We must kick the Kool-Aid habit

It never ceases to amaze me how a complacent people can be lured into self-destructive behavior.

In 1978, 912 members of the People's Temple, a predominantly African-American cult formed in San Francisco by Jim Jones, were either murdered or voluntarily committed suicide in Jamestown, Guyana. Those who committed what Jones referred to as revolutionary suicide drank Kool-Aid laced with cyanide. Many who refused to take their own lives were shot. Interestingly, Jim Jones was a community organizer who chided his subjects as they faced death, telling them that crying was not appropriate because that was not how socialists or communists should die.

Does the term community organizer ring a more contemporary bell? Does the odor of socialism taint today's political atmosphere?

Our nation is being led down the path to a contemporary Jonestown by another former community organizer who was trained and indoctrinated by yet another community organizer, Saul Alinsky, a deracinated Jew and a self-described "rebel" who dedicated his life to trying to destroying the economic and social system in America, a system he believed to be oppressive and unjust. His revolution would take from the haves and give to the have-nots, thereby creating a universe, whether global or local, of social equality – a concept that twisted the idea of equal opportunity into the unachievable and, when attempted, eminently unfair and often tyrannical concept of equal outcome.

What was Alinsky's proposed modus operandi? Knowing that a frontal assault on the well-established traditions of America would meet immediate and strong resistance, Alinsky planned to insinuate operatives into the leadership of the nation's key governmental and social structures and undermine the system from within.

If the poor and the oppressed could be mobilized, they could then be used to batter the hierarchy into submission. When empowered, the underclass and urban poor can exert great leverage, upset the social and economic structure of a nation and establish their version of "democracy." The founders of this nation knew the dangers of a pure democracy and constituted what is more accurately described as a democratic republic.

There is much more to say about the Alinsky strategy for deception and his model for revolution but for now, let's look at his most prominent disciple, Barack Hussein Obama. The president's understanding of politics and the revolutionary process emboldened him to say on the eve of the 2008 election, "We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America."

The president's changes are of such significance and magnitude that they dwarf any other shift in American policy in history. To deny the fact would be tantamount to admitting one had only recently arrived from a different planet or to concede that one is bereft of any comprehension of what the POTUS has proposed or Congress has enacted in the last 20 months. With incredible swiftness, this man and his band of leftist henchmen have changed the course of the nation so dramatically as to possibly make it irreversible and the effects irreparable.

Obama has operated outside of legislative or constitutional authority and in direct opposition to the opinions of the overwhelming majority of voters. Many attribute his arrogant indifference to the will of the people to either incompetence or inexperience. To accept either premise might be comforting, but Barack Hussein Obama is neither incompetent nor inexperienced. His ability to shrug off negative poll results and to accept declining popularity is not indicative of anything other than his commitment to an agenda that is anathema to the historic traditions of our nation and our long-term role as leader of the free world.

In line with Saul Alinsky's plan of battle, Obama and his administration are intentionally driving this country into such economic, political and social desperation as to cause the people to eventually throw up their hands in abject surrender and cry out to big government "Save us!" Such a surrender attitude was evidenced shortly after the Columbine massacre when a woman was quoted as saying, "I will give up a measure of freedom for a level of safety." That, my friends is a dangerous position. Benjamin Franklin wrote long ago, "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

We must stop Obama's administration before it is too late. The tea-party movement and the recent massive "Restore America" rally sponsored by Glenn Beck are evidence of a ground-swell of activism in the hearts of millions of Americans. Nov. 2 will be the first opportunity for patriotic Americans to peacefully reverse the course we are following, and reverse it we must. The Christian vote is especially important. A number of years ago, I asked a congressional representative if the Christian coalition was having an effect on public policy. The answer was very little because Christians don't vote, don't contribute and don't remember (incumbency rules) at election time.

If conservatives and Christians fail to do our part or our leaders fail to respond, the Declaration of Independence suggests the next step that may justifiably be taken. We must get involved, get educated, get active and get out the vote. Ballots are always preferable to bullets, so exercise your God-given right/obligation to participate in the political process. The country is not lost – yet.

Karl Day served as senior editor for the Family Research Council for nine years. He's now retired and writing from his home in Greer, S.C. Day is a West Point graduate, a former Army Ranger, Green Beret, a decorated Vietnam veteran and an ardent supporter of the new political wave in America – the tea party.