DennisMansfield.com

"So watcha readin'?...and watcha dreamin'?"

National elections can be all-consuming to many of us who enjoy politics.

My experience (limited to observing activities from a conservative vantage point over these past 3 decades) is that liberals tend to eat, drink and sleep their brand of politics, EVERY DAY. So when a hero like Hillary Clinton or Teddy Kennedy fails to gain their party's nomination for President, many are lost and are forced to go home to sulk, maybe-voting with very little commitment for the party's choice, hoping REALLY that their "non-choice" ultimately loses...'cause then they can band together behind their original person. They LOVE to follow politics like a sports fan follows the sport-of-the-day...sport season after sport season. Year in, year out. Never giving up, never giving in.

Conservatives tend to eat, drink and sleep their brand of politics for a much shorter duration....maybe the election year cyle. The key, though, is that there is a clear line of demarcation demanding that conservatives go home, raise their kids, keep working their small businesses and get on with life. The harshest (and truest) comment about conservatives is that "they go home when they lose...and they go home when they win". Faith based conservatives are the worst....they/we tend to look too eagerly at going home...often, before we even vote. AWOL they call it in the military.

Liberals tend to always be on duty. They tend to be anti-war activists, always vigilant - ironically ready at right-shoulder-arms.

So, today I, as a Progressive Conservative, who is following this race (and blogging far too often about it), I decided to take the day off from walking the streets of The Holy City Of Obama-nation, Tina Fey-ville, McCain Keyboard-Town and Joe-Mama Biden Place to ask a question: what are you reading?

Here's a sample of what's occupying my dreamy mind in the City of Book-worm-ville:

"Good to Great" - almost done with this not-so-new-classic tale of moving people and companies up from mediocrity to greatness. Incredible read. It can impact your world, no doubt, as it has mine.

"1960" - see ealrier posting about this great new read. Like the author's previous work "1920" it's a fast and furious tale of LBJ, JFK and Richard M. Nixon...and their races to the White House in that year.

"Leadership and Self Deception" - The Arbinger institute's classic on how easily swayed and deceived leaders can become, because they/we/I never "get out of the box"...unless we change a position and DO IT.

"Courageous Leadership" - Bill Hybels' new work on leading a Christian organization. Though I enjoy it, I'd kinda like to have read ANYTHING about failures he's had...then move up from there, but alas...cold hard concrete when dreams might have been just as good....

Do you think that old dead dudes have very little to say to you? (You might if you fail to realize that strange things are a-foot at the Cirlce K. tee hee)

Civil War General Lew Wallace, writing in the first edition of "Ben Hur" (1873), wrote of dreams. He penned:

"Men speak of dreaming as if it were a phenomenon of night and sleep. They should know better. All results achieved by us are self-promised, and self-promises are made in dreams awake. Dreaming is the relief of labor, the wine that sustains us in act. We learn to love labor, not for itself, but for the opportunity it furnishes for dreaming, which is the great under-monotone of real life, unheard, unnoticed, because of its constancy. Living is dreaming. Only in the grave are there no dreams."

So...watcha readin'?

Den

McCain/Palin vs Obama/Biden? Try "1960" vs. 2008. David Pietrusza's Masterpiece

Frequent visitors to this blog may remember a posting I did, this January, about author David Pietrusza's amazing book, "1920". His book has THE most comprensive coverage of the 1920 election that enveloped 6 past, present or future Presidents of The United States. No kidding - if you haven't read it, stop drop and roll...'til you do....especially given the close connections to the 2008 race.

Then....this past week, his long-awaited next book hit the shelves: "1960". Man....it is utterly amazing in its structure, content and connected dots. A person might, at first, ask the question: "Haven't all the books on Kennedy's election been already written, that SHOULD have been written?"

The answer is a big, whopping "NO"....this is even closer to the 2008 race, as it brings forward many of the JFK issues and "firsts" (read that: Barrack Obama issues and "firsts") and connects the dots with the Democrat primary defeat of LBJ (read that: Hillary losing)...coupling it to the rankerous general election against Richard Nixon (read that: John McCain).

If you are an avid historical/presidential reader, order it NOW. My comments today do not do it justice, trust me.

Den

What does "it" matter? - 50,000 page views later

Get this, on September 2nd of 2006 we launched this blog with the following text:

What is "it"? There have been a lot of "its" in the past and many quotes like "it's the economy stupid" and many others. For this website the "it" for now is an attempt in fusing politics, culture, business, personality, religion, you and me.

No longer will there be a perceived hidden agenda - you'll get the straight scoop right here. There has never been a hidden agenda in my life; I like to lay myself right out there. Along with some friends there is a plan to bring many thoughts and plans to help businesses succeed, to help people reach their true potential and see a fusion of different perspectives become a stronger entity.

You'll see video, documents to download, links to other sites and people that speak into this dream - hang on & hope you like "it"!

Well....it's been 23 months since that first post (and 50,000 pageviews later as well - we hit that today.)


I'm sure that's not a big deal for some folks, but on this blog, it's fun to see us tip the scales at 50,000. ( I think that's more than the total number of election votes I've ever received - tee hee)


We've had a bunch of posts and we'll have a bunch more....

Keep hangin' on...and thanks for joining us, lo these many , many days/weeks/months and now years.

Den

 PS: Let me know which ones may have been "favorites", ok?
I just may sprinkle this month of August with a few "Best Of's"

Judah Ben-Hur speaks even today

With the passing of Charleton Heston, an era in Hollywood passes...and possibly in American politics, as well.

Winning his Oscar for Best Actor in 1959 gave Mr. Heston the approval of his peers in Hollywood.

Though he played in many, many films (before and after 1959) it was Ben Hur that provided the Oscar for his fireplace mantle and his career resume/financial billing prospective.

Winning his Presidency of the NRA in 1998 gave Mr. Heston the approval of his conservatives gun-owning peers and the utter disapproval of his former-peers in Hollywood.

The two events seemed like bookends in a semi-Reaganesque career. His NRA leadership is well chronicled by photos of "Moses" with a Revolutionary War flintloock rifle raised over his head and reoccuring quotes that included, but were not limited to the words: "prying - cold - dead - hands-etc" .

Though I saw Charleton Heston in person on two separate events, I never really met him. Both events were in Idaho, both up-close and personal, both poltical in nature. I listened to him and laughed at his jokes and wondered about his toupee ( I really did!) - the truth of the matter was that I most liked the role that nabbed him the Oscar:

I liked Judah Ben-Hur.

As timing would have it, on this very day I am 271 pages into Lew Wallace's masterpiece book, Ben-Hur, upon which the film was based.

In this beautiful book, Ben-Hur received the following commentary regarding Jesus from Egypt's Balthasar: "Do we need to be told that human governments are never for the sake of religion? How many kings have you heard of who were better than their subjects? Oh, no, no! The Redemption cannot be for a political purpose - to pull down rulers and powers, and vacate their places merely that others may take and enjoy them." Saddened, Judah Ben-Hur agreed.

Regarding rulers: I've seen 'em come and I've seen 'em go. Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, Bush 41, soon Bush 43. Of those listed - in my lifetime, I've seen 8 of them in person. Corresponded with 4 of them. Had dinner with one. And I'm only 52 years old. My resume with local, congressional and Senate campaigns is all on record, as well.

"...merely that others may take" their place.

Putting our full faith in any candidate is fundamentally goofy. Believing that a particualr Presidential candidate will usher in a new-er world order is goofier still... and goes against the wisdom of the good Egyptian to the Israelite Jew in General Wallace's book....and in Charleton Heston's movie. Confidance and support? Sure. Full faith? Nope, not so much.

In a strange and odd way, we are really subjects of the KIng of Kings, cleverly disguised as Democrats or Republicans in a Constitutional Republic. Only what's done for the King will last. Everything elses fades away, like the grass in the fields.Our accomplishments (and theirs) fade even quicker like the flowers of that same grass.

Ask Moses, ask Lew Wallace, ask Charleton Heston. They know.

Den

Flew over Italy...landed in Tel Aviv

All participants arrived safe and sound. Felt the sweet spring air of Israel at the Tel Aviv airport. Boarded the bus, drove to the Sea of Galilee and are currently in the Sheraton Tiberius. (Had a great Shabbat dinner tonight- it is Saturday here after all- with many people.)

