The Movement You Need…

I stumbled across a very touching YouTube video today linked by RedState.com (below). Being a communicator at heart, I put a lot of value on the use and meaning of words and phrases. I am most appreciative of those who through their words, delivery and inflection can touch people’s very souls.

The 1980 presidential election campaign was the first one in which I truly became involved, and it is the only one in which I’m glad in retrospect that my candidate of choice actually lost. At the time I was a sophomore at the University of Florida majoring in Public Relations and minoring in Political Science.

Having been deeply repulsed by President Carter’s “malaise speech” and the folly that was his handling of the Iranian hostage crisis, I wanted change. But quite frankly the thought of Reagan replacing Carter scared me too; I’m probably not too far off the mark in blaming my immersion at the time in the liberal idealogical cesspool that was (and is) academia for leading me astray. But my other reason for opposing Reagan was my mother’s adoring support for him. (I’ll write more about mom’s love for Reagan sometime soon.) I don’t consider it unusual or wrong for a 20-year-old to fear leaders his parents support, especially when it was my parents who instilled in me a strong sense of civic responsibility. In opposing Reagan, I was simultaneously embracing the lessons mom taught me and rejecting her politics because, don’ you know, all college students are smarter than their parents! ;)

So, my thinking at the time was that I would actively support an alternative candidate. I supported John Anderson and sought petition signatures to get him on Florida’s ballot, though today I cannot tell you specifically why. But I can say that I do recall that he did energize me and I still think of him fondly. Years later, after Anderson moved to Fort Lauderdale, I ran into him while shopping in the produce section of Alberstons and had the opportunity to thank him for getting me involved in the poliitical process. Surely my career would have taken a markedly different course were it not for him.

But enough about the others. This post is about Reagan, the Great Communicator. I think one of the most wonderful things about all this new technology is that we, and future generations, will have access to not only the written text of our best and brightest leaders, we will also have access to the actual tone, inflection, emotive qualities and delivery of master communicators from the latter half of the 20th century onward.

Think about this: The Gettysburg Address is probably the briefest eloquent statement about who we are as Americans and where we came from as a culture and society that has ever been written. Unfortunately, we can only read Lincoln’s words. How wonderful would it be if we could actually see and hear that great American’s voice speaking what had to be one of the most painful to deliver speeches in the history of Western thought?

The spirit of keeping great words, delivered by a great orator and leader of men, Ronald Reagan, is a gift that could not be given to any previous generation. I deeply treasure and take great comfort in knowing that my daughter will forever have access to the actual emotions conveyed by this great leader, and others.

Tags: ronald reagan

A brain region that curbs our natural self interest has been identified. The studies could explain how we control fairness in our society, researchers say.

Every single member of Congress should be tested…and I can think of a few former co-workers and bosses who likely had damaged the portion of the brain these scientists discovered.

read more | digg story

We’d better wake up. Islam invokes that kind of thought and action that cannot simply be undone by being accommodating.

Says Thomas in the article:

Jews and Christians don’t riot when slandered, but Muslims do at the smallest perceived slight. That is not an example of a developed religion or a developing society. That is medieval.

read more | digg story

Ignoring human nature can be fatal.

Let me preface this entry with a story:

For 10 months in 2003 & 2004, I was deputy communications director for the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. The Department has a fantastic group of researchers and data analysts who can predict current and future behavior based on past behavior with incredible accuracy. I learned a lot from them. Statistics are cold, rational informers when it comes to predicting human behavior; and, the more statistics there are in a sample, the more accurate they become as predictors. I’ve used the same sorts of processes to determine voter behavior for more than 20 years.

Yesterday I found a woman’s purse in my back yard. It had been stolen the day before from a house down the block. Today, I’m 99.9999% positive that we’ve either got a delinquent juvenile offender, or perhaps a couple offenders, whose family has recently moved into to our neighborhood. In the past week, there has been a rash of car break-ins, all following the same pattern: 1) targeting unlocked cars; 2) taking items that can be used to enable the criminal to commit other crimes; 3) haphazard disposal of evidence. Had the offender(s) just dropped that purse in one of the garbage bins that sit beside almost every home here, that purse would be in the landfill right now.

Before last week, this subdivision had been virtually crime-free for the year and a half we’ve lived here. In handing over the purse to the sheriff’s deputy, I remarked that he should look into any new residents, particularly new renters who have brought with them a child or children with existing juvenile crime records. The deputy informed me that he’d already ordered a report of this exact information: “to me, it looks like juveniles…and probably ones who are not new to this sort of behavior,” he said. “And they probably live here now.”

How charming. But I know he’s right.

I have little doubt that he’ll soon identify the culprit(s). He probably will not have evidence necessary to arrest them; once these predictable youth get a visit from law enforcement, they’ll just do their deeds the next subdivision over. But they will not change their basic behavior. The only thing I know for certain is that, statistically, by the time these youth are in their 30’s, they’ll be less likely to commit crimes and by the time they’re 40, they’ll probably be done with most forms of illegal activity. That’s they way it works. It’s their nature. And it isn’t going to change.

I consider it reasonable that I’m upset that there are juvenile delinquents in my neighborhood. I consider it reasonable to take precautions I had not previously taken, such as making sure that our car doors are locked before going to bed and that nothing tempting is visible through the windows. Both statistics and common sense indicate that my taking these actions will probably keep me from becoming a victim.

Statistically, it’s not a “religion of peace”

It is my understanding of the basic statistical patterns within human nature that make me so incensed that Political Correctness and fear stop us from taking steps that would end the idiotic Muslim outrage we’re seeing around the world today. This time, because the Pope quoted some 13th century discussion, “the Muslim street” is responding in its usual, predictable, violent and barbaric manner. We Westerners are fools for putting up with it.

We consistently fail to come to terms with the fact that Islam is what it is, just as juvenile delinquency is what it is.

For those who think that we’re going to just get past this war on “Islamofascism” (or whatever the PC police are allowing us to call it these days) by being “tolerant,” I’ve got a message for you. Step back, shut your yaps and let someone who still possesses functioning testicles take the lead before you get us all killed. (Continued)

Tags: communications

I Could Have Been a Journalist…

I consider it an honor to have earned a degree in Journalism from the University of Florida. UF’s College of Journalism has many damned good programs and has long been deemed one of the more rigorous colleges of journalism in the nation. Because of my public relations major and political science minor, I’ve done all sorts of PR and political work in my career. Even though my diploma says “Bachelor of Science in Journalism,” I’ve never worked for a news media company and have never had more than a passing interest in the field, mostly because of my antipathy for many of the people I knew in college who were involved with the school paper, the Independent Florida Alligator: I’ve tended to avoid building personal relationships with professional journalists ever since.

Public relations and politics often requires interaction with news writers and editors; I can handle that part because I can keep it all business. My instinct guides me to enter into each new reporter interaction with a prejudice that the person to whom I am speaking has a propensity for playing loose with the facts and will skirt ethics whenever it can make constructing a story more convenient. I’m sure that keeping my guard up has saved me countless hours of grief.

Of course, over the years I’ve learned that ethical weakness is pervasive just about everywhere a person may choose to work these days. The pervasive lack of ethics and morals in people I’ve trusted has been the biggest disappointment of my entire professional life. My disdain for the questionable ethics in those around me has surely has hurt my chances of advancement many times. I guess my ethical compass tends to be a rather noisy contraption. (Continued)