uncommon for militia members to display Constitutional Party, Campaign for Liberty or Libertarian material.

This eye opening news comes courtesy of the Department of Homeland security (read the entire article here). It’s good to know that our own government has narrowed down the list of subversives to Ron Paul supporters, abortion protesters and people who wear boxers are concerned about a crackdown on firearms ownership as potential threats to the government.

It seemed good to remind the honorable members of this particular portion of the government why it’s ok to participate in all of the above:

March Madness has started again at SBC Voices. I’m in the East Division; you can vote for 4 blogs in each division. Put me over the top!!

Vote here.

“Whether you agree or disagree with what you will hear, we feel that none will deny the right of these views to be broadcast.”

A friend recently told me about a project at the University of Texas in which 1950’s era interviews by Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes fame. The name of the show was The Mike Wallace Interview.

There are some really interesting subjects here: Reinhold Niebuhr, Margaret Sanger, Aldous Huxley, Malcolm Muggeridge and others. Each appears to be about 30 minutes long and carries the original ABC lead-ins and Mike pitching, and smoking, Phillip Morris cigarettes (his sponsor). The worst part of each episode is the theme music which is laughably bad; it sounds like a Saturday Sci-Fi channel movie.

This link to the lineup an be found here.

Baptist youth pastor, Frank Harris, Jr. was found murdered around 4:00 am on Monday morning in the small north Georgia town of Cleveland.  On Sunday evening, he had phoned his wife to inform her that he was giving a ride to a “some stranded folks,” apparently somewhere along GA 129.  A 29 year old woman and a 20 year old man are facing felony murder charges, while the man is also charged with armed robbery.  Harris leaves behind a wife, Tami, and three teen aged children.

(From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution or from Access North Georgia)

Cards or other encouragement can be sent to:

The Harris Family
c/o Pendergrass Baptist Church
105 Church Street
Pendergrass, GA 30567

Crystal Night. The Night of Broken Glass.

October 1938 saw the forced deportation of thousands of German Jews to the Polish border where some were allowed immigration but many waited. All were uprooted from their homes and dispossessed, many traveled penniless. This deportation was an inevitable result of the cumulative 90 discriminatory, anti-Jewish laws passed in Germany from 1933 to 1935.

Living in Paris was the seventeen year old son of two of the displaced, Herschel Grynszpan. From his sister, who was with their parents, he had received a post card telling him of their plight and asking for any money he could spare. The family had lived in Hanover for twenty seven years. After receiving the post card, Grynszpan purchased a newspaper where he read in graphic detail of the deportations from Germany. On Monday, November 7, he took a loaded pistol to the German embassy where, “in the name of 12,000 persecuted Jews,” he shot Ernst vom Rath, fatally wounding him.

Not wanting to miss a golden opportunity to further their warped agenda, during the night and morning of November 9 and 10, 1938 (seventy years ago today), Nazi goons all over Germany set fire to more than 200 Jewish synagogues and smashed the windows of 7,500 of Jewish owned stores and businesses. One writer called it,

the crowning moment in the wild domestic terror that Germans perpetrated upon Jews.

In villages, towns and cities across Germany, Jewish residents were awakened to the sounds of shattering glass and beaten flesh. Around 100 were killed and some 30,000 taken to concentration camps. A picture from the day shows German citizens lining a street while Nazi policemen march Jewish men toward a transport to Dachau. A Bible twisting sign held in the crowd reads, “Exodus of the Jews.”

It bears remembering that Hitler did not come into power by a coup, but by the will of the people of Germany. Runaway inflation, national shame and the loathed Treaty of Versailles primed the country to listen to the pseudo psychological babblings of the mustachioed madman. The primary motivation that prepared ordinary Germans to accept the leadership of a man who was obviously either crazy, demon possessed or both was not reason; what Hitler believed did not make sense and was against any real science. It was not based on history; Jews had been in Germany, and Europe, for generations. It was not based on parasitism; Jews contributed greatly to the German economy, being hardworking business people.

It was based on fear. German nationalistic pride was in shambles. The German economy was suffering from runaway inflation. The German military forces were supposed to be severely curtailed and military aircraft non-existent. The German people lived in fear of the future and into the leadership void stepped Adolph Hitler, who was welcomed with open arms and admired with open hearts.

About a month ago, we had the opportunity to go to a nearby town and hear a presentation by Holocaust survivor, Eugen Shoenfeld, retired professor from Georgia State University and author of My Reconstructed Life. He recounted his story from the age of 17 when he boarded a crowded train car with scores of other Jews where they rode four days with virtually no food and only a bucket for a toilet. Upon finally arriving at the destination, they began disembarking into two lines at the heads of which stood a man in a leather jacket who was motioning some people to the right and others to the left.

