Well, I had the dubious honor to fight down the Republicans in the election of America. They seem to be in a havoc of distress.

I am truly sorry, and really I see this more as an extremely impressive comeback of the liberal party rather that a fault of the Republicans. Really, Barack Obama is extremely competent, and after this election and the numerous victories he has had, he will be a legendary president, he will not only save the country, he will also save the liberal perspective, by leaning more to the right.

The positive parts of the conservative project is exactly what he has made a part of his project, or rather many of the basic virtues of the liberals have a direct connection to the conservative values, and these he has stressed; the civil rights, the fight for democracy and freedom, the patriotism, the faith in America. Really basically these virtues are conservative, but now a central part of liberalism with Mr. Barack Obama at the helm.

Theoretically and politically philosophically it is the right thing to do in crisis situation like the one we are in. So it is all good and talking America in the right direction. You see, my task as a platonic philosopher is to give the politicians means and ideas in this crisis situation. You could say that I am the immune system of democracy. At least that is as Plato envisioned it in his famous work “The Republic” and the idea, that the philosophers are supposed to be the guardians of democracy, especially in a situation where the democratic institutions are under attack of corruption. Moral corruption a sometimes economical corruption. At least this is how I see it, and how Plato saw it, and I might add, that he was quite clear about the price a philosopher pays in such a situation; persecution and vilification, as Socrates, as Anaxagoras, and he was right.

Anyway, I have thought quite a bit over a possible new strategy for the Republicans, and here are some reflections, I feel a owe you guys, so this is my way to pay repentance.

Now, what is it really to be a Republican? First of all, there is a truth to the fact, that Clint Eastwood stood up and tried to save his country at the Republican Convention. Now how may that be? The simple answer is; he represents the spirit of Republicanism. How? Well, seen from a Danish perspective, there are many ideas and spiritual trends that we share. After all, you come from us. First Danes travelled from Angels to England, and from there on you guys travelled to southern America the most. Being the proud descendants of the first tall Jutes. (Angels is in Jutland). This tribe was the one that laughed at the Romans when they showed up on the battlefield with their third consecutive army. This tribe is the one that sailed the oceans with only the stars as their guiding light, this tribe is the mighty warriors of the north, hardened by the cold, fearless in the face of the enemy. These are your roots.

Now, it seems to me, that the cowboys, that we have come to love as well, is a distant reflection of the vikings that you descend from. The freedom that you enjoy as you travel over the prairie, the honesty you carry as you as men look upon each other, and have the idea, that a word is a word. A man is defined by his word, and the character of man resides not only in his ability to fight, but more in his ability to stay true to his word.

These traditions are ancient. Please let me, in deep respect for your traditions, and only as inspiration, explain the very deep roots of this world view. You see the freedom we hold dear is an ancient craving, in the old times, before the Catholic Church christened us, we had freedom as the deepest virtue of our states. The Viking state was called a “Freestate”. It was free in the sense that a man was one vote, but more than that, the idea of the vikings was that freedom was a good thing in itself, an intellectual was called a freethinker and the vikings really hated to be oppressed, we still do actually. But the point is, that the political structure of the Freestate was based on a viking version of democracy. You see, your ideals of freedom are more than just principles, they are deep, deep traditions. You can go to Iceland to learn more about the Freestates, they had one up until the 12’th century (still have in way).

So work on freedom, as a virtue, and as a principle of government, set people free from too many snares of this and that law, that would be a traditional way of doing it, and make sure, each man have his own voice.

But, you see, I have often wondered how the law could be upheld in such a chaotic society. If we only have freedom, there will be no boundaries, no rules, no law. I however have found out how they really kept a balance, and I really love the way they did it. You see they had a stone in the center of the conventions they held when the met to discuss issues of state. This stone was called a “Law stone”. It was a holy stone, and it was believed, that the ancients gods watched over it. The common believe was, that an oath made with your hand on the lawstone was kept and put in the accounting books of the gods. They held you responsible for the word you gave at the lawstone. This is the original background of a word given and a word kept as a holy entity. We do not lie, and if we give our words to someone or in a special gathering it is honour bound to keep our words.

We are fighters, but we fight within limits, the most profound limit is not a law on a piece of paper, but the words we give to our friends and our enemies. A man is rightfully measured on his ability to keep his word, because on this rests his honour.

But the most profound virtue of a northern man is not freedom or justice, it is love. In a society it cannot work and it will be ripped apart, if we do not support our local communities. This is a virtue we have learned from Abraham, and therefore not one of our own. But it is still vital, if we want the world and the nation to work. This is the basis of the Christian church.

If you work with these three values; freedom, justice and love, you can turn the boat around. Because each value supports a part of the American society; democracy, law and the church.

G-d bless America.