Quick! Point north. Every time I fly into an unfamiliar city I ask the taxi driver “which way is north?” Ranch experiences have taught me sooner or later your pickup will breakdown or get stuck, and you will have to walk, so it is always a good idea to know which way is home. Please keep this a secret, but I must confess one experience where my magnificently balanced internal compass miserably failed me.

It was November of 1993 and I was elk hunting with several buddies near Gardiner, Montana. Just before dark we spotted three massive bulls six miles away in the deep snow of a treeless bowl on the west face of Sheep Mountain. Over dinner, we decided to hit the saddle at three the next morning as this would put us on those elk at first light. Anxious about tomorrow’s almost certain success; we crawled in our sleeping bags early, tossed and turned a couple hours, then got up and started breakfast. Well before three on a moonless night, we saddled our horses and charged up the mountain side through the dark timber.

I broke trail in the knee deep snow for about an hour when our single-file war party crested the first ridge. While letting my pony blow, I looked back at my buddies expecting affirmative nods we were nearing our prize. Without a word, two of them pointed to the right and gave me a quizzical look. I shook my head “no” and spurred my horse to the left. They quietly followed.

Thirty minutes further we broke out of the timber and I expected to see the silhouette of Sheep Mountain dead ahead across the last deep, rugged canyon. Instead, I found myself staring directly at the city lights of Gardiner. “That’s funny,’ I thought to myself. “Gardiner was down by the river last night. I wonder why they moved it up here.”

No one said a word when they rode up along side me as I sat staring in disbelief. It wasn’t that my friends cared about my self-esteem; they were quiet because they knew they could abuse me unmercifully later in camp. Facing the reality of my mistake, I turned and rode back in the direction from which we came; that began the most confusing two hours of my life. Sheep Mountain was once again straight ahead but east and west had suddenly swapped left and right. My internal compass was hopelessly discombobulated and it wasn’t realigned until the break of dawn on the east horizon.

I never thought this would happen to me and here is my point. If you ever make such a glaring mistake are you humble enough to recognize it and turn around or will you charge forward denying the reality of things like street lights? Think about it. An error of equal magnitude is happening in Washington DC as well as in every state capitol in our republic, yet elected officials insist on continuing forward. (They call it being progressive.)

On January 28th Congress raised our national debt ceiling to $14 trillion dollars. Three days later, President Obama released his record 2010 $3.8 trillion dollar budget. (Relax; it is not all real money because $1.27 trillion dollars is deficit spending so it doesn’t actually exist…our grandkids get to pay for it.) This will put our national debt on target to hit $20 trillion by 2020. We are broke! Figuratively we are sitting in the saddle facing the city lights of Gardiner with Sheep Mountain directly behind us debating which way to ride. So what do our elected representatives think? After the budget was released Monday afternoon Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) stood tall in his saddle and proclaimed, “We’ve got to spend our way out of this recession, and I think most economists know that.” Damn the deficit; full speed ahead!

Every patriot realizes we are riding the wrong way and it is time for a fundamental change. Either the progressives are too ignorant to recognize this or they think we little people are too stupid to know the difference. Just like Sheep Mountain in my story, freedom is behind us; it is time to turn around and ride in an entirely different direction. Be alert because the Whitehouse is offering the compromise of Obamacare-Lite and yet another “jobs bill” stimulus plan. If moderate Republicans reach across the aisle and agree to alter course just a few degrees to the left or right, we still end up in Gardiner. Progressives and moderate Republicans must be knocked from their horses and left afoot in the forest. Socialism has bankrupted our republic; freedom is the answer. We must turn around…now!