Egypt

Just a few notes and thoughts that I have about the Egyptian revolution...

* Kudos to the Egyptian people for conducting an extremely peaceful revolution. It showed great discipline and moral courage. That is definitely something to build on.

* I've been following President Obama's many comments about Egypt these past weeks (possibly a bit too many), and have been very impressed with his ability to speak with moral authority on this issue. Now that President Mubarak has stepped down, Obama has the responsibility to back up his words. When the most powerful man and leader of the free world repeatedly calls for regime change of a sovereign nation, he establishes ownership of that nation to a meaningful extent. In a sense, the "you broke it, you bought it!" rule applies. Lending financial aid, intelligence on successful transitioning, and establishing structure and organization to "bring all parties to the table" will be essential and obvious steps needed to help Egypt get back on her feet. However, dissuading the participation of certain groups that do not allow freedom will be another essential key to the success of the nation. I hope the President has the fortitude to take this very difficult stand. Since this would involve making additional moral judgments, I question whether Obama will shine on this front. Leadership is NOT running in front of world opinion and chiming in, rather leadership is doing what is right even when the world consensus opposes you.

* Egypt has a pretty cool flag.

* I wish Obama was half as forceful in backing the Iranian uprising a year and a half ago. I wonder why he wasn't.

* I'll be praying for the Coptic Church in the subsequent months and years. The current instability is very likely to lead to a rise in their already extreme persecution in this overwhelmingly "Cristophobic" nation. On a side note that I found fascinating: the first Coptic church was founded in Alexandria in the 1st century by Mark, Apostle of Jesus!!

* My mind also runs to my high school years and wonders how rapper/DJ Greg Broussard AKA Egyptian Lover feels about the revolution.

* Finally, I'm drawn to the Beatles song "Revolution" that is very thought-provoking at this time. "We'd all love to see the plan". Will Egypt be moving from secular despot to Islamic despot? The answer may be up to Mu-barak, I mean Barack.

Obamastein's Monster

"miracles do not happen simply by accident", says the Great One regarding His latest act of Supreme Authority as He moves His hand to create a miracle. On March 9, 2009 President Barack Obama authorized federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Mark these words: this is a tragic step that will cement his record as creating a poor foundation for human rights. This is "genie out of the bottle" stuff. At the Civil Conservative, I hope to do only one thing - clarify misconceptions about the embryonic stem cell issue.

1. There is no one who is against Stem Cell research.

This is the research that has had dramatic breakthroughs and is very close to making Embryonic Stem Cell research unnecessary. Stem cells can be found in cord blood and bone marrow. The controversy is about Embryonic Stem Cell research, which is taking the fertilized egg, dissecting it amongst its cells and cloning them. The process kills the fertilized egg. There have been no "medical miracles" from this procedure, only the audacity to hope that by killing millions of eggs, there might be a benefit.

2. GW Bush did not have a ban on Embryonic Stem Cell research. It has been completely legal.

What was banned is federal funding of Embryonic Stem Cell research, meaning we wouldn't pay for this grizzly research. Unlike the statements you may have heard about the religious imposing their values, here is an example of the Leftist Utilitarians have imposed their will on the religious by forcing us to take part in this carnage that violently goes against our conscience.


3. Sadly this is an issue that takes deeper thought than most are willing to engage in, including the intellectual President.

Today he stated "we will ensure that our government never opens the door to the use of cloning for human reproduction. It is dangerous, profoundly wrong, and has no place in our society, or any society." Please do remember that stem cell research is cloning. So, while he is forcing us to contribute to destroying human life in order to clone and test it, the concept of putting these clones parts together ("for human reproduction") is where he draws the line. On what basis does he say this is wrong? Certainly not God, as that line has been crossed. Somehow he is under the belief that killing human life is OK, but creating it is not. His argument will not hold weight once we get to that point.


4. The question of when life begins is "above [his] paygrade".

If he was being truthful with this point, the last thing he should want to do is to err on the side of killing human life without knowing the facts. Simply because he can state "it is a difficult and delicate balance" does not mean that he has done the work to understand the issue. Life is SCIENTIFICALLY (not religiously) defined as an organismic state characterized by capacity for metabolism, growth, reaction to stimuli, and reproduction. Under this definition, human life begins at conception. Perhaps the intellectual President should research a dictionary.

The Obama Presidency - The Bad and The Ugly

In keeping with the Civil Conservative two-part series on the Obama Presidency and what it means for America, this post will outline the negative side of his election and administration. May I suggest and remind any liberals who are reading this post who might be sensitive to criticism of Obama, especially before he even gets into office, to view the post entitled "The Obama Presidency - The Good". Hopefully, consideration of both posts would provide a comprehensive perspective on my positions, and therefore allowing both sides to be heard more clearly.

