The jury may still be out (at least among those American voters who even still strongly support the President) on his blueprint to remake America, but there is one area where it is timely, indeed—mandatory, to point out how the President is doing and that is with his campaign promise to improve our image aboard—to make the world like us again. 

You may recall that it was a constant drumbeat by candidate Obama along the campaign trail--our reputation had been trampled and destroyed and ruined during the Bush years, and President Obama promised that he would improve our standing in the world—countries around the world would be our friends again.

In fact, we now have enough details to grade the President; we have had an eye view of his handiwork to remake our image into a beloved country around the world. I don’t know if the President’s special talent comes from his Ivy League education; or from his training as a community organizer; or from his friendships with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright and his fellow board member, Bill Ayers; but our former Senator from Chicago has essentially thrown out that old kernel of Arabian wisdom, that bit of Americana—heck, what did Lincoln know anyway?, he was just a one term President; forget The Godfather, he is just a fictional character. No, our President has a new, and even better, formulation—Keep your enemies close—distance yourself, even disrespect, your old friends.

And while the President is failing, failing disastrously in his campaign promise to improve our image aboard, he continues to mount trophies on his White Office wall, trophies of the splendid success of his novel formulation to “distance yourself, even disrespect, your old friends.”

His triumphs mount whether it is: the British—insult them and reject the Churchill bust, give the Prime Minister a gift that screams indifference; or the French—that’s right, reject a dinner invitation from President Sarkozy and his wife during a visit to France, refuse to find time for a reception, reject any reason to spend personal time with the French leader; or the Germans—lecture the Germans on the holocaust, rub their noses in it on your tour of a prison camp, and feel the glacial cooling between you and Angela Merkel, a cooling so icy that the White House had to deny there was any tension with the Germans; or the European countries of the former Soviet bloc (Secretary Rumsfeld’s ‘new Europe’) who now see themselves abandoned by the U.S., left to fend on their own, chartering a course without American resolve, without NATO admission, without missile defense, without promised U.S. support against Russian interference and intrigue; or the Israelis--who have an exploding cottage industry of writers explaining how the Obama diktat not to expand settlements is part of a White House plan to destabilize their government, to saddle them with a tired left wing coalition that will give away land and security, leaving them unable to defend themselves. And all of this isn’t even counting the President’s victories closer to home: antagonizing Mexico with a sop to unions over trucking or the Buy American rule riddling our friendship with Canada, angering Canadian cities and prompting a Buy Canadian resolution in return.

Yes, how our educated Ivy Leaguer, trained Community Organizer, befriender of radicals, and companion to the marinated disaffected managed in less than six short months to turn his campaign promise inside out, to turn conventional wisdom on its head, to isolate us even further and crush and trample our friendships of many long years, why, dear reader, it is a performance not to be missed; perhaps even, a performance for the ages—but then, I guess no one would expect anything less from—The One.

“Work Hard. Be Nice.: How Two Inspired Teachers Created the Most Promising Schools in America” is the story of Dave Levin and Mike Feinberg—founders of the highly successful charter schools known as KIPP [Knowledge is Power Program]—two young teachers starting out in Houston with a two year commitment for Teach for America. The KIPP story is an impressive one: inner city 5^th graders, after one year in KIPP, essentially double their scores over their 4^th grade performance in reading (from 32% to 58%) and in math (from 42% to 84%).

The Levin/Feinberg story is one of inspirational dedication to their students. There are daily evening phone calls from students with homework questions. There is an uncommon effort to teach subject mastery by requiring longer class days—school days begin at 7:30AM and last to 5PM, with periodic half days on Saturday and three weeks of school each summer. There are also struggles and campaigns with supervisors and administrators to get adequate class space.

Mathews tracks their progress from beginning classroom teacher to the present day as leaders of an expanding chartered school program with a national footprint and 66 schools. During the journey they gain teaching skills in the classroom. They discover how to work with and win over parents. They master the art of cooperating with or going around school administrators. They deliver students a disciplined and challenging course of study to ensure success. They push into unchartered territory expanding the number of classes, the number of teachers, and the number of schools under the KIPP umbrella.

