Obama, our dear leader.

The first time I saw this I thought, okay its just a bunch liberal parents setting their children up for a lifetime of disappointment. The people who make their kids sing songs about how the junior Senator from Illinois is going to change the world are doing their children harm. Please spare me the argument that these small children really understand what they are singing about, they don't. I would make the same argument if I saw a video production of third graders singing the praises of John McCain.



If you want to raise up the next generation of bitterly cynical people, you are off to a great start. I have a question to all you Obama supporters, especially those who have been 'inspired to change the world'. How will you feel if Barack Obama wins and he doesn't change the world, or my fear, that his policies change things for the worse? Will you believe the media and the Obama apologists when they say Republicans and the rich kept Obama from implementing his great visions of change? Will you become disillusioned by politics like many of the liberals who came of age in the late sixties?

If you are honest with yourself, in the end you will finally acknowledge that you were naive and were swept up in emotion and didn't really do any homework on Obama's astounding lack of accomplishments or executive experience? How has Barack Obama changed Chicago? Is Chicago a much better place to live and raise a family thanks to Barack Obama? If not, than why would you believe he is going to make the world better? Seriously, why?

I hear from young people all the time that they want to 'change the world'. I would like to point out that Hitler and Pol Pot changed the world in a real and meaningful way. Changing the world is something your social studies or history teacher tells you to do, not a job description. So for all of you out there who want to 'change the world' or 'make the world a better place' or some other bumper sticker slogan, here is a nickel's worth of free advice. Change your world first.

Starting with the person in the mirror. Make yourself the best person you can be. Give freely. Give of your time, your effort and your money, even if its just your allowance, a servant's heart is crucial to becoming a better you. Learn. Turn off Dancing with the Stars and start reading. History and the classics first and then learn about what inspires you.

Once you find a volunteer organization, charity or ministry at your church you believe in, get involved. I don't mean joining the Sierra Club or World Wildlife Fund and stop there, these groups have no affect on your day to day life, even if they tell you otherwise. If you are not overwhelmed at that point and want to so more, change you community. PTA, after-school programs, help wherever your time and talent do the most good.

Still not tired? Great, lead and teach others. Become a mentor, find someone who has the character, drive and mindset to do what you have done and train them to replace you. That will free you up so you can make a greater impact on your community. This process can go on until your last breath. If you find at the end of all that effort, that you only changed your local after school program, congratulations you did great. I mean it. If the only thing you really changed was yourself, as a person and as a citizen of this great nation, congratulations you did great also.

Very few people change the word for the better. Scientists, and medical researchers can unlock keys to curing disease or finding the next fuel to replace oil, but don't overlook people like Mother Teresa or Billy Graham. The people who start out to change one person's life can affect millions of others in the end. People who start out to change the world are almost certain to fail.