Before any discussion of what impact an Obama Presidency would have on three major issues, a huge factor that must be discussed and plays a role in every issue - Barack is an unknown quantity. While 53% were inspired to vote for him, most are not clear exactly where he stands on the issues (of course other than "change"), even two months after being elected. I do understand that all politicians make conflicting statements in attempts to be all things to all people. This is a terrible thing in itself, when the pursuit should be the clarity of ideas not the confusion of ideas. Unfortunately, we allow and even expect our politicians to send different messages to different groups in order to get elected. However, their record on big issues can provide insight to their true beliefs; those same beliefs they spend a good amount of time attempting to make cloudy. Very often, the decisions made at a time when a person is not campaigning, reveal more about a candidate than campaign promises. Sadly this is the state of politics, especially when voters are disinterested.

To compound this problem, Barack Obama is set apart from most politicians in that he does not have much of a record to look back on in order to gain a clear view of how he would govern. Since he 1. speaks as artfully as any politician's ever had evading stands that could be limiting his appeal, 2. has been a US Senator for only 2 years before running for President and 3. had opted not to be put on record by voting 'present' on many controversial votes while in the Illinois state senate. These three points disallow us from having a good understand where he stands. So, with each issue I layout, please keep in mind that he is a wild card on each one, which can be a cause for great uncomfort to all.

I will make only a few short points on three issues that could make his an unsuccessful presidency. Other than the issue of Innocent Life which is always extremely important and of which he has an abismal record, the three issues that are most timely are foreign policy, the economy, and energy policy, which I believe he has shown at best dangerous ignorance, at worst a dangerous ideology.

Obama's foreign policy has not been very well explained other we should to act in a way that other countries will not resent us. He first obtained national attention from the anti-war American Left in 2002, while a member of the Illinois senate, by opposing the effort to go to war with Iraq. I do wish to state I find this a very fine position to take, if you believe the evidence doesn't justify such a risk. However, many of those who were in a position of responsibility and better information in the United States Senate on both sides of the isle, including such prominant Democrats such as Hillary, Biden, Kerry and Edwards found Obama's viewpoint a position too risky to vote for. On top of this decision, when the war was not progressing well, he called for a 16 month time table for withdrawl. As we know now, if this would have been acted on when he called for it, the world would be a much more dangerous place, and we wouldn't be at the doorstep of relative peace in Iraq. While this position of his made for a better run to the presidency by exciting the Left and the youth, it reveals him as a bit more careless and naive in terms of how to address the world.

In addition, he has made uninformed and downright irresponsible positions on our relationship with rogue countries ("I would"), and seemed completely uninformed on the Georgia Russia conflict, as he held both the victim and aggressor as equally blame worthy, looking for both sides to stop fighting. Sadly, attempts to have other countries view us as fair make likely expose the country to danger. In fact, his positions have been so dangerously naive, his VP and Secretary of State ("I know Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience he will bring to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002,") selections have felt it important to call him on the carpet in most serious ways.

During the primaries, he hasn't offered any compelling insight on the economy. Frankly, he is often too busy discussing what the government can do for you, rather than how the private sector can do for you. This leads to the charge of Socialism. Where one draws the line of socialism in this day and age is debatable. What can be said is that his commitment towards Global Warming, a type of Universal Health Care, and increasing taxes on the richest 1% (or put another way, the most productive 1%) compounded by having a very strong Democratic congress, will create very large obstacles for the free market's attempt to bring this country back to prosperity. Keep in mind: the government does not generate any wealth, private business give people jobs through innovation within the rules the government makes. Could the rules that an Obama administration create make innovation more difficult?

I had planned to issue a blog solely about the third issue, energy. Hopefully this daddy of three will have time to publish that piece, so I will keep this point brief. This is an extremely important small window of time in history when gas prices are cheap. Once the world recession recovers, those prices will be a distant memory and we will see $4 a gallon again, even worse. So we have a little breathing room to focus on the solution. Obviously, the situation cannot be fixed within the next year, however a foundation can be laid for weening us off the oil of volatile nations while also doing all things necessary to get our economy back to its typical world-leading strength. There is NO ONE who believes that we can have a successful economy when the only energy we use is wind, solar and currently undeveloped clean coal energy, yet this is what Obama is pushing for. He has often portrayed "Big Oil" as an enemy to the US and for the most part has disagreed with create more of our own oil, talked of the coal industry going out of business, and has stated that nuclear is not a viably safe option. With these positions, Obama has revealed that being Green nation is more important than being prosperous nation.

This tri-fecta of ignorance will likely dog Obama's presidency, and could put us in a worse place than we are today. In light of these points, I think it confused and unfair to compare Barack to Lincoln & FDR, it appears he is more similar to Carter. But I will keep an open mind. Perhaps that unknown factor I spoke of earlier could mean he'll abandon his promises on these issues once he has responsibility on his shoulders.

