Ten things I've learned over the past ten years . . .

10. A large number of Americans want to worship the President. Looking back, we can look at the relative good times of the 1990's and realize that widespread lack of respect for President Clinton diminished his power, which in turn increased our liberty and prosperity. Even Democrats merely tolerated Clinton and would rally around him only out of partisan loyalty. But in the 00's, many Republican partisans equated George W. Bush's mission against "evil" with Jesus Christ's - and there was no level of evil they wouldn't resort to in order to win their war against evil. They even depicted Bush's critics as anti-American traitors. And then when Obama took power, Democratic partisans equated him with the Messiah, even accusing those who criticized his being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize as traitors.

9. Apathy isn't what ruined America. The people who were into Britney Spears gossip didn't start wars or get us into the sub-prime mortgage mess. The people who coveted LaDanian Tomlinson for their fantasy football team didn't write memos justifying torture and warrantless surveillance. It is, rather, the opinion makers and partisan followers of both sides, who believed the President can redeem a nation, who have supported the policies that have destroyed America's freedom, power, good will, and prosperity in the space of a decade. THEY are, and always will be, the problem. They will refuse to recognize that America's greatness has stemmed from the level of freedom its people enjoyed. Instead, they will insist that its greatness has stemmed from its government.

8. Those who say that "healthcare is a right" don't really believe it. Instead, they believe in waiting lists, rationing, and other restrictions to access to healthcare. If they really believed healthcare is a right, they would also allow individuals to do whatever is necessary to get well - even if it means using marijuana, steroids, heroin, or Shamans. And, any honest person who claimed healthcare is a right would recognize a corollary right to provide healthcare, without having to acquire a license or jump through other regulatory hoops.

7. The Conservative Movement no longer exists. The glue that held it together was an anti-Communist foreign policy. Like NATO, its reason for existence died when the Soviet Union collapsed. Putting NATO expansionists and Zionists in the same camp with realists and America First patriots is absurd.

6. Individuals project onto others what they secretly see in themselves - myself included. If I say "He's a jerk" what I'm really saying is "I'm a jerk." We should be mindful of that when Dick Cheney warns of "violent extremists" or when Barack Obama accuses other people of making "false choices."

5. I have come to realize I am mentally, emotionally, or spiritually incapable of squaring Christian teaching, or just about any spiritual teaching, with the idea that it is acceptable to support political ends that transgress on other people or their property. Freedom isn't a goal or "ideal" so much as it is the absence of aggression.

4. No valid form of currency would need to be backed by government force with a legal tender law. The purpose of The State is to use legal tender laws to debase and inflate the currency, in order to empower the rich and enrich the powerful.

3. Democracy is a nice concept when it is a means for the people to protect their freedom and property. It is a hideous concept when it is used to punish the lifestyles or loot the wealth of other people.

2. Nobody is ever evil in their own eyes. Which means those who disagree with me may think I'm the evil one with bad intentions. You have to build up a lot of good will for people to accept your arguments.

1 Either most pop music sounds the same, or George Fredric Handel belongs in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: