Month: September 2025

This is 30 September, and this morning Secretary Hegseth addressed, in person, about 800 assembled senior U.S. military leaders from all over the world. It was certainly one of, if not THE MOST OUTSTANDING, leader presentations ever. Recommendation, don’t read it, watch it on U-Tube to get the full effect.

If asked to summarize the thrust in a couple words, I would say it was about standards for war fighting and the totality of the culture that can make it happen.

ABOUT “STANDARDS” IN GENERAL (what Pete did not tell you)

“An organization without standards is a failed organization.” Unfortunately, the best and most visible example of this today is the U.S. Congress. And we the people know this because in every type of poll taken about organizations, our Congress is always dead last.

The U.S. military had lost its way in the 1970’s. In the mid 1980’s a small group of general officers in key positions in the U.S. Army decided it must get fixed. First was a herculean effort to identify the applicable war-fighting TASKS for every MOS, military occupational specialty (infantryman, artilleryman, medic, intelligence, aviation etc. etc. etc.).  And do it for each grade; junior enlisted, a brand-new sergeant, mid-level sergeants, senior sergeants and all officer grades. It was volumes. 

Then they had to identify different CONDITIONS if it impacted the task.  The simplest example is a particular task would be significantly impacted in daytime vs night and have a standard for each.

Having all that information on hand, they then set about to establish a STANDARD for each task under an identified condition. We, the U.S. Army, changed everything about how to train and lead by 1990 (the example Pete used) we were without a doubt the most highly trained fighting force in the world.  Pete also mentioned The First Gulf War 1992 as a perfect example of what a force that highly trained can accomplish in a very short time.

“TASKS-CONDITIONS-STANDARDS” became the Holy Grail for building an unmatched war-fighting machine.

MORE ON STANDARDS

An organization without standards is a failed organization”; we got that. But take that a step further, “an organization that has compromised its standards is also a failed organization.” That is where we are today and Pete does a perfect job of laying all that out and how to fix it.

CONCLUSION: every American should watch his presentation; breath-taking.

PRESIDENT TRUMP ATTENDED AND MADE TWO MISTAKES

The first mistake was the president arrived by helicopter about the time Pete finished his presentation. President Trump should have been watching from stage-left the entire time.

Second mistake, no one, including the president, could successfully follow a presentation like that one with a second speech. The best follow-on would have been for the president to walk on stage just as Pete finished.  Everyone would have stood at attention. The president would say, “take your seats, I have three questions for each of you.

“One, did you, not collectively, did you personally understand everything your leader just told you? 

“Two, are you capable of accomplishing everything he wants you to do?’

“And three, are you personally committed to doing it?”

“If the answer to any of these three questions is NO, I want you to retire immediately.”

“There is nothing I have to add to Pete’s fabulous presentation, just know that I have faith in all of you and I have your back. Get out there and make it happen; be all you can be.”

BOTTOM LINE

It’s worth your time to watch it!

ABOUT CULTURE

Culture is a powerful and pervasive force in any organization. An “organization” can be a small team of two or three individuals or it could be the entire United States of America.  

We know that every individual has a definable personality; bubbly, solemn, introverted, optimistic, the list is long.  Culture is like the personality of an organization; caring, harsh, entrepreneurial, bureaucratic; again, a long list.

Any organization can define a culture they want and work to make it a reality. Or they can avoid the issue completely and just let it develop on its own, for better or worse.

In the 1990s a new culture in America began to emerge.  It started with a new meaning for the word “spin”. When a potentially negative issue emerged, the Clinton White House would “spin” the issue to make it look as though someone else was to blame. The blame game took root, grew and migrated to the U.S. Congress and transformed it into today’s blame everything, dysfunctional, grid locked, hate-mongering organization.  And then it spread across the country. Today we have an engrained culture of blame. 

As if blame is not bad enough, it has now doubled down with the logical addition of hate.

Hate: “to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest.”  But that definition is no longer sufficient as it applies to the culture of America today.  The hate factor is going way beyond “extreme aversion” and is trending toward desire for or at least acceptance of political violence.

HOW AMERICANS FEEL ABOUT POLITICAL VIOLENCE.

Following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, polling organizations have been busy collecting data to define how Americans feel about political violence. Some finding by a number of polling organization over the past few days:

• 57% of Americans believe political violence is a major problem.

• 29% believe it is a minor problem.

• 78% believe political violence has been increasing. When polled in June 2023 the figure was 58%. In the first six months of 2025 the U.S. experienced about 150 politically motivated attacks, nearly twice as many as over the same period in 2024.

• 63% said the way Americans talk about political issues does “a lot” to encourage violence. 79% see declining tolerance.