Ok, so who said this while on his first trip to Israel: "Have we of the West lost our faith in everything but dollars and military might? Have we forgotten that the most powerful weapons are ideas? Why do we not preach the gospel of freedom and justice in the villages of Asia (Middle East)?"

You'll never guess...he loved God, fought U.S. Presidents, knew the Gospel, and traveled the world. I bet you think, I think that it's George W. Bush...wrong.Most conservatives hated his guts. I'm reading one of his books written in 1951 called "Strange Lands and Friendly People".

Give up? One more hint: he was a U.S. Supreme Court Justice--Justice William O. Douglas.

Just as this man walked Israel with his son, Bill, in 1950 (and wrote this book about  it), I get to enjoy my fifth trip to Israel with my son Colin and bride Susan.

Here's some long-held thoughts by me:

• May of 1948 brought about a miracle: Israel again became a nation after 1900 years in "exile."
• God used the U.N. to do this- partly because the horror of the Holocaust. Six million Jews died that today seven million Jews have a home land.
• The U.N. approved two States to exist within the new nation it was forming: one state chose the name Israel while leaders of the other (Arabic) state walked away from their agreement.
• No one knew what the full nation's name would be, even U.S. President Harry Truman signed an executive acknowledgement of the new country, and guess what? It didn't have a name when he approved it.
• When the Arabs walked the Jews stood fast. The name for the new nation was finally settled: Israel.

Israel is a Bible land, the birthplace of monotheism, a political land, a geographical land (no bigger than New Jersey), and it is the front porch of God's residence.

I'll keep ya posted on more things to come,

Dennis

Rough Rider Philosophy-is it Conservative?

Just finished Edmund Morris' Theodore Rex- after also having finished Morris' The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (which followed Morris' approved biography on Reagan entitled Dutch). That's a glut of Morris-obelia, or is it? 

Edmund Morris is one of the premier authors of the last 30 years- all the more amayzazing considering he's only written these three books, the first of which won him the Pulitzer Prize. The Reagan link to Roosevelt that allowed Morris to become the first in-house White House biographer was that Reagan loved Teddy's bold and authoritative leadership.

Contemporary politicos often cite T.R. as an example of strong, conservative leadership- the type that loses in the "arena", marred with blood and grime- and regains his or her footing in order to fight on in the current battle (I may be one of the chief culprits of this historical thievery). But was he conservative?

Theodore Roosevelt was a raging liberal with a guilty conscience for having been born rich. His early life was a series of theatrical posings that would make John Kerry proud. The terrible death of his mother and wife on the same day understandably gave him reason to step away from his life. The problem was...he had a newborn daughter and he dumped baby Alice on his sister. Father and daughter never bonded. Conservative, pro family? Hmmm...

His entire political career had nothing to do with fiscal conservativism. He spent tax dollars like a drunken sailor on leave, and personally never understood finance (his second wife said he was an "idiot" in dealing with money and would only give him $20 per week spending money).

And let's face it, conservative Presidents had never used an Executive Order to circumvent the Constitutional balance of powers regarding the initiation of National Parks. He did it and didn't blink twice. The real proof of the pudding is when his Presidency was over and he was a private citizen for four years. A conservative out of office would have sought personal and private means of enacting social change- not Roosevelt. He ran again for office, was deprived the GOP nomination, and stormed out of the convention saying he was now the founder of the "Progressive Party" (for those from Rio Linda or The Statesman, that means liberal).

So, don't be thinking that Teddy Roosevelt, as he smiles down from Mount Rushmore is the benevolent 20th century stone faced statue of conservetivism. Rather, be honest about him and honest about yourself, acknowledging that you both may be liberals ("Not that there's anything wrong with that...").

Kind of makes you fully aware why so many "Republican" Senators and Legislators at Idaho's State Capitol enshrine Teddy as their beau ideal. Was my salted index finger suitably burrowed deep enough into your cornea and retina on this? Next stop, Churchill was a philosophical politician of-the-evening. Wanna bet?

Dennis