The place was Auschwitz.

The man was Dr. Joseph Mengele.

Many of Schoenfeld’s family were unwittingly condemned on the spot, while he and other family members joined the hundreds of Jews already in laborious, sickening captivity. Schoenfeld lived until he and the remaining survivors were liberated by American soldiers. The irony of being freed by American Lt. Schwartz was not lost on the young man.

Following the story of his life, the retired professor reminded us of the emotion that drove virtually an entire country to support Hitler: fear. He reminded us that fear causes otherwise rational people to do completely irrational things. At that moment in our country, we were just in the beginning of the economic meltdown from the mortgage crisis. Wall Street was in a panic and it seemed that decision after decision was being made as a result of fear, whether a hastily conceived bailout or 401(k) owners selling out stocks and moving into cash. Fear is not a link to wisdom or patience.

Fear, no matter what the “boogie man” behind it, causes people to willingly, and often eagerly, sell their future for a “mess of pottage.” It happens over and over again in our world. Fear of one government causes submission to a war lord. Fear of liberalism causes conservatives to make bad decisions. Fear of another terrorist attack, well, interpret events as you will. Fear war and you vote for Barack Obama. Fear Barack Obama and you vote for anyone else. Regardless of who is president, we can never allow fear to lead us to willingly give up our basic rights. Once given, they are rarely returned. Just ask the Germans. Wearing the cloak of fear, the Reichstag gave unfettered authority to Hitler, making themselves puppets in his dictatorship.

Leadership is forged in time of crisis to be sure, but the hammer of the molding is never fear. Life leadership has to be from faith, wisdom and boldness, never from fear, uncertainty and weakness. If there are any citizens that live free from fear and exhibit the patience to evaluate circumstances based on the truths of God, it ought to be His people. Let it be so.

Father,

On this important day for American society, I pray that we would not forget you. Your word says that you set up kings and you take down kings, so surely that includes our president, whether it be Barack Obama or John McCain.

Father, I pray that we would not forget your kingdom. In a day when fervent patriotism and divided politics carry most every conversation, help your children to remember that we have been called to a higher allegiance and that what happens in America does not equate to what happens in your kingdom. Forgive those of us in the United States that have convinced ourselves that your eternal plans ride on decisions that we make, forgetting that your kingdom was expanding centuries before 1776 and will continue eternally after the last copy of our constitution has disintegrated.

I ask that you would forgive us for making political preferences a basis for fellowship. If you can break down the walls between Jew and Gentile, can we not imagine that you have done so between Democrats and Republicans? Many of us know people who, if they don’t outright despise people who hold to different politics, find it extremely difficult to carry on conversations that don’t degenerate into political wrangling. May we never forget that Jesus set the pattern for us by choosing among his disciples one zealot, whose goal was to extricate Israel from Roman domination, and one tax collector, whose job was in league with the oppressors. Let us love, love all and love well.

Please forgive us for putting our hope in a political party or a president, when our hope should ever and only be in you.

Father I pray for Barack Obama, a man who seems to have no conscience toward the unborn. In his very stance on the abortion issue he betrays himself as a man not of your word, regardless of his claims of salvation. If elected, I pray that he would humble himself under your mighty hand and that you would use him, turning his heart wherever you will.

Father I pray for John McCain, a man who seems to be running on a platform he doesn’t completely believe. I do not believe that he understands the complexities facing our nation and have no hope that he would pick anyone other than “good old boys” to be around him if elected. He has no plan to stop the slaughter of the innocents. If elected, I pray that he would humble himself under your mighty hand and that you would use him, turning his heart wherever you will.

Father, I pray for the mostly unknown others who are on ballots for president across America. It is my earnest prayer that, beginning in this election and at all levels, we would begin to see the end of the two party dominant system that has polarized this country. Allow third, fourth, fifth party candidates and independents to be elected to force more reasonable and workable solutions to the problems we face.

I pray for the salvation of those who are in congress or who will be going there after this election. Place someone around them with the message of the gospel that they might come to know you and govern with wisdom.

Above all, that we your people might demonstrate the righteousness that we have received from you in every conversation we engage. The kingdoms of this world are fallen and corrupt; help us to promote the one, eternal King and the plan that he has instituted.

I ask this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, your son.

Amen.

I have a good friend who simply cannot believe that any clear thinking American would vote for Barack Obama for president. In fact, he issued a challenge for someone–anyone–to give him a convincing reason to vote for the Illinois senator. Few took him up on the offer.