Obama Presidency - The Good

In attempt to show the thoughtful balance provided to you here at The Civil Conservative, I plan to post two separate blogs illustrating the both the positive and negative sides of an Obama Presidency which begins in two and a half months (on my birthday, by the way). Hopefully, this can make clear my comments and any compliments will not be taken as back-handed or as set up for a criticism. So, here we go with the Good Side of an Obama Presidency!

.

.

.

.

The End

.

.

.

.

Just Kidding - I couldn't resist.

First off, the unprecented good will this President-Elect has received will be a tremendous boost to his time in office. In addition to the continuing of the strong support from the MainStream to Liberal Media (including Chris Matthews' claim that his job is now to make the Obama Presidency successful), there are many conservative writers that are wishing for a successful Presidency for Barack. President Bush has been extremely gracious in his willingness to include the President-Elect in getting acquanted and informed on matters like the White House and national intelligence. In addition, Bush has vowed to make this the smoothest transition of power the nation has ever seen. This unified good will is likely due, in part, to the decisive win in this election. Obama magnetism was strong enough to achieve a 53% majority with a 7 point win over John McCain. Thus, he has established a mandate for the Obama Hope, which would give the President Elect a bit longer of a honeymoon as the electoral landslide communicates a unified America that is willing to give hope a chance. He is that rare politician who has captured America's hearts and minds and has inspired them to believe in him. Presidents like Reagan and Kennedy are comparable in terms of capturing America's imagination.

.

Secondly, while his message of change has been a bit vague in terms of exactly what change will be implemented, it certainly has resonanted with the nation and many within in the world community. Whether the perception is correct or justified, there is no debate that the perception of America has changed.

The most obvious changed perception is that America has finally gotten the monkey off its back of being racist. The election of a black man, with a funny name as he likes to say, is an impressive statement from a country that just 45 years ago needed to enact a Federal Law in allowing blacks to drink from the same drinking foundation. This election would even argue against the claim that while America may not be publicly racist, but in private is still racist. In fact, with fair questions against Obama such as his inexperience, and the instability of an unproven record, if the nation did have reservations against him due to his race it's likely he would not have been elected.

Secondly, the perception of his administration in the US and throughout the world is that he will establish a new approach. To the US, he has professed himself to be a post-partisan leader. He ran on the idea of leading the United Sates of America (purple America), not just his party or liberals (blue America). In his acceptance speech, he promised to reach out across the aisle. In his very thoughtful research, perhaps he has learned from the Carter and Clinton administrations who were both too aggressive moving the country to the Left and the subsequent blowback they received from the nation in response. Conservatives like myself will be looking to keep him to this promise, however today he will be taken at his word.

From the world's viewpoint, he has espoused a new way of dealing with other nations. Countries like Russia, Iran and Venezuela are eager to engage with the soon-to-be President, with the first two already initiating the conversations. His pledge of being open to talks with other nations in such a free way, even with those being sanctioned, clearly create a difference between how America has been viewed throughout its history. This, coupled with the American President being of brown skin sends a clear message to the world, leaders and citizens alike, that in this great country, the color of your skin is an irrelevant factor to your success, thus creating an impression of unprecedented fairness.

.

Finally, his well reported intelligence and calm demeanor are ones of historical proportions. He will be a very thoughtful, very intelligent President. He is an individual who leaves no stone unturned is very careful to make a decision. Reporters following his 22 month election campaign have all marveled at his ability to remain unflappable. A writer of Newsweek recently commented that he became frustrated at always using that same word: "calm", in every article he's written about Obama. In a time, where the world's security situation has taken a backseat to recent fears of the impending recession, it will be important for the President to remain calm and project calm if (God forbid) we again encounter danger from a violent, vigilent and extremely complex enemy.

.

Just to be on the record. I have no problem conceding that he is my President and hope that he can provide positive solutions to the challenges we face.

Inaugural Post

Hello to my millions and millions of fans! (or better stated, Hello Trishee)

And welcome to the inaugural post for The Civil Conservative blog. The purpose of this blog is to encourage sound arguments for my ilk. I'm thirty-something, born and raised in Los Angeles, married with three kids. I have a strong faith in Jesus, however I go against the stereotype of Christians in that I am very willing to hear out another perspective. What I seek is clarity and common ground. These things will not be achieved by name calling, but by solid argument, thoughtful reason, logic, and deduction. I hope to bring these things back to my generation. I would love if any of my friends (or enemies) would contribute this type of thoughtful response to see what ideas can be developed.

As an example of my attempt to reach common ground, I'd like my inaugural post to praise the very liberal, Hollywood star Richard Dreyfuss, who has great praise for this country and that the great freedom of this country is not free. It must be continually earned. It must be earned by our educated involvement.

Here's a couple of quotes which I whole heartedly agree with:

"We are a country bound not by any common ancestry, religion, location, people, sect, place. We are bound only by ideas. And if you don't teach those ideas, we are not bound."

"Sound bites are your enemy. Sound bites don't let you think."