Where did the vitriol start and who started it? UPDATE

On this day of remembrance of all those who lost their lives unnecessarily in the attack on our nation at the World Trade Center, I gave thought to that time and how we were as a people. After the attack we came together as a nation, even though before 9/11 we were divided politically by the election of George W. Bush by the Supreme Court decision over Al Gore. It was a bitter pill for Democrats and some Independents to swallow and it lasted right up to 9/11. But then everything changed. We were all saddened by the loss of life and angry that we were attacked by terrorists. But there was now our President on the pile of debris from the fallen Towers telling the world we are going to get through this because we are Americans and we are a strong people and that we would find the people who did this and bring them to justice. It was a solemn moment in our history and we were all united as Americans right after that, maybe for the first time for many Americans, but I had seen it before. When President John Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX, we were together then too. The best of the American spirit was shown then too and the outpouring of sadness we all felt and a tribute to the loss of our President and the fact we all knew then the world had changed for us. There were no Republicans and Democrats then. We were all Americans and we were a strong people and that we would find the people who did this and bring them to justice.

Here we are on the Anniversary of 9/11, a very solemn day, and what's on many American's hearts today. I'll tell you, it's idiocy about whether a pastor in Florida will burn the Holy Book of Muslims or not. And, whether the Imam in NY will move his plans for building a Community center, which will contain a mosque, 2 blocks away from the site of the Twin Towers. The Republicans have been connecting the two separate issues even though the Pastor in Fl had not. But then, he finally got there message that there is a connection as Palin, Boehner, and Gingrich have been trying to connect those dots for the weak minded among us for the past week. It's a disgrace. First there is no comparison. Burning anyone's Holy Book is weak minded and not something a so called minister of God would do. But again, he had not connected these dots until these Republican leaders pointed it out to him.

Where do these nut jobs come from? They come from the shadows, where evil lurks all the time but is usually in check when there is balance of spirit and mind between people. But that spirit has been missing for a while now. I was trying to think when did it all change recently? I figured it out. It was when John McCain picked Sarah Palin, as his Vice Presidential candidate. She was not ready for prime time, or any time in my view, but here we are with her leading the whack jobs of the fringe of the Republican party and getting support from the other whack jobs of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and driving our country into madness. And the fools who listen to them get hyped up and do their bidding and think in the shadows about "coming out". And every once in a while one comes out ie. the Pastor in Florida.

But this vitriol started during the campaign for President and by the selection of Sarah Palin, by John McCain. John McCain, the same leader who said "Country first!" and has abandoned about everything he has stood for over his career as a Senator. The same John McCain who said he was a maverick and now said he wasn't a maverick. Make up your mind please, John. Now it was the perfect storm because opposing John McCain was Barack Obama. That helped bring out the racists among us. But you see Barack Obama, in my humble opinion, has done nothing to fuel this divisiveness. He was born from a white mother and a black father. So what? What's the big deal. Get over it and join the 21st Century. Most kids have. Many don't see color distinction, as their older parents do.

I am afraid we have lost that special moment when we were all together as Americans. But when I think about the meaning to me of 9/11, I wish we could go back to that moment in our hearts and stop this divisiveness. It is killing our country now. How you can help? Change your mindset. If you are still embracing the notion that our country is special and what it means to be an American. then you should think that if someone owns a piece of property and wants to develop it and build anything they want they should be allowed to as long as it follows local ordinances and laws. They have a right to build the Community Center and include a mosque in it if they so choose. We should be pleased we live in a country where we can express our religious freedoms in whatever way we want to as long as it doesn't do physical harm to others. By the way, people have been praying in the existing mosque there since 2009, just to set the record straight.

As for the whack job Pastor in Fl., it is a very difficult situation for sure. In this 24/7 news cycle with Social Networks bringing pictures and videos all around the world. One could make the case that he is endangering others and it is illegal, just like yelling Fire in a crowded theater. The world won't end if he does this and some may die too as General Petraeus has warned. But that will be on the Pastors head before God as well as those Republicans who have not condemned the possible act, Palin, Boehner and Gingrich. May God have mercy on their souls.

UPDATE: 10:20am PST

I don't know what has happened by the Florida Pastor has decided that God has spoken to him and that he will not burn any Holy Books now or ever. Hallelujah! He has seen the light. One must be grateful for little steps of progress when they come. Amen! Now if the political leaders of Palin, Boehner and Gingrich can see the light, maybe this will be a memorable 9/11 where something good comes out of it.