They are now receiving national recognition for their success. Their journey, however, would have been much more improbable, if not uneventful, if they hadn’t met Harriett Ball, Rafe Esquith, and Scott Hamilton along the way. Each of these individuals appeared at just the right time, bringing their own expertise to bear and helping our two neophytes move to the next level—in the classroom, in the education bureaucracy, in the business world.

As the KIPP schools expand, Mathews’ notes there are certain pillars that stuck: “(1) high expectations, (2) choice and commitment, (3) more time, (4) power to lead, and (5) focus on results.” He argues KIPP’s success really comes down to a desire to find what works, that is, find what helps the students perform better. It is this continuous quality improvement, this flexibility to see something is not working and make changes, he argues, that explains KIPP’s success.

Matthews does an excellent job of answering the doubters, refuting the critics, and setting out the evidence. In the process he confirms the KIPP motto: “All children will learn.”

I highly recommend the Oxford World’s Classic edition, edited by J.P. Hardy. The introductory material is quite helpful, and the extensive footnotes, further explaining the text, are a valuable gateway to many of Dr. Johnson’s writings in Rambler and Adventurer, writings where he further pursued topics raised in this book.

Rasselas lives in a garden paradise—his every need is provided for by his father, the King, who has sent his four children to live in Happy Valley, a beautiful valley, a Garden of Eden, from which there is no known escape, until they are called to rule through the line of succession.

After years of having his every wish fulfilled, Rasselas grows dissatisfied—there is no challenge or deep satisfaction in merely waiting for others to die so he can be King. Rasselas wants more. He doesn’t know life beyond the mountain. The Prince recruits his teacher, his sister, and her companion. Rasselas sets his goal to leave Happy Valley, and then he discovers his means of escape.

He plans to travel the world; to seek out the wise and the learned; to study humanity. Along the way Rasselas and his friends enquire and learn about the human condition: misfortune, desire, corruption, curiosity, loneliness, insanity and the loss of reason. They also consider other questions when making a choice of life: the business of a man of letters; the importance of novelty in a life well-lived; the greatness of a nation as measured by the completeness of her poets; the importance of a desire of knowledge; that the old is valuable because: “what has been longest known has been most considered, and what is most considered is best understood.”  

Their travels take them to Cairo, and they visit a number of places, including the pyramids, and meet many people on their journey, giving them an opportunity to talk to others who have made their choice of life. They meet the married and the single man; what about the choice of a married life? They meet the recluse; what about the choice of a life of seclusion? They visit the great pyramids of Egypt, and learn about the folly of man. They spend time with the astronomer; a man who has spent his life studying the stars. He has lived the life of the hedgehog, learning deeply about star knowledge. How does he feel about his choice of life versus the man who learns about self knowledge?

Dr. Johnson wrote: “The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope.” He also understood that “hope was necessary in every condition,” but warns us as he begins his tale:

Ye who listen with credulity to the whispers of fancy, and persue with eagerness the phantoms of hope; who expect that age will perform the promises of youth, and that the deficiencies of the present day will be supplied by the morrow; attend to the history of Rasselas prince of Abissinia.

I recommend you travel with Rasselas and his friends; enjoy their journey, their hopes, and their search for the choice of life. 

And when the players face off at center court and the ball goes up, and the game begins—it is all about enthusiasm, energy, effort. Sometimes it comes down to one play—a box out so a teammate gets a rebound; or going over a screen instead of below it; or a lazy pass that goes out of bounds because you took your mind off the game for a minute; or a rushed shot for a low percentage when odds favored a pass or two; or a careless and lazy dribble off your foot; or a missed free throw.

Winning versus losing, surviving and advancing, sometimes it all comes down to one play and that is why:

They

Count every play

Because

Every Play Counts.

What will happen to Catholic hospitals if the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), a bill to be sponsored by Senator Boxer and Congressman Nadler, passes? Many Catholics are concerned it would result in the destruction of conscience protections for medical personnel, shifting the force of government further in favor of abortion, requiring Catholic hospitals to close or accept a procedure they oppose? Following the civil rights model of civil disobedience some Catholic Bishops want to refuse to comply, while other Bishops talk about closing Catholic Hospitals. Catholic Hospitals in America employ 600,000, comprise 13 percent of the total 5,000 hospitals, and care for 1 in 6.

Could civil disobedience work? Or, would Courts find a civil remedy for the test case “victims” sent to Catholic hospitals across America by groups like NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood? Surely, these groups would be sending out “test cases,”—persons seeking abortions at Catholic hospitals, individuals who if refused the procedure would file law suits with the financial support of a group like the ACLU to finance their agenda? And if it meant exposing medical personnel to litigation, would health care workers be willing to work for a Catholic hospital engaged in civil disobedience? And if they were willing to work for a Catholic hospital engaged in civil disobedience, would health care professionals be able to get malpractice insurance? Can a Catholic Church committed to life from conception realistically remain open and participate in what it regards as an evil and pernicious operation?

Would the first African-American President really participate in legislation destroying the long honored right of conscience—a cherished tradition and principle of individual rights in the West and in the United States, a right resulting in the abolition of slavery and the benefits to minorities from the Civil Rights movement? Perhaps he would; after all, isn’t he the first Presidential candidate to argue that an infant surviving a botched partial-birth abortion procedure is “pre-viable;” and then argue that such an infant is not protected as a “person” under the Constitution. During the campaign, he even responded to a question from Rick Warren during a debate about when life begins, by answering: when life begins is: “above my pay grade.” President Obama’s argument that a living child was not a person entitled to life always struck me as rather curious and inexplicable in light of the universal condemnation throughout America today of the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision, a decision holding a slave was only three fifths of a person.

Perhaps you ask, why would President Obama sign such legislation—an act shuttering up to 13 percent of all hospitals in America, an act resulting in unemployment or relocation for up to 600,000 employees, an act disrupting and distressing one in six Americans? Why would he do this in light of the impacts upon religious faith, and hospital care, and the economy, and the right of conscience; after all, didn’t he promise to bring a new tone to American politics, to rise above the petty politics of the past, to bring Americans together, not drive them further apart?

            
Consider, however, as a Presidential candidate, Barack Obama promised to sign FOCA, a promise he made to pro-abortion groups that supported his election. Consider also, quickly after his inauguration, President Obama proudly signed an Executive Order authorizing the use of American taxpayer dollars, to fund international organizations providing abortions, an expenditure of money opposed, in a recent poll, by 62 percent of Americans.  

            
Perhaps, President Obama would say: it all depends on what you mean by “bringing together.”

David Brooks (A Moderate Manifesto) seems genuinely surprised that President Obama is doing what he promised to do—the angst is palpable. Brooks writes: 

There is evidence of a party swept up in its own revolutionary fervor — caught up in the self-flattering belief that history has called upon it to solve all problems at once.

…. We end up with an agenda that is unexceptional in its parts but that, when taken as a whole, represents a social-engineering experiment that is entirely new.

            Instead, perhaps he needs to identify those areas where he agrees with conservatives to his right, accept that politics is the art of the possible, and align himself with others. For example, there are no Republicans, of any note, moderate or conservative, that want to see the D.C. voucher program gutted, as it will be under the current proposal.

 Aura is a page-turner that carries you further into the events in Felipe’s life when he responds to an add that struck him as too good to be true—as if it were written with his name inserted in the add. His employer Consuelo briefs him on his work, but it is Aura, her young, beautiful, spellbinding niece that merges into his very essence.

Yes, comparisons to Gothic literature are helpful, and the mention of Poe rings true, but, for me, I found another comparison more helpful. For those familiar with “The Twilight Zone,” this story takes me back to some of those episodes. It also reminds me of a favorite story about another young man; a young man taken in by a young, beautiful woman; a story also requiring a suspension of belief, a journey into another dimension, a tale of intrigue, mystery, and an unpredictable ending; a story included in: Alfred Hitchcock Presents: 12 Stories They Wouldn’t Let Me Do on TV.

