Friday, April 20, 2007

joseph c. phillips

Joseph C. Phillips is an actor and an author. You may remember him from The Cosby Show, where he played the role of Lt. Martin Kendall, or from The District, where he played the role of Mayor Morgan Douglas. His filmography can be found at http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0680531/, and he has his own website, which can be found at http://www.josephcphillips.com/.

As a conservative, I read the HumanEvents.com article about him (http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=20304) and I stood up and cheered!

There is so much about the HumanEvents.com article that I liked, but I found the following excerpt especially interesting:

What about the rest of Hollywood? Phillips plops the responsibility right back in our collective conservative lap, exactly where it belongs.
"As outrageous as some of Rosie’s comments have been, where is the outrage? "The View"'s numbers are up. And as I say without the tinge of white racism, it will be some heavy lifting indeed to remove Rosie from "The View." Hollywood works like every other business, when people stop watching, shows go off the air."
Not content to simply walk away from a broken system, Phillips goes one, no ten, steps farther. "The best way to win in a capitalist market is to have a better mouse trap."If you produce it, they will come. But it isn’t happening. Why?
Phillips opines, "There is a perception among conservatives that Hollywood holds some special power. Nothing could be further from the truth. Conservatives took over talk radio, we took over the blogosphere and cable news. If we put our minds to it we could run Hollywood as well. Perhaps the real reason is that we don’t really care, at least not enough to do anything about it."

Also;

As for the state of politics in general, Phillips pulls no punches and articulates the water cooler conversations I have heard a thousand times, “The GOP has largely abandoned conservative principles and suffered for it. They have not learned their lesson and seem content to continue to be democrat-lite and wonder why things are not working. We are poised to offer up another moderate presidential candidate in order to prevent Hillary and Obama from winning the election. If we win, we will be back to square one with a Republican president that does not believe in core conservative principles and will hedge on health care, social security, immigration and on and on AND then tell us we should be happy that our taxes are low.”
Phillips captures the frustration and exasperation that so many conservatives feel, but manages to remain enthusiastically optimistic, "I am excited about the principles that energize us as Americans and by the principles of the founding fathers: equality and natural rights, limited government and power in the hands of the people (as opposed to non-elected bureaucrats.) I have been a Republican because I have long felt that this party more than the other embodies these principles and has been the GOP’s strength from the beginning. This party must stand for more than low taxes. We must stand for limited but vigorous government, for putting power in the hands of the people, for equality under the law and for a united America. That is our strength and until we return to what we do best we will struggle and our nation will continue its slide into the multicultural abyss."

Wow! This man speaks the truth! What a rare quality in someone connected with Hollywood!

Folks, we the people must stop waiting for "someone else" to change the course of our country. We Christian conservatives must stop looking for "The Next Reagan" to ride to our rescue like the hero in some cowboy flick, and we must start looking to ourselves to be the heroes America needs. Each one of us has the power to effect change in our culture and in our government, but we must commit ourselves to the task.

Mahatma Gandhi said, "In a gentle way you can shake the world." He also said, "You must be the change you want to see in the world." Based on those statements from Gandhi, Michael Angier came up with "10 Things To Think About If You Want To Change The World." As you read the following list, think about how you can act in ways to, in the words of Joseph C. Phillips, "...stand for limited but vigorous government, for putting power in the hands of the people, for equality under the law, and for a united America."

1. Know that all significant change throughout history has occurred not because of nations, armies, governments and certainly not committees. They happened as a result of the courage and commitment of individuals. People like Joan of Ark, Albert Einstein, Clara Barton, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison and Rosa Parks. They might not have done it alone, but they were, without question, the change makers.
2. Believe that you have a unique purpose and potential in the world. It's not so much something to create as to be discovered. And it's up to you to discover it. Believe that you can and will make a difference.
3. Recognize that everything you do, every step you take, every sentence you write, every word you speak-or DON'T speak--counts. Nothing is trivial. The world may be big, but there are no small things. Everything matters.
4. To be the change you want to see in the world, you don't have to be loud. You don't have to be eloquent. You don't have to be elected. You don't even have to be particularly smart or well educated. You do, however, have to be committed.
5. Take personal responsibility. Never think "it's not my job". It's a cop-out to say, "What can I do, I'm only one person." You don't need everyone's cooperation or anyone's permission to make changes. Remember this little gem, "If it's to be, it's up to me."
6. Don't get caught up in the how of things. If you're clear on what you want to change and why you want to change it, the how will come. Many significant things have been left undone because someone let the problem solving interfere with the decision-making.
7. Don't wait for things to be right in order to begin. Change is messy. Things will never be just right. Follow Teddy Roosevelt's timeless advice, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
8. The genesis for change is awareness. We cannot change what we don't acknowledge. Most of the time, we aren't aware of what's wrong or what's not working. We don't see what could be. By becoming more aware, we begin the process of change.
9. Take to heart these words from Albert Einstein--arguably one of the smartest change masters who ever lived: "All meaningful and lasting change starts first in your imagination and then works its way out. Imagination is more important than knowledge."
10. In order for things to change, YOU have to change. We can't change others; we can only change ourselves. However, when WE change, it changes everything. And in doing so, we truly can be the change we want to see in the world.

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