Clueless celebrities vs. leaders & heroes

Americans need to think and talk more about the timeless principles of leadership, principles that also apply equally well to citizenshipand simple person-hood. How desperately those principles are needed everyday, and how sadly lacking.

Too many "leaders" today are merely celebrities, with no notion of integrity and no commitment to God's goodness. Little wonder that people feel cheated and seek ever anew for some "leader" who could restore good government, but instead the media imposes on us yet another clueless, self-serving celebrity. The risk to our republic is immense.

Then, too, because people are taught that those shallow, unprincipled weaklings must be idolized, people have little chance to learn about genuine goodness. In place of valid heroes, representing by their example the principles and godliness we each need to emulate, the media adulate these false "leaders" and people's moral integrity and civic responsibility erode ever further.

This year, on this blog, let's proclaim the true values that we need in our leaders and in ourselves.

Better messenger needed

The GOP's problem is the message, some say. For others the party is too conservative, or too religious. Still others say we've abandoned the party's principles, and gone soft inside the halls of power. A fair amount of energy has gone into the post mortem of the 2008 elections, a lot of angst and blame, handwringing and blame. Did I mention blame? Well it probably deserves to be mentioned twice. But so much effort has gone into this already that I feel compelled to offer something different, something more... hip.

The problem it seems to me is that the republican party lacks an appropriate standard bearer. Senator McCain ran as a maverick - but for a good number of reasons, he was more of a renegade: he was out of touch with his party, the voters and the general mood of the country. He was for change too, and "I'm just like the other guy - but older and not as cool" is not a winning slogan.

The principles of conservatism, and the Republican party are as applicable today as they were in 1980, the last time we had a party leader that put forward policy and principle in a vision for America's greatness that captured public imaginations.

Republicans need someone who can articulate - effectively and positively why our solutions work. Leave behind for the moment that the other guy's ideas are empty change for change sake and find someone who can clearly and positively express to America why smaller government, strong families, a strong nation and individual liberty.

Don't get me wrong, there is more work to be done to revive Republicanism than merely finding a new voice for old solutions. Americans need to know how, Republicans will address the burning topics of today - and we need to go beyond the lower taxes platforms of yesteryear (and the 2008 elections)-- we need to be for policies that work, that open doors and opportunity for all, that address important questions like health care access, better infrastructure and retirement security.

That can be done - but we need a face that can embodies change, and honesty, and a vision for America's future. We need all that, and the integrity and responsibility to back it up.

Red Colorado group now on Twitter

I've been learning Facebook and Twitter in recent weeks, finding them worth the investment of time. Twitter is essentially a chatroom where very short comments with links can be blasted to your selected network of friends. Easy to sign up, free, and easy to start using - the sophisticated wrinkles can come later or be ignored. This post is particularly addressed to Colorado Republicans and conservatives who I think would benefit from keeping in closer touch via Twitter. I have created a specialty group called Red Colorado for us to "talk" in. Here's how it works...

1- Create your Twitter account at www.twitter.com, start collecting others to "follow" (hear from automatically).

2- When you write an update, if it concerns the goal of making Colorado red again, include the "hashtag" #redco

3- Any time you want to check on what others in Red Colorado are saying, go to www.search.twitter.com, enter #redco, and presto - all the comments are show there, with options for you to reply directly to the individual or to toss in your own comment to the whole group.

A number of sample #redco items are already posted to give the idea. These things can be a time-wasting toy OR a real productivity tool for our political goals. So far I see potential for the latter. Let's experiment and find out.

Paul Weyrich, Genius of the Right

Paul Weyrich, conservative organizer par excellence, died today at his home in Washington DC after a long and painful illness which he bore with heroic good cheer. He was just 66. A tribute is here. History will recognize him as a giant of the American right. The vaunted successes of the Democracy Alliance for liberal goals in recent elections are really just a mirror of the way Weyrich's visionary institution-building and networking since the early 1970s set the stage for Reagan's presidency in 1980 and Gingrich's takeover of Congress in 1994.

Paul helped found both the Heritage Foundation and the Free Congress Foundation. He pioneered the weekly center-right coalition gatherings that continue to wield vast influence in the form of Grover Norquist's Wednesday Meeting. He was among the earliest players in conservatism's move into cable television, demonstrating the potential for what is now Fox News Channel.

We could not have created the Independence Institute in 1985 as a force in Colorado policy and politics, simultaneous with similar state startups in Illinois, Washington, and South Carolina, without the national template for think tanks that Paul Weyrich and Edwin Feulner -- financially backed by Joe Coors -- provided a decade earlier at Heritage and Free Congress.

So it can be said that State Policy Network, now encompassing free-market institutes in some 45 states, also owes its existence to Weyrich's genius, drive, and hard work. Conservatives in the Colorado General Assembly, as in state legislatures across the country, also benefit from his legacy as one of the founders of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The Republican Study Committee of Colorado, a legislators caucus, imitates yet another brainchild of his, the House Republican Study Committee in DC.

I was honored to know Paul as a friend for many years. He was a mentor to me as to countless others. As a devoted follower of Jesus Christ, he anticipated celebration with the angels when death finally came. I trust that's what this faithful servant is experiencing right now -- an early Christmas in heaven. But we on earth will sorely miss him.

Opportunities abound in Rocky sale

As by now everyone knows, the Rocky Mountain News has been put on the block, This at a time when the Tribune Company has filed forChapter 11, when over 30 papers are for sale nationwide, and there don't seem to be any buyers for large-market papers.

The business reasons for this have been chewed over ad infinitum, but the chief culprit is declining ad revenue, which only looks to get worse. (I'd also suggest brand equity; the Rocky used to win the lion's share of the journalism awards, but the Post had a better brand, in part because broadsheets seem to carry greater credibility.)

Editorially, this is an opportunity.

It's an opportunity for center-right bloggers, who will now be able to go after the Post as it inevitably spins off to the left, becoming our version of the "Strib" (Minneapolis Star-Tribune).

It's an opportunity for us in the Colorado blogosphere to do more original reporting, since it's possible the Rocky won't be there to do it.

It may be a big opportunity for the Examiner, which may try to pick up some of the loose talent soon to be running around Denver looking for work. The online paper is based here in town, and could rapidly turn its local edition into the flagship for the country.

It's also an opportunity for the talent at the Rocky, who could try the same thing on their own. Shed the national reporting, bring in some entrepreneurial-minded management, ditch the printing presses and expensive delivery system, and turn the paper into an online, state- and local-oriented newspaper. Charge a nominal fee for a subscription, and go back to a no-holds-barred style, that takes on the Post directly.