Calling all leaders

The fire of popular discontentment that has consumed the Middle East and is rapidly spreading in Europe may well leap across the oceans to America. The conditions are ripe for conflagration — the tinder is dry, and the powder keg is close at hand.

The consequences of the recent government budget cuts have yet to hit home for the average American, but will soon. And, compounding already high unemployment and declining social benefits, the American people are suffering from political and business leadership that is woefully out of touch with the masses.

To wit, President Obama’s massive spending on national health insurance instead of focusing on jobs; Wall Street’s arrogant insistence on keeping its tax allowances for luxury expenditures while the rest of the country scrambles to survive; the frightening inability of both parties in Congress to look beyond anything but their own reelection and sectarian interests; the downgrade of American debt by the ratings agencies, and the rapid debasement of individual savings caused by massive Fed money printing.

Although these problems are overwhelming, they are not insurmountable with good moral leadership.