Who do you like for President? Many Americans this year seem inclined to answer that question with another: What’s today? The polls are volatile. We’ve already seen surprises, and we’ll see more. This was going to be a column endorsing Romney. The straight-arrow entrepreneur is my guy. If Mitt quits, I’m for gruff Fred Thompson. I was also going to say that McCain and Huckabee, big-government egotists, are my least favorite—though preferable to any Democrat.
What if it's not possible to be both a good Muslim and a good American?
Can a good Muslim be a good American? Brian, a constitutional scholar, put the question to Michael, a national security expert, as we passed the Washington office of Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim to serve there. Ellison’s decision to be sworn in on the Quran still echoes controversially.
Facing the Responsibility Deficit
The race to succeed Barack Obama is on, but remember this: Important as the 2016 election will be, whether the Republicans or the Democrats prevail is not going to keep our country from rolling into 2017 faced with the same ominous symptoms of decline. Another centennial for the USA is far from assured. Maybe our country will be around to celebrate 2076, but maybe America's goodness and glory will be but a sad memory by then. Historians warn that great nations undo themselves with moral and fiscal laxity after about 250 years. My timely book, Responsibility Reborn: A Citizen's Guide to the Next American Century, looks at our chances and maps the way forward. I argue that Uncle Sam's insolvency is only a symptom; irresponsibility as indulged by all of us is the fatal deficit we face. Saving our country starts with individuals looking in the mirror. Can we do it? Damn right we can. To learn more about the book and order your copy today, go to centennialccu.org and click Centennial Institute Store.
Tattered Cover book signing, Oct. 4
Do you agree that Americans must revive responsibility or lose our liberty, as John Andrews warns in his new book Responsibility Reborn? Then join us when Centennial Institute's director, a former state senator and appointee of four US presidents, will outline a 10-point agenda for 2020 and sign copies of his book on Tuesday, Oct. 4, at 730pm at the Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch, 9315 Dorchester St. Admission is free but reservations are required. RSVP to Centennial@ccu.edu or 303.963.3424.
Ready for Some Watershed Thinking?
By John Andrews
As conservatives, the only question is not how should we vote. How should we live? How should we treat people? How should we view America and its future? I've long believed that many of the answers are hiding in plain sight, up near the Continental Divide in my imaginary hometown of the heart, Backbone, Colorado. It was the dateline for over a hundred of my Denver Post columns in the past decade, and they're now collected in a new book, Backbone Colorado USA: Dispatches from the Divide.
You can nibble these brief, practical essays like popcorn, but get ready for a healthy jolt -- this is power food for hungry citizens. Or to change the metaphor: it's watershed thinking to help readers draw the line between the postmodern laziness that will sink America and the aroused civic courage we must summon up to save our country. Order your copy today, plus a couple of extras to give as gifts. And please let me know what you think of it.