The debate about whether Obama is a socialists or center right or left is arcane. When are we going to stop dressing our ideas in a nineteenth century intellectual straight-jackets?

Obama has said it clearly. What motivates him is a 2000 year old idea enunciated by a preacher in the land between the seas, that we are our obliged to care for, and love, our neighbor.

Is that Marxist? Marxists attacked religion as an opiate of the masses and set class against class. Is it right wing because it emerges from a religious core? The neo-cons reject common morality as a guiding force in the market place. Greed is good and we are empowered to pursues our most selfish interests. Although classless, it's not class warfare (“He that lives by the sword, dies by the sword.”)

While Obama came to his philosophy through Christianity and it is deeply rooted in the parts of the Old Testament, the command to treat others as we treat ourselves is virtually universal to all major religions. A generation before Christ it was espoused by Rabbi Hillel as the core of the Torah. (“All lese is commentary’) It is reflected in Islam, Hinduism and most religion that got beyond volcano worship. Mike Huckabee nearly stole the Rublican nomination when, in debate, he momentarily eschewed biblical dogmatism and enunciated it as the guiding principal of is religion, echoing Hillel when he stated that the rest of it is unimportant.

You see brothers and sisters, it's all about love. We have elected a President who really believes and who came to his belief through study and introspection.

That doesn’t mean he is not clever, ambitious, and I expect, on occasion, a little ruthless. But it means that by his every policy utterance, he is concerned his (and our) overwhelming obligation to care for each other. It doesn’t mean that there is, or will be, a religious test.

The greatest of Presidents, in one way or another have reflected that universal principal. It was Lincoln who said hat the role of government is do for the people what they can not do for themselves. TR battled with predatory corporate trusts. FDR’s New Deal was sought to cure a nation in despair, JFK’s called to national service because” here on this earth, God’s work must be our own.”. It was Jefferson, who despised organized religion, who wrote the Declaration of independence with its stunning assertion of universal equality stemming from a universal Creator.

The fate of those who practice love is not always kind. God protect Obama and the United States of America. He hasn’t always.

http://johnklotz@blogspot.com

Hate to be self absorbed, but the important thing is that NC delivered me the office pool( I had picked 365-173 electoral votes)Now I have to figure out what I can buy for $30 bucks.

http:\johnklotz.blogspot.com

In the early nineteen fifties, when I was in high school in Syracuse and television was really in its infancy, one of the local channels had a Sunday talk show that was more radio than TV. It drew heavily on the talent pool of SyracuseU. One guest was Stewart Gerry Brown who I believe was Dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship at the time. I believe it was Brown who in talking about political leadership said: "The great leader is one who dreams a great dream for us."

I hope I got the attribution right and if it wasn't Brown, or he was quoting someone else or it was the wrong program, let me know. (johnklot@johnklotz.com)

But I found those words insightful and challenging. When about 8 years later JFK ran for President, for all his personal clay feet, he was ultimately one "who dreamed a great dream for us." It is the tragedy of our lifetimes that JFK's dream ended in a nightmare in Dallas, a nightmare that still haunts us.

Now another person has come along who like no other since JFK is dreaming a great dream for us.

The problems we face due to this incredibly mismanaged economy are daunting. But any solution must first begin with a dream - a vision.

Dream on Obama, you are dreaming for us.

Http://johnklotz.blogspot.com