• A survey by YouGov following the death of Charlie Kirk found these disturbing statistics. A solid 34%, identified as very or somewhat liberal said the death of a political figure they disagree with is “always or usually acceptable.”  Add to that another 42% of the very liberal or those simply identifying as liberal believe violence can be “somewhat justified.” That is an astounding 76% of liberals believe political violence is “always or usually or somewhat justified.” Compare those numbers with 9% of conservatives who have the same beliefs.

WHY HAS HATE TAKEN CENTER STAGE IN OUR NATION TODAY?

We are in the process of defining the depth and breadth of the hate in our country today. That journey inevitably takes us to a consideration of the role of goodness in America today. 

This is not a new issue.  In 1831 Alexis de Tocqueville, a 19th century French diplomat, political scientist, and historian, came to America to see for himself what this new country called America was all about. He is best known for his two-volume work “Democracy in America”, published in 1835 and 1840, in which he offered his observations on American politics, society, and culture gleaned from his travels across the U.S. in 1831-32. Widely attributed to de Tocqueville is the following:

“Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness, did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”

Polling results tell us that 71% of Americans agree that, “American society is broken.” Civil discourse, agreeing to disagree and the golden rule are becoming a thing of the past.

CAN WE RESTORE GOODNESS IN AMERICA?

The short answer is maybe.  But to do so we have to first define the problem.

Babies are not born with hatred in their little hearts. They know nothing of the concept of disrespect and bigotry. But they will learn hatred, bullying, the use of vindictive language and disregard for civil discourse at home, in school, by observing our politicians and from the media. A culture of hate is already on track to become a generational problem, just like a culture of segregation was for 100 years.  

Can we institutionalize a solution?  Yes, it can happen by patiently and deliberately preventing our young people from learning hatred and disrespect by teaching them something different.  This can be done with a daily dose of character training.

Sometimes I find it instructive to look at issues by putting them on a spectrum of behavior; that is, look at the polar opposites.  Good/evil. Selfless/self-serving. Accountability/blame. Then there is today’s issue with hate on one end of the spectrum and on the other end is accountability, trust and respect. We simply have to get on the correct side of the hate spectrum.

Will a fix for this enormous problem come out of the Congress?  Impossible, simply because they are a huge part of the problem and are unable to change.

Can a fix come out of the White House?  Yes, and when presented the hate-mongers in the Democrat leadership will immediately label it fascist and racist, then it will be picked up by mass media and falsely editorialized just as they have done with the majority of positive initiatives President Trump has initiated.

IS THERE A VIABLE CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS TO ACCOMPLISH THIS?

Yes, it has been presented on Rip McIntosh’s website in various forms over the past few years.

WE MUST ACCEPT THAT THERE IS NO QUICK FIX TO A NATIONAL CULTURE CRISIS.

We need to become comfortable thinking in terms of a generation to institutionalize change and get where we all have the opportunity to be all we can be/should be every day. 

Today, hate and blame are broad-based and deeply ingrained in adults throughout our society.  There is no way to fix them. The solution will only come if we change what our youngsters learn, how they think, what they believe in and how they behave and institutional change from the bottom up. 

The good news is this concept of operations does not need federal or state masses of bureaucrats with their reems of regulations and the equally good news is, it is free. 

CAMPAIGN HOME ROOM PROVIDES A WAY FORWARD

 First, who will be involved in some way in this campaign?

• 130,000 K-12 public and private schools
• 50 million K-12 students
• 180 million adults with a school-age child
• 4.5 million teachers
• 2 million Home Room volunteers, (more on that in a moment)
• Over 200,000 Superintendents, Principles and Education Board members

That’s over 80% of adults in America involved in some way with this campaign.

The plan is for 50 million kids to be in a Home Room class at 0800 every school day for about 20 minutes with a volunteer instructor. They will discuss values and character.

More good news, President Trump campaigned on fixing education in America. 

The very bad news is that the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as “the nation’s report card,” reported their national 2024 survey findings for 4^th, 8^th and 12^th grades. The results in all grades, all subjects are pathetically low. One example here to make the point; “only 22% of our high school graduates today are proficient in math.”  Stated another way, “78% are not proficient.” Some findings in other subjects are even worse.

The important point is that Campaign Home Room a twofer; transform the nation’s culture and fix education all in one simple, no-cost program.

WHAT DOES CAMPAIGN HOME ROOM CONSIST OF?

• At 8 a.m. on every school day, in every school in America, every student will be in a classroom with a volunteer instructor for character development.

• The curriculum is: ACCOUNTABILITY, CITIZENSHIP, COMMITMENT, COMPASSION, COURAGE OF CONVICTIONS, COURTESY, CONFIDENCE, HEALTHY HABITS, HONESTY, HONOR, HUMILITY, INTEGRITY, JUDGMENT, LEADERSHIP, MORALITY, PERSEVERANCE, PUNