Article: What's Important: The Seven Pillars of Misrule

There is so much political chaff swirling around that I find it useful every so often to follow the Buddhist dictum: "Don't just do something, sit there." In other words, meditate on the quiet core, pay less attention to the noisy fringe.

So what I've done here, after due reflection, and jettisoning items that are not worth total concentration, is to compose some thoughts about what I find to be exceptionally important these days. Perhaps some or all of these items will resonate with you as well -- and with many moderate and traditional Republicans with whom you may wish to share these musings between now and the November elections.

At the outset, let it be said that there are a multitude of complex factors at work below the surface of the daily news that could, and no doubt will, affect and significantly alter our society, our world, ourselves. We might title these subjects "What's REALLY Important." I'm referring to technological breakthroughs in science and medicine and agriculture, the effect of viral pandemics around the globe, seismic political and social shifts due to economic developments and catastrophes (including wars of choice) in various regions of the world, the ramifications of huge global changes in climate, and on and on. For more on some of these events, see Ernest Partridge's companion Crisis Papers essay, "Swords Into Plowshares." ( >> http://www.crisispapers.org/essays6p/swords.htm > www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/04/30/examples_of_the_presidents_signing_statements