One often hears the words "leader" or "leadership" tossed around when people are talking about politicians.

When is the last time a politician actually led another human being?

But let's back up. What is leadership? Is it trading political favors to pass a new law? Is it ordering one's bureaucratic underlings to implement a new regulation?

No.

Leadership has always been about results, that's true. However, what makes leadership so special is the emphasis on character. A leader doesn't just want people to accept certain principles or act in a certain way. He wants them to be a great and noble as they possibly can, and then come to see the world as he does.

Do I want others to accept Christianity? Of course. Do I want to trick or manipulate them into doing so? No. Do I want slavish nincompoops, who have never had an original thought in their lives, to accept Christianity? No. I value God too much to make his worship the subject of propaganda.

Many men and women have led me. Authors, musicians, and the good people I am privileged to count among my family and friends. But a politician? I'm afraid not.

And that's precisely the problem. Our "leaders" are, in fact, our rulers. Is it a coincidence that public discourse is so thin and empty? Is it a coincidence that more and more people are willing to turn over more of their lives to government direction?

We need real leaders, men who seek to cultivate the human spirit and embrace the delightful chaos of decentralized action rather than subject the human person to centralized rule and order; men who can appreciate the beauty of the Shire before rules were posted on every door "for the common good."

And we need them now.