Socialists are always full of contradictions, and no more so than when they are full of pomp and circumstance...eagerly sculpting their own "history" out of the country's foundation.

Barack Hussein Obama's Inauguration was the rule today, and not the exception.  His crown of thorns sitting firmly on his head, the political messiah tried hard to wrap himself in premature martyrdom, inflated crisis and a new-found war on terrorism.  And at the same time, Obama used all the floral and fauna in the English language to deliver the message that he, himself, is the Light and the way to salvation and hope.

According to Obama, principles cannot save us.  The Constitution cannot save us.  Free markets and capitalism cannot save us.  Only one man, with a plan to change our system of government, can save us from the, "nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights."

And what is the "price of citizenship"?  What must we sacrifice on the alter of socialism to be saved?  Well for one, Obama asks us to give up our ideals, saying that we suffer from, "worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics".  Dogma is another word for principles, ideals, the things you believe in.  Give them up, because those are things that will stop Obama's success.

And what do we do when we have left behind the things we cherish and believe in?  According to Obama, the goal is, "Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."  With nationalization of industry and "spreading the wealth", Obama will remake America in the image of Karl Marx's socialism.

To those of us who do question his plans, and who refuse to give up our ideals and set aside our conscience, Obama acknowledges our worst fears: "Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans."  He is correct in the articulation of our fears.  We know that our economic system cannot tolerate Obama's plans.  But it is not the size of the plans, but the scope. 

From his own lips, Obama declares that scope to be vast and far-reaching, "The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified."  A government so large, that it can take care of your every need.  Juxtaposed with Thomas Jefferson, it is a stark reminder that Obama is asking us to forget our nation's founding principles.  For as Jefferson so rightly said, "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have."

As for the free markets, Obama is quick to relegate it to the ash heap of rewritten history, by arguing for government interference...that it is only through Obama's own control of the markets that we will find prosperity and opportunity.  Obama concludes that he will use the markets to take us down the road to a "common good", a term used frequently by socialists, communists, fascists and liberals to twist the engine of a nation's economy to their own purpose.  

As for our military, Obama cherry-picked the events that led to our nation's birth, to satisfy his own quest for "peace" at any cost.  "As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations."  But Obama has ignored the very thing that gave us a nation, that gave us a home and that gave us the opportunity to preserve peace and prosperity. 

And that was war. 

The Founding Fathers did indeed draft charters.  But that alone did not give birth to our great nation.  They waged bloody battle to give rise to our Independence, our safety and our eventual peace. 

As for Obama's foreign policy, it is safe to assume that what we have happily and willingly given to the world is not enough.  We will surely be forced to give more: "And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it."

To accuse indifference, and lecture apathy, where there is none, is heartless.  America is the most charitable, most giving nation that the world has ever seen.  From our early beginnings, we have struggled to share opportunity, freedom and peace with the world.    We have given billions of dollars to the world, so that their hospitals and schools and libraries could be built.  We have given food and medicine to impoverished countries, so that people would not starve.  We have sacrificed the lives of our young men, so that the world would be free. 

And yet, among those nations that Obama would have us help, Iraq appears not to be on that list.  He promised today that we will leave Iraq, no matter the outcome that abandonment will induce.  Because Obama's sympathy for the world is not truly about charity to other nations, but about your "responsibility" to give up the pursuit of your happiness, for the betterment of the world around you.  It's about the demand he makes on you, to give up your comfort, give up your dreams...and replace them with his.

For, as he so boldly stated, "This is the price and the promise of citizenship".  It is true that freedom is not free.  And neither is Obama's plans for America.  Are you willing to pay the price?