The exposure for President Obama at the Latin American conference had me nervous

After the Latin American summit, I was very upset to see President Obama giving his Press Conference yesterday outdoors, but not for the reasons you might think. What I was upset about was the poor job the Secret Service did in providing security and protection for the President. The President should never have a backdrop like that, which exposed him to potential harm. In this day and age I put nothing past kooks out there. The news conference lasted 45 minutes and I was nervous the whole time watching it. Was it just me or did any others have a similar feeling watching that news Conference and backdrop? That backdrop, while a beautiful scene, put our President unnecessarily at risk and I didn't like it, especially on foreign soil. I loved President Kennedy and was devastated, when he was shot in Dallas, I don't want anything to happen to this special President we have now. I respectfully suggest that the Secret Service needs to review this and do a better job going forward. I shouldn't even have to worry like this but I do. We have too much riding on President Obama, especially after the 8 terrible years of Bush/Cheney.

A U.S. Foreign policy fit for the 21st Century challenges

U.S. Foreign Policy for the past several decades and longer, has been based upon the notion of trying to get governments and their leaders to change behaviors to be more in line with U.S. positions on issues. These methods have not worked. Permanent changes can only be created when people's mindsets change, which drives their behaviors. Our Government has tried to use diplomacy, often using the carrot and stick approach, which is defined as rewarding good behavior (carrots as a metaphor for rewards and incentives) and punishing bad behavior (sticks as a metaphor for imposing trade and other sanctions, with the implied use of Military force should the sanctions not be enough to discourage the bad behaviors). Looking back as to whether that approach works, one can site examples both for and against those approaches.

The same is true on the battlefield in Iraq and Afghanistan. When we have captured suspected terrorists or other "bad" guys, we have used both the carrot and stick approach in our interrogation of prisoners. Much has been written on this subject after it was revealed that the U.S. Government used torture in Abu Ghraib prison, as revealed by those pictures we all were shocked in seeing and were embarrassed as conscientious people of all political parties. Many have written about torture and that it has been shown not to produce the desired result and often cause people to tell you anything you want to hear. We have examples of this with even one of our 2008 Presidential hopefuls, Senator John McCain, who made statements during his confinement as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Senator McCain has apologized for his comments during that time and we have forgiven him. But the data is strong in showing that behavioral measures to change behavior have a mixed result at best and much evidence can be presented which shows it often works to our own detriment and against our National interest.

I have studied how to influence people and change behavior most of my adult life having given 30 plus years to a profession as a coach of other leaders in mostly business but in I have in rare occurrences influenced some political leaders as well. History provides some clues to us for other means to change behaviors of people and influence them in ways that has garnered us much admiration from all corners of the earth. But we have not paid attention to the effects those means have played much longer than the mere two decades I speak of here. Remember what affect the Peace Corps. has had in projecting America's image across the globe. Remember the Marshall Plan after World War II and the effect it had on our adversaries after the war. Even today, as badly as we have treated our friends around the world, there is still remains admiration for us. How did this occur?

It is because we endeavored over the past 100-200 years to change the "mindset" of people, not through carrots and sticks, as we tend to use too often. But by leading by example and letting our way of being positively influence the mindset of those less fortunate than those born or living here. President John Kennedy did much to change the mindset of many people in the world. His way of speaking transcended our limits and called upon us to think more globally. I still remember when I was young and he was delivering that speech, "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." This is a clear example of Kennedy's influencing mindsets here in America. What followed was the Peace Corp., the race to the Moon and a whole planet in awe of our achievements, instead of our shortcomings. I yearn for those days again. That may partly account for why Senator Barack Obama has begun to ride such a wave of popularity. He connected to that theme when he chose the title of his book, "The Audacity of Hope".

Al Gore is the best recent example of the goal of changing mindsets. Today he will most likely receive an Oscar for his work on behalf of the world by raising our awareness and acceptance of the notion that Global Warming is real, is here, and we must come together as a world and act collectively to save the planet. President Bush and VP Cheney for the past 7 years have dismissed this as not real. They have ordered government agencies to not report findings in support of Global Warming, criticized scientists who have, and they pulled out of the Kyoto accord.

U.S. Foreign policy needs to reconsider methods of inspiring and influencing mindsets, rather than forcing temporary behavioral change with carrots and sticks. We are in the 21st Century and yet we are using prehistoric tools to solve current problems. I suggest Americans wake up and ask ourselves if we want to change how we are perceived in the world, forge new relationships based upon common visions, not react to every dictator that wants to pull our chain and start to develop policies which will attract others to follow because of our model of leadership. It speaks to the spirit in all of us, as one thing President Bush has spoken about correctly; freedom speaks to everyone, as it is an innate spirit and embodied in us by God. Wake up America! We The People need to take responsibility for what we have allowed to happen in our name by our leaders. Only then will we be as great as we once were.

UPDATE: 8:30pm P.S.T. Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth, has won the Oscar for Best Documentary. He has indeed changed mindsets without shooting a single bullet, but shooting instead many thought provoking scenes.