Courage of Conviction

The circus that is the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives has an uncertain future, thanks in large part to the large number of amatuer members the chamber contains.  The PA House can certainly be equated with a circus, and it isn’t a stretch - there are plenty of rings, not just three, making this circus the world’s biggest.  You have members of this chamber who openly disregard a constitution it swears to uphold.  You have members being bought off with campaign contirbutions or with nice cushy jobs after leaving the circus, and you have a circus master who P.T. Barnum would be jealous of. 

One D has decided to cross over to support King John in his bid to hang on to his own personal life support, that is known as the Speaker of the House.  There are rumors that up to 6 R’s will either vote present or vote for another R as a means of protest.  If these R’s actually go through with it, I think they ought to receive a medal of honor for doing the entire state a favor.  This action will come with a price of course, but it will be the right thing to do. 

The time has come for all rank-and-file Republicans to take a stand.  Will they be enablers and thus victims?  Or will they take their elected duty seriously and start leading?  Based on past experience, I won’t hold my breath.  Victims do not belong in elected positions - only men and women of courage belong in the halls of government. 

It was Patrick Henry who so eloquently stated:

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!  

In these times of uncertainty, we need men and women patriots like Patrick Henry. 

I’ll leave with one last thought - while I have been openly critical of the House, it’s membership and it’s leaders, I want this much to be certain.  I thank God for the system of government we have - where amatuers are elected to represent us.  There is great risk in allowing amatuers to run the show, but there is also great opportunity.  It is in opportunity that courage is allowed to thrive.  It is in opportunity that great men and woman are born.  It is in opportunity that liberty is allowed to flurish. 

I believe that before us, on Jan. 2nd, lies a great opportunity.  Opportunity is only potential though.  It only becomes powerful when one person responds to it with openness to the calling of opportunity.  When one man or woman who has been asking for opportunity, and it is given to them, gives themselves permission to receive the opportunity. 

The question before all Pennsylvanians now is this - How many of our elected officials will give themselves permission to receive the opportunity for leadership?

1.  John Perzel will no longer be Speaker.  Not only that, he will no longer be in any leadership position - which will cause him to throw a ninny-fit and resign.  Good riddenence. 

2.  The voters will throw out another Supreme Court Judge.

3.  The State House of Representatives will refuse to make changes to the way that it does business, regardless of who is in charge.  The Senate will make changes, but will not be able to put the changes into law because of the House.  People will start to go to their Senators more often for legislative concerns instead of House Members, because people will see the House as worthless.

4.  By the end of 2007, John McCain will no longer be the frontrunner for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination. 

5.  The Democrat-led House of Represenatives will not give in to the left fringe by starting Impeachment hearings of President Bush.

6.  Football - The NFC will be represented by the Chicago Bears.  The AFC will be represented by the Baltimore Ravens.  The Ravens will win the Super Bowl. 

Only 6 predictions this year.  I’ll check back on them next Dec.  Hope you have a great New year and a fabulous 2007.

On Dec. 30th, I made my annual predictions - let’s review how I did.

1. My first target was the legislature - I predicted that 22 incumbents would get the boot - 17 did.  Not too bad, still a little short of my prediction, but close.  I also predicted that 2 legislative leaders would lose - 3 did. 

2. A move to replace the Speaker - John Perzel.  From the best of my knowledge, there was some backroom wrangling over this, although not much public about it. 

3. Santorum gets re-elected.  Boy was I off on this one - enough said.

4. GOP picks Scranton - again, way off.

5. Rendell wins another term.  I was right, just didn’t give him enough of a cusion.

6. Colts beat the Seahawks.  Well, the Seahawks lost, but to the Steelers. 

7.  The legislature will still not get it.  I think this is still mostly true - especially the leadership.  There are signs of hope in the Senate though.  The upper Chamber may actually pass some reforms.  Even adjusting the rules is a major accomplishment as far as I’m concerned.  The House is still clueless though - they are a lost cause.

8. Constitutional Convention.  Well, there has been some talk about a convention throughout the year, but nothing definate yet.  We still have a ways to go on this one.

9. Running 2 marathons, completing one of them under 4 hours.  Didn’t happen.  I did run Chicago this year, but didn’t do it under 4 hours.  The other one I was signed up for was Dallas in the spring. I didn’t do it though because os injury.

Brian Rice, who I would call a leadesrhip pastor at Living Word Church in York, PA, put up a very nice post about my on his blog - LeadershipConnextions. 

He has a nice blog that focuses on leadership, especially within the church - a area of great opportunity.  This posting deals more with my professional, i.e. “real job”, being an entreprenuerial coach, more so than dealing with politics. 

Take a moment an check out his blog - you may learn some interesting things about leadership.  Enjoy!

I’ve been taking a bit of time off from blogging for a few reasons.  First off, it’s the Christmas season - even political junkies like me need a break and Christmas offers a perfect time to do just that.

Second, There isn’t much to blog about right now. 

Third, I’ve been doing some real soul-searching as I plan out 2007.  As I keep learning, I need a moment every now and then to process.  To be perfectly, I’m a bit disgusted with the current state of politics, so I’ve also been not delving in it all that much because I don’t want to be drawn down to a level I don’t enjoy.

I may put up predictions for 2007, report on my 2006 predictions - and then again, I may not.  We’ll see.

The State GOP is now re-evaluating it’s priniciples.  I think this re-examination is a good thing actually, but not for the reason that most people will suspect.  In my real job, I work with small companies and individuals to help them identify their core values and their principles, their vision, their mission, and their goals.  Every company and every individual should do this ever few years if they are going to be successful.  If my understanding is correct, it’s been years since the state GOP has gone through such an exercise - far too long as evidenced by the large losses at the polls.  Republicans lost becuase they didn’t know what they stood for as a party anymore.  When that happens you have miscommunication.  If the people at the top don’t know what direction the party is heading, how are they supposed to effectively communicate a direction with the people under them?

The party should re-examine all of this every 5 years.  Why?  It will do one of two things - it will either confirm that the party is on the right track and solidify it’s values and direction, or it will become evident that something needs to change. 

I for one think that every principle should have to withstand scrutiny.  If it can’t be effective defended, then it should go.  Core priniciples and values are such a vital part of a successful organization, that you just can’t screw around with mediocrity.  Either the core principles, values and vision define the direction of the party, or they are a meaningless exercise.  If they define the direction of the party, then everything will align with those principles, values, and vision.  At that point all of this is much easier to communicate to others.  Then people have a decision to make, do they get on board with it, or do they not.  If not, will they just play lip service to the principles and values?  What will the result of that be?  How will that be perceived by the public?  What gets communicated in that event?  And the big question becomes, how committed is the party to its vision, values and principles? 

These are serious questions that every organization and individual goes through at some point.  Others more often than not. I would argue that the more successful organizations don’t wait until disaster strikes to re-evaluate these core values and principles - they re-evealuate when the organization is running smoothly.  They do it to ensure that it will continue to run smoothly and continue to grow and continue to succeed. 

Should the Republican Party re-evaluate it’s principles?  Absolutely.  Should they have waited so long to do it?  No.  They are now suffering the result. 

The R’s got their way - there will be a recount in Chester County of approximately 23,000 ballots.  First off, I’m not really sure how that will work since we don’t use ballots anymore.  Second, I feel for the people who have to sit there through the recount.  I’ve been through a recount just last year.  In fact we had five recounts until all was said and done.  That was Jessica Brewbaker’s race for District Judge here in Carlisle.  I sat through all five.  Talk about mind-numbing.  In the end, we won by two votes.  Ah, the gold old days - fond memories. 

Iran just proved to the world how nuts they really are, and how ridiculous the Baker-Hamiliton report, or whatever it is called, really is. 

Iran just started a summit to discuss if the Holocaust really happened.  Are you kidding me?   If we can’t even be on the same page about a historical fact that occured over 60 years ago where people are still alive that survived through it and have proof to show, then how are we going to sit down with them and talk about peace?  Our prespectives are coming from two totally different worlds. 

One of the main points in the report was that we are supposed to engage in discussion with Iran and Syria. 

My question is simply this - why are we empowering them?  What do I mean?  If we engage them in talks, with their current set of beliefs - stated pretty clearly by the Iranian President himself that the world would be better off without the US and Isreal - then we are setting ourselves up for disaster.  How so?

It is our understanding, based on their words and support of terrorists, that they want to see us destroyed.  We come to the table wanted peace.  How do you end up with a win-win situation out of that?  Come up with a solution that only some of die, instead of all of us?  Or how about that they spare our lives if we all convert to Islam? 

If we engage them in talks we legitimize those states and we recognize those states as leaders.  I don’t think that is a wise choice.  Once we legitimize the states, we also then legitimize their belief system - again, they want to kill Isrealis and Americans as an official policy.  Why should we give them that recognition?  This sounds too similar to history repeating itself - i.e. Chamberlain sitting down with Hitler. 

There is a time to talk, but that time is not right now.  The Iranian president has been emboldened recently and been empowered by others who have legitimized his beliefs.  Giving him our ear only strengthens him. 

There will be a time to talk, but it is not now - not until the Iranians are open to the possibility of peace without the destruction of Isreal and the US.  Not until the Iranians are open to peace without terrorism, or subjegation. 

Until that time, we have no business sitting and talking with people who want us dead. 

I posted a new survey for people to participate in.  Click on the view survey option if you would like to participate.  This one deals with the Speaker.  Have fun.  I look forward to reading your responses.