Dalrymple’s collected essays display an ability to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize the evidence presented in support of his thesis in a clear and compelling manner. He communicates his wisdom, about the past, present, and future, in a straight forward highly readable style.

Displaying a high-level of intellectual curiosity as demonstrated by the extensive range of books he folds into his analysis, and a diverse array of life experiences marshaled in support of his insights, these timely essays raise issues in the news today. They are especially relevant for Americans wondering what “change” we might see should we become more like England with a stronger central government, a government reaching into all aspects of our lives while continually expanding the size of the groups totally reliant on it.

These essays support the overarching theme announced in the subtitle—The Politics and Culture of Decline. Dr. Dalrymple, a clear-eyed observer of the British scene, persuasively argues in his preface:

These essays cover the gambit of cultural and political topics. Part I, “Artists and Ideologues” includes essays discussing the importance of language (“The Gift of Language”); character (“What Makes Dr. Johnson Great?); marriage (Ibsen and His Discontents); and religion (What the New Atheists Don’t See). Part II, “Politics and Culture” covers such issues as: individual responsibility(Real Crime, Fake Justice); the qualities of the British character weakened, corroded, even destroyed, by the corrosive effect of a legislative agenda based on collectivism and political correctness (The Roads to Serfdom, How Not to Do It, and In the Asylum); concluding with the dehumanizing impact upon all drawn into the government’s web of dependency, lies, and capitulation (It’s This Bad and A Murderess’s Tale).

A personal favorite was his analysis of Tony Blair’s performance as Prime Minister in “Delusions of Dishonesty,” an essay that drew a less than flattering profile of Blair’s character, and his leadership style—his “Third Way,” explaining why Tony Blair was “the most unpopular Prime Minister of recent history” when he left office.

This is an essay that draws an unflattering picture of his character—a “tendency to indulge in self-obsession without self-examination;” a political willingness to act contrary to campaign promises; an unwillingness to candidly respond to challenges about actions in conflict with previous statements. “What he said on one day had no necessary connection with what he said on the following day: and if someone pointed out the contradiction, he would use his favorite phrase, ‘It’s time to move on.’”

Dr. Dalrymple is also a contributor to City Journal; and at City Journal’s on-line site there is an archive of over 200 hundred of his essays, including “Delusions of Dishonesty.” I recommend you read this essay if you are interested in the topic and learning more about Dalrymple’s work. This is a book well-worth owning; you will want to mark key passages for future use in discussions with friends.

Other Book Reviews By Buster:

Fifty Days of Solitude: Making Time to Enjoy a Gift of Time

Taking Retirement: A Packed Deck of Lessons

Gaining Perspective about the War against Radical Islamism – Civilization And Its Enemies, by Lee Harris

Patton and The Soul of Battle—The Soul of Battle by Victor Davis Hanson

A thoughtful book, I recommend Fifty Days of Solitude. Alone at home during a period of self-imposed seclusion, Doris Grumbach offers a helpful meditation on the meaning of solitude, telling of her time weighing and considering a range of questions, her search for answers, and a report of lessons learned. Her solitude affords her time to delve into remembered ideas from art and a lifetime of reading. Quoting artists and authors, she conducts her own Socratic dialogues, following Bacon’s admonition for book readers that “some few are to be chewed and digested.”

Grumbach also explores her thoughts about friends and friendships; thoughts about loneliness versus solitude; about the crowding out of “white spaces” where much meaning is often missed; about the need for learning “to look hard at what she did not notice before and even harder at what is not there, at what Paul Valery called ‘the presence of absence.’”

There is an interesting insight about the role of solitude in life and her failure to appreciate it as a gift when young, recalling two brief periods when she lived alone. The author recognizes that opportunities for reflection are more difficult for her in the noisy city. She learns that solitude nourishes her energy and promotes creativity; her writing becomes more satisfying and more productive.

