In sports, I never achieved anything beyond weekend warrior status.  I learned, however, that if you battled hard winning was always a possibility.  You never gave up until the last out and the bleacher bums stood and bellowed out a chorus of na-na-na-na, hey-hey- hey, good-bye.  The code of conduct in the United States Army demanded that I never give up as long as I had the means to resist.  Winners never learn to accept defeat.  As General Patton reminded us, Americans love winners and despise losers.
   
The military leaders or sport coaches I have known would never stand before the led proclaiming doom.  What Soldier would willingly march into battle if his leader told him it was hopeless?  What athlete would walk onto the field ready to battle for victory if the dugout speech only lamented to him the sad state of affairs?  Such proclamations and lamentations do not inspire.  They cause one to fortify his defensive position and wait or toss his muddy cleats into his bag, conceding defeat without taking the final stab at winning because no leader inspired him to try.  Since the leadership convinced him that there is little chance of victory, he simply hopes to hold on to what he has. 

Uninspired people do not focus on achievement or winning.  The American can do attitude that made us a great nation of achievers turns to survival.  Uninspired people brace for the promised worst that is on the horizon.  It is a mindset adverse to the risk taking that has identified Americans since our nation’s founding.  Uninspired people do not risk their treasure on new ventures.  Instead, they hide it away.  After all, they most certainly will need it as they speed along toward the proclaimed catastrophic destination of which their leaders keep reminding them.
   
There is an axiom that says an army of lambs led by a lion is better than an army of lions led by a lamb.  Leaders must inspire by words and deeds.  We are a nation of lions and liberty loving people because lion-like leadership always inspired us to fight through difficult periods.  Give me liberty or give me death; we have nothing to fear, but fear itself; tear down that wall….  Inspiring words spoken to inspire a people toward greater things.
   
What if Patrick Henry insisted that the price of liberty was too high?  What if President Roosevelt told a nation at war to fear what lies ahead?  What if President Reagan lacked the courage to confront communism and demand that the Berlin Wall come down?
    
Our President and Congressional leaders must inspire Americans toward greater things.  They must offer at least a glimmer of optimism about the future - some hope maybe.  From crisis to catastrophe and worse before better, are not words that offer inspiration.  Instead, they build fear and anxiety.
 
Fear and threats may scare people in to following, but timidly and for only a short distance.  Fear creates a following that watches and waits for the promised crisis borne catastrophe.  If the calamity does not come about, the timid following becomes no following.  However, if you inspire people with your words and deeds and be their positive example, they will follow you through hell and back.  And do so while toting 5-gallon cans of gasoline.