GROUND ZER0, New York, N.Y.--Jan. 22, 2004 --  They call it the Infinite Eye.   It is pervasive and elemental.  It captures a moment of reality.  It can twist and morph it into a moment of horror.   The Infinite Eye is called the camera lens, and, for some like Howard Dean, it has become the Eye of the Beast of Terror.   The Infinite Eye questions whether Howard Dean is qualified to be the next Father of National Vigilance.

     After losing his lead and coming in third in the Iowa caucus, the democratic presidential candidate screamed into the camera lens, jabbing his finger at it as though to poke it out, and growled manically as a wounded general might trying to rally his ravaged troops to take the battle to every state, and to be victorious at all costs.
      His actions were reminiscent of General Patton's famous speech in the movie, Patton, where George C. Scott, playing the famous general, growled to his staff that he would lead his men into the Battle of the Bulge and everyone would die if necessary to free the 101st Airborne troops trapped there by Nazi troops.
      The Infinite Eye caught Howard Dean's snarling mouth and flashing fangs sneering and jeering into the camera lens and revealed a side of his character that threatens his ability to earn the Father of the Nation vote.    The Infinite Eye paid little heed to the fact the West Des Moines, Iowa,  hotel ballroom was filled with 3,500 shouting, youthful campaigners who Dean was trying to bolster after a devastating defeat.

      The vultures are buzzing over Dean's wounding words.  Video clips of Dean as a "rabid-dog candidate" remarks are being splashed throughout the media and Internet, used by his distracters as evidence of mercurial personality, and his inability to withstand the pressures necessary for the President of the United States.

       The Infinite Eye is glued to Dean's backside these days, revealing to the world a proctoscopic view of his flaws, especially his lack of emotional control. 
        Time magazine recently took a shot at his candidacy prior to the events in Iowa by featuring his wife's absence on the campaign trail with the title:  "Where's the Misses?"   A picture of Dean on a wedding cake standing alone symbolized the void of his wife's physical presence with him on the campaign trail.   The answer for Mrs. Dean's lack of stumping for her husband is that she is a physician and owes her first duty to her patients.

         However, I wonder if the Deans ever watch West Wing?   In that television drama, the President's wife is a doctor and stands next to him throughout.  Perhaps some TV time would help bolster the question:  "Where's Dean's Wife?"
        The lashes whipping Dean by critics looking for flaws in all candidates, illustrate the question of his role as a Father of Vigilance more than just as a Presidential candidate.   There is an expression that "pressure makes diamonds."   Running for political office, especially the highest office in the world, demands the personality of its holder to be able to withstand the most extreme of pressures.  Anyone with the ability to place his or her finger on a nuclear trigger needs to be scrutinized to the "nth" degree, and then some.    But there is also another factor to be considered.  The President of the United states is the Father of the Nation, responsible for the welfare of more than 100 million households, and some 300 million people, nearly one third of whom are children.

        Since the dawn of George Washington, we have referred to our male leaders as Fathers of the Nation.   We call the group who formed our Constitution the Founding Fathers.
        Presidential stature is synonymous with the stature of a National Father or a National Mother of Vigilance.   Is Howard Dean a Father of Vigilance?    Does he comply with the standards of protecting the Children's Children's Children?
        The man who trumped Dean, Senator John Kerry, offered his life to save his men in battle.   A Vietnam Veteran awarded medals for acts of bravery, risked his life for others.    To date, Kerry hasn't flown off the handle or expressed rage or anger, or implied to the Infinite Eye that he cannot control and manage his emotions.   Is the willingness to give your life to save others a hallmark of Presidential strength?  

        Also, in Kerry's case, his wife is cleaved to his side, standing as his Sentinel of Family Vigilance counterpart, sharing the spotlight with him as he attempts to win the hearts and minds of the Democratic electorate, and, eventually, enough Republicans to become the next Father of the Nation.
       There are no clear formulas for deciding who the best leader is.   President Clinton, for example, violated one of the great "sins" of the family by having a sexual relationship with one of his interns and survived.    However, that event occurred after he was elected.
       President Bush didn't serve in Vietnam.  Instead, he joined the Air Reserves, avoiding combat.  Does that make him less of a leader?
       Fathership or Mothership has many definitions, but one of them for sure is not anger or emotional volatility.    The Infinite Eye captured Howard Dean's emotional vulnerability and now is reminding the world that his temper may flare were he to sit in the Oval Office, and he might act in a manner that would not benefit the role of the Nation's Father.