I first called this election for Obama well before the primaries were over. Not because I planned to vote for him, not because I think he’d make the best president, not because I shuddered at the thought of another Clinton in the White House, but because seemed obvious to me he would win it in a walk. Here are the reasons in no particular order:

1. Because of the last two elections. Those residents of America that call themselves liberal have been steamed in the last two presidential elections since they feel they have been ripped off. Bush’s 2000 win over Gore through the electoral college (via the Supreme Court) and the Swift Boating of John Kerry (with proclaimed voting irregularities all over the place) have motivated them to get out the vote even if some of those voters are dead or sharing a ballot. Supposedly 105% of the population of Indiana (correction: Indianapolis) have now registered to vote. What happens if a state has more people vote than are on the registered voter list? Can they withhold their electors? Who knows, but it is obvious that far left liberals really do not care as long as Obama is in the White House.

2. Because of George W. Bush. Any Republican nominee was to be running against two opponents-the Democratic nominee and the immensely unpopular sitting president. Only if McCain (or Romney, Huckabee or whoever) had immediately drawn a stark line of distinction between himself and Bush would they have had a good chance. McCain’s late effort to do so only gives the appearance of desperation. In fact, one of the primary reasons that Democrats are on the verge of a filibuster proof majority in the senate and gaining as many as 30 seats in the house is because Republicans have not stood down the president at more turns.

The recent Wall Street cave in bail out put front and center the problems of the current administration. The over-simplified “It’s a big solution ’cause its a big problem” kind of talk from the president reflected badly on McCain if for no other reason because he’s a Republican. He chose to support the almost universally loathed bailout plan, rather than strongly oppose it and thus appeared as socialistic as Obama. To show true leadership and ingenuity, McCain should have been critical of the rush to judgment. Instead, he proposed a delayed “solution” that was easily and quickly dismissed.

3. Because he is black. Barack Obama is appealing to the African American community because he is perceived as one of them, even though he is of mixed heritage. It’s the same reason that McCain would be appealing to veterans or Romney to Mormons or Clinton (either one) to women. There is a strong identification factor because of his race. But, for the Democrats, it goes deeper.

During the primaries, the only diversity at all was on the Democratic side. There was an African American and a woman included in the running. The Republican ticket was white bread America (please people, Alan Keyes just does not count). McCain and Paul, the “old white guys,” Huckabee the “funny white guy,” Romney the “white rich guy,” Thompson the “white actor guy,” etc. Republicans don’t appeal to minorities because the Republican party is primarily about lip service. Did anybody see the crowd shots at the RNC? It looked like a snow storm. We have millions of immigrants who come to this country (legally) for the opportunities that the free market system affords them and Republicans, the party of opportunity, can’t even lock up that vote?

4. Because of big business interests. For better or for worse, Republicans are seen as business friendly to the extreme. They like to think of their party and the one that is good for business and that helps business to flourish thereby allowing the rising of all boats in society. This is well and good, but it does nothing if it isn’t communicated to and understood by Americans and it actually is harmful when you have a few companies reaping record breaking profits (Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron Texaco) from Americans who are given little real choice (we’ve got to drive gas vehicles since there are so few viable alternatives).

Republicans have done a terrible job of demonstrating how the growth of business drives the growth of the economy and have allowed their party to be pigeon holed as the one that only cares about creating wealth for the already wealthy. Even the founding fathers warned about the centralization of wealth in the hands of a few because of the corrupting nature of it.

5. Because he’s a socialist. The difference between Obama and the Republicans is that he is open about his socialistic beliefs while they are still in the closet. Socialism is not simply a belief in the redistribution of wealth; it is the belief that the vague entity known as “the government” knows better how to run the people’s lives than the people do including how they should use their money. Socialism puts the interest of the structure above the interest of the citizens. By this measure Republicans (at least the ones in DC) are as socialist as any Democrat, including Barack Obama. Our sitting president has expanded government to the point that true Republicans are repulsed by it, while he pushed for a growing amount of executive power to the point that constitutionalists are repulsed by it. It seems obvious that Republicans are very content with big government as long as they are in control of expanding it. They now are surprised by the embracing of it by the average American? They have fomented the mindset and now will live with the consequences and potentially without the power to do anything about it.

So, if Senator Obama becomes President-elect Obama sometime tomorrow evening, and the Republicans begin to whine about ACORN, the media, campaign finance reform and all the other post-Halloween ghouls, just remember: they have only themselves to blame.