RUST COMMENTARY: SEEK ANSWERS IN BIRTH OF CHRIST CHILD

Merry Christmas to all of our readers as we come to the end of an unusual year.

For those whose families remained healthy, it's generally been a wonderful year of much progress.

There has been no real war, and the economy has remained relatively strong. Long overdue reforms are starting to bring successful results in many states.

That's the premise of our representative government ... that the federal government is limited in its power while the states have the freedom and right to solve their problems individually except in limited areas.

Key issues are welfare reform, tougher police arrest standards, school choice, education reforms, affirmative action, hospital and medical cost reviews, etc., etc., etc.

AND ... as the obvious growth in new churches and increased attendance signify ... many are returning, finding or seeking a meaningful life ... through a power beyond their own rationale and logic. Look to the birth of the Christ child for the answer.

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Every man is an impossibility until he is born. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The narrowest hinge in my hand puts to scorn all machines. -- Walt Whitman

All that I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Living by polls: It is amazing how often we hear the argument that since the polls show the American people believe one way or another, elected officials are obligated to vote in line with the polls. If that's true, let's disband the House and Senate, take a poll every night and govern accordingly. Elections are the only polls that matter. Recently a Washington Post poll disclosed that if the House votes impeachment, 58 percent of the public would then want the president to resign. The odds are long against Clinton following that poll. -- American Renewal

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The Iraq reality: As the missiles continued to fall on Iraq, a disturbing consensus began to take shape: Saddam Hussein has, for now, won. The UNSCOM inspectors, whose job it is to find the weapons, have been thrown out of the country. There is no reason to believe he will let them back in. Air power alone cannot accomplish our goals, and Clinton has not made the case for U.S. ground troops. Hussein has had a year to move and hide weapons. The odds are overwhelming that he will have biological or nuclear capabilities after the current air strikes. Unless there is a coup that overthrows him within a few months, there will be voices in the U.S. urging an end to the trade embargo on Iraq. -- Washington Update

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Families to spend more on fun: Families will more than double their spending on entertainment and communications over the next decade as use of the Internet, wireless phones and cable TV increases, says a new forecast from Paul Kagan Associates.

A typical household will spend more than $4,200 in 2007 on those and other diversions -- including movies, newspapers and sporting events -- compared with about $1,900 in 1997, the consulting firm predicts. Inflation will account for less than half of that.

Print still will dominate media with $205 billion in revenue, up from $122 billion.

But the Internet will show the fastest growth, soaring about 26 percent a year to $63.1 billion from consumers and advertisers in 2007. Wireless phones will generate $112 billion, up from $33.5 billion. -- David Lieberman, USA Today

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Political ambitions may prove barrier: I'm not surprised that Gov. Mel Carnahan will seek the U.S. Senate seat occupied by John Ashcroft. I am surprised he made that announcement at such an early date. What that early announcement means is that every move and decision Carnahan makes over the next two years will be suspect considering his political ambitions. That may not bode well for the state.

Granted, it is so early to talk about political elections two years down the road that it makes most discussions useless. Ashcroft may well run for president in 2000, and that could open the door to Carnahan even wider. Or Ashcroft could abandon that notion and mount a very strong re-election effort. Or Carnahan could fall out of favor with the Democrats in the next two years and jeopardize his chances for a Senate seat. Two years is a lifetime in political circles.

The only concern I have at this early point is that Carnahan could work harder on a campaign effort than his job as chief executive of our great state. He may indeed be able to balance both tasks, but it won't be easy. And either way his every move will be analyzed by Republicans looking for campaign fodder. That division of attention may set up ample confrontations that may be lively but not necessarily good for our state.

We really would have liked some relief from political discussions now that the general election is over. But Carnahan assured Wednesday (Nov. 4) that would not be the case by his early filing. He has stretched the campaign season into the next two years. Voters are likely to tire of that long before election day.

John Ashcroft, meanwhile, needs to decide if he wants to run for president or represent Missourians in the U.S. Senate. His bid for the White House is a long shot by most accounts, though events change rapidly in politics. If he abandons his presidential bid soon and concentrates on the Senate race, he should be able to withstand Carnahan. But waiting much longer will reduce his advantage.

Oh, well, just when you thought we could take a rest from the political arena, up jumps a contest. And this one could be lively beyond imagination. -- Mike Jensen, Sikeston Standard Democrat

~Gary Rust is president of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian and other newspapers.