       To be sure, Americans are looking for a Father of Vigilance to lead the nation.    President Bush gets high marks for protecting the nation from Terrorism, but is under attack on domestic issues.    He has proven to the world he is a Father of Vigilance when it comes to hunting down and destroying those who threaten us with violence.   
       But, what about jobs?  What about the economy?   He has work to do in that arena.   
       On the family side of the coin, he is promoting marriage between male and female.  He is reinforcing the values of the traditional family, and there are few who question his commitment to the family.
        Does Dr. Dean fit the profile of a Father of Vigilance?    Does John Kerry?   Does John Edwards?   Does General Wesley Clark?
        What does a Father of National Vigilance have to prove to a nation before its constituents choose him to be their President, their leader of the national family?
        On the same plane, what does a Mother of National Vigilance have to prove should a woman run for President?
        There seems to be one fundamental factor that overrides all others, or should.  That is that the Mother or Father of the Nation must concern themselves in all their decision-making with the future of the Children's Children's Children.  

       To make such decisions requires a great amount of emotional security and a clear vision to the future.    One's agenda cannot be blinded by personal motives for such decisions to be made that impact our future generations.
        A great leader is one who realizes the future of our country, and the future of the world, does not necessarily reflect factions, splinter groups, power elements.   When a Father or Mother is making profound decisions that impact the future of their children, they are thinking through three generations.  
        They are thinking through how their children will pass on to their children, and their children's children the fundamentals necessary to preserve and protect their rights and the rights of all the children.
        In a more microscopic view, the Father or Mother of a Nation must look at the decisions as a Grandmother or Grandfather might.   
        President Bush is looking far ahead to the future in Iraq.   He realizes that the future of the world, including America, means that democracy must take root where Terrorism now commands.     The War in Iraq is about planting seeds that hopefully will sprout not on June 30 when the scheduled transfer of power is slated to Iraqi leadership from American management, but some three generations from now.
        The great leadership decisions are not the easy ones about tax cuts or domestic vs. foreign policy, but those that will ultimately make the world safer.
     

      In April of 1971 President Nixon opened the door to relations with China with a simple ping-pong tournament.    The allowance of that event cracked open a door that has slowly been creaking open for a generation.   There are two more to go.
        Back in 1776 Thomas Paine called for Europe to enter into what we now recognize as the European Economic Union.   It has taken over seven generations for that to happen.

       It has been not quite one generation since the nuclear disarmament talks were launched between the U.S. and Russia by President Reagan.
        Great decisions don't get much Infinite Eye press except on the History Channel.  But, voters can tell by a individual's reactions whether he or she represents a potential Mother or Father, Grandmother or Grandfather of National Vigilance.
         The question that all voters ask deep in their parental marrow is:  "Can I trust my children's future with this person?"
         There is no more qualified question to ask, for in the end, the decisions of national leadership are decisions that impact the future safety and security of the innocent.   A man or woman who is emotionally volatile may become abusive to the future, may make irrational decisions clouded by ego rather than tempered by Vigilance. 
         The Infinite Eye caught Howard Dean ranting over a loss.

         The voting public saw an enraged father, angry because the umpires at the soccer game made what he considered a bad call.    As Jay Leno, the host of the Tonight Show, said in his comic monologue:   "Howard Dean's aides were upset they had to end their candidate's comments with a tranquilizer gun."
          Who should be President of the United States?
          There can be no question.  It must be a strong, focused, emotionally balanced but committed Mother/Grandmother, Father/Grandfather of Vigilance.
          It must be one who understand that the Infinite Eye measures the future of the children, and doesn't poke his (or her) finger angrily at the lens when he (or she) doesn't get his way.
      

Jan 21--From Mo Duc To Baghdad--Terrorism's Shadow Falls