The special, adolescent repelling, "Daddy mix" lullabied me, reminding me there was a time when sensibility won the day.  A time when actions had consequences, special talents were directed meaningfully, and everyone knew right from wrong.  Oh, and don’t forget that men opened doors for women, too.   Think Sinatra, Tormé, Nat King Cole, Ella, Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughn, Connick Jr., Bublé , Krall.  You know, My Red Lounge kind of stuff.   It was a different New Years Eve for many, I think.

In the day, pop culture reflected values and behavior that defined America…. freewheeling but not disrespectful, sexy but not explicit, ambitious but not greedy, idealistic yet gracious.  This year I celebrated a time when the pursuit of personal excellence grew a collective conscience that propelled us to the moon, conquered smallpox, made worldwide travel affordable for the masses, and brought down the Soviet Union.  Nowadays, however,  look at your kids’ iTunes play lists, turn on any pop station, especially inane and vulgar hip hop variety, and hold on for a rude awakening.   I don’t have to tell you.  Sinatra’s  “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” or classic “Come Fly With Me” would certainly be covered in a syllabic juxtaposition you can imagine and I dare not repeat.  Nat’s “Route 66” might as well be “Night Death at 66^th in the Hood”.  Does this reflect our character or shape it?  Probably both.

Witness the inexorable march toward insanity in America’s economy over the last 40 years.  The sexual revolution and drug culture of the 60’s (and certainly anything but heading to extinction!) unleashed hedonism.  The Woodstock- inclined tended not to be the same folks in Mission Control guiding Neal Armstrong’s moonwalk, after all.   Well meaning Great Society programs, expansion of Social Security and Jimmy Carter’s recession allowed the concentration of centralized power in state and federal capitals, all in the name of social justice.  Even Ronald Reagan was more rhetorically than practically successful in harnessing the Nanny State.  Clinton and even ‘W’ capitulated to a centrally rigged, politically expansive economy.  By winking at fraudulent excess (dot com, junk bond and lax lending scandals come to mind), expanding government bureaucracy, regulation and welfare, or micromanaging the market through an obscene tax code, many Americans and their leaders have engaged in a cultural assassination that threatens our very existence. 

Dear friends, we are on the verge of a cultural collapse. Our recent history and unbridled narcissism conjures images of a gargantuan Ponzi scheme that makes Madoff seem like a petty criminal.  Trillions in debt, largely a consumption economy, and losing jobs like the Rams lose ball games, we must find the cause and kill it like the tap root of a lawn weed.  Borrowing to cure deficits?  Ya’ think so, Mr. Obama?  Bailouts for irrational borrowers, greedy and probably fraudulent loan officers and investment bankers? Right.  A helping hand for incompetent autoworker bosses and their hyper incompetent Big 3 managers?  Get real.  Government can manage finance, insurance, autos, steel, porn (yep, Larry Flynt wants a bailout too) and gosh knows what else better than a consequential and unfettered market, eh?  Let me remind you that medical care was not a top three issue before the government got involved first with Medicare, then HMOs.  Truth is that most every enterprise it tinkers with, government is the problem, not the solution.  And every ‘fix’ only seems to fan the flames of whatever failure it is supposed to remedy.  What we need is not more government.  No, we need some tough love.

We’ve heard a lot about moral hazard with the finance bailout.  That’s the notion of perpetuating poor fiscal management by rescuing the institutions that erred so egregiously.  It’s worse, though.  You are witnessing ‘character hazard’ across the American landscape.  Medicaid moms are rewarded for having babies in financially, and often sociologically desperate (and often dangerous) situations.  Henry Paulson’s investment banker buddies are rewarded with taxpayer billions in White House smoke filled rooms, only to snub their nose at small businessmen and financially sound prospective home buyers who should have benefited from pump priming.  Mr. Obama’s so-called stimulus emphasizes lame pet civic project for mayors and governors, expanded government programs, not-ready-for-prime-time ‘green’ projects, roads, bridges, school buildings (each of which already have a tax base), mandatory healthcare computer technology, and welfare checks mislabeled as ‘tax cuts’ to 10’s of millions of us who don’t pay taxes.  This is a perfect recipe for lobby influence, union corruption, and further erosion in our character and self-reliance.  In short, the new administration and a complicit Congress will inject more fiscal and moral heroin into a populous increasingly intoxicated with Uncle Sam’s snake oil.  Unlike a stumbling, broken drunk who needs to awaken face down in the gutter to begin his reform, entitled and character-poor Americans…rich, poor and in between…will be rescued and encouraged to repeat their errors.  Ironically it’s a cruel assault on tough love.  This ‘character hazard’ can bring us down, and will if we don’t return to the times when fear of God and respect, for oneself and one another, ruled the day. 

How about a suggestion to preserve your character this year? Lord knows I’ll be asking them!  In any decision, be it a family, business or civic one, ask 4 simple questions:  Will it hurt someone else unnecessarily?  Would my favorite elementary school teacher smile or scowl?  Does it serve some higher purpose than me alone?  Is my character fortified or eroded as a consequence? 

Thanks for listening in ’08.  I am privileged that you spend time with us every Saturday and pledge to earn your audience again in ’09.  It’s true,  “I Get A Kick Out Of You”.  (Thanks, ol’ Blue Eyes.)