The day’s mail disrupts her routine. It invades her seclusion bringing reports of unwelcomed events in friend’s lives—illness, death, disgrace. These letters, with news clippings, from friends, take her away from her writing. She receives a particularly disquieting report about a much-admired friend and respected teacher who has been indicted. His disturbing fall leads her to think about a characteristic of American society: “too often achievement and recognition come early and too fast, leaving a long life of disappointment and decline.’”

Finally, as her self-imposed seclusion ends, she reaches some final thoughts about solitude:

Taking Retirement: A Packed Deck of Lessons -

Gaining Perspective about the War against Radical Islamism – Civilization And Its Enemies,

You could also read this diary because the stories are entertaining, especially wife Kate’s education about washing fresh vegetables while on a trip, or the insight learned from a visit to an ancient scholar’s study in the classical Chinese pavilion in Vancouver. Or, you could read it to appreciate the writing, noting the sense of flow, appreciating how the parts fit together smoothly, and the sense of focus, observing the clear unity of the whole. There is a simple understated style in this diary—the words don’t shout at you, they don’t compel you—“notice me,” but the writing reflects measured choices, choosing not just what to write but how. The style is not like a translucent window—to be looked through solely for the underlying ideas. It is more like finely cut beveled glass—to be looked at, to be appreciated, to be enjoyed.

This diary also tells of the author’s love of gardening and his writing. But, truth be told, I believe his real passion is eating. A well-prepared meal, one with the right herbs and spices, the freshest produce, and the right combination of dishes, is an event always noted with relish and joy, documenting the pleasure of eating with friends, the opportunity to share events of the day.

“Taking Retirement” deals a pack of anecdotes and lessons. The diary details a psychological journey and an actual vacation trip. The psychological journey includes an enquiry, or polling, of friends, business contacts, associates, and retirees, soliciting their views of retirement, each offering a range of attitudes and responses about retirement, about leaving work and leaving an identity drawn from that work. The vacation puts distance between the author and the start of his first semester, his first semester as an emeritus professor, a professor without fall classes, without students, without colleagues. Professor Klaus’s personal account describes the start of a new life after 35 years of teaching. It records a search for meaning in retirement, a discovery seeking to balance the ship of life, seeking to reconcile conflicts, complete the journey, prepare to move to a new chapter in life.

For President-Elect Obama there is opportunity and risk. It is an opportunity to govern, but a risk of excess by trying to rule from Day One—a characterization used by Valerie Jarrett, Co-Chair Obama Transition Team. It is an opportunity to lead by reason and prudence, but a risk of going beyond his support and advancing his policies by coercion and resentment.

It is an opportunity to change policy, but a risk of over-reaching. Michael Gerson reviews very early mistakes of another President, Bill Clinton, in “Where the Mines Are.” He discusses three tripwires for President-Elect Obama: The first tripwire concerns abortion and bioethics. He also identifies the Fairness Doctrine (eliminating conservative talk radio) and “card check” for unions (eliminating secret ballots) as landmines.

Regarding the tripwire of abortion, President-Elect Obama is more than an advocate of denying care to an infant born of a botched partial-birth abortion procedure. He is, in fact, a champion of the euphonious Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). His promised changes in abortion law and policy are dramatic. In fact, one commentator describes him: “as the most extreme pro-abortion candidate to have ever run on a major party ticket.” 

He has promised that 'the first thing I'd do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act’ (known as FOCA). This proposed legislation would create a federally guaranteed 'fundamental right' to abortion….In essence, FOCA would abolish virtually every existing state and federal limitation on abortion, including parental consent and notification laws for minors, state and federal funding restrictions on abortion, and conscience protections for pro-life citizens working in the health-care industry-protections against being forced to participate in the practice of abortion or else lose their jobs. The pro-abortion National Organization for Women has proclaimed with approval that FOCA would 'sweep away hundreds of anti-abortion laws [and] policies.'

This Presidential election felt more significant, perhaps because war rages abroad and economic woes lead the headlines at home. Whether President-Elect Obama’s term in office is also a significant one, a Presidential term that is substantial, consequential, and historic, depends on his actions, his policies, and his accomplishments. It depends on whether he avoids those landmines and tripwires that can prematurely terminate any Presidential honeymoon, any feeling of goodwill, and any willingness to work with a new President.

Will President-Elect Obama avoid the tripwire of abortion and bioethics; or will he take the risk, the risk of trying to rule rather than govern; the risk of over-reaching on policy decisions; the risk of going beyond his support and compelling Americans to follow? If his abortion agenda is one of those avoidable landmines that can derail a newly elected President in the first days of his Presidency, as it seems to be, then his decision will be a defining one. 

It was only a brief sojourn, but you were facing social decline (oral sex is not sex), decay (lying and perjury), and degeneration (perpetual war rooms, character attacks, and confidence in the integrity of government). Entropy.  So then, when you began: how were you to make a new beginning? How were you to change the tone? How were you to reverse the order—breathing in life, beginning anew?

And so you began, with ruddy cheeks—with optimism, hope, and a clear vision.  But, to too many, you are the “Shrub.” The journey is longer. The trail is more difficult than expected.  Only the path is clear: creed leads and shapes the end.

And yet, if turned once too often, that turned cheek turns purple, battered, and bloody; and as you keep turning, you travel from bloody, to lonely, to isolated. Perhaps it requires turning too often, but resetting the center means finding the mean, like finding the 50-yard line after going from end zone to end zone.  Despite the blows and the ridicule, resetting the chains, marking a new center, and recapturing civitas(civility, respect for the rights of others, and spontaneous willingness to obey the law): requires more.  And so, in repairing the damage and cauterizing the wound you are turning, perhaps to often, from another unfair and unanswered attack.  The trail is difficult. The journey is long. 

How else will you change the tone?  How else will you restore the model?  Continue by taking the bloody blows, following your creed when duty is clear, setting the new course, resetting the center of discourse. The entropy is advanced and the need for a new centering of tone and discourse means losing support, losing friends, losing—in the near term, but not in the end.

Yes, with the superior wisdom of our postmodern years, we rejected a societal value, over 2000 years old, of discouraging suicide. I heard that in Oregon, they rejected a request from one man for surgery, but suggested they would be glad to “kill him off.” He complained. They caved. Surgery worked, and he is still walking around. But, in parts of Europe now, they don’t even ask “the patients” anymore if they are ready to depart…of course you understand only euphemisms are allowed when we overrule any value or guidance passed down through the generations… they just close the curtains, shut the eyelids, and terminate you. I must admit they have their reasons—it is cheaper for them, you were too old, and putting you out of your misery was the humane thing to do.

These examples from Oregon and Europe illustrate two points about what happens when you welcome the government into your final curtain call. Dignity slips, slides, and glides into a humane death, like after the family horse breaks his leg and grandfather calls the vet—so the vet can put a bullet through his head. And, as William Gass writes in The Doomed in Their Sinking:

Nowadays the significance of a suicide for the suicide and the significance of that suicide for society are seldom the same. If according to the social workers’ comforting cliché, they are often a cry for help, they’re just as frequently a solemn vow of silence.

A long time ago, I fastened on the idea of “raging against the darkness of the night,” rejecting the idea suicide was anything more than an early exit from the drama of life. As for dignity, Webster says it is “the quality or state of being worthy, honored, or esteemed; high rank, office, or position; a legal title of nobility or honor.”

I always thought you earned dignity, you earned it by doing an affirmative act, and when it comes to ending it all, a death with dignity was providing an example for others, performing some remarkable act—bravery, perseverance against the odds, not taking yourself out of the game before the umpire called you out—like Socrates refusing an offer from friends to help him escape the hemlock; Thomas Moore refusing to buckle to the dictates of King Henry on a matter of religious conviction; and average Americans who despite their pain, soldier on with grace, without complaint, a ready smile and time for anyone who needs help, like the young boy with the fatal disease raising money for research to help others after him or Tony Snow (the former White House Press Secretary) calmly accepting his fate with a smile on his face, gratitude in his heart for life and for enough notice allowing him time to order things before moving on.

Dignity suggests a reasoned action and suicide a decision under fear, compulsion, or confusion…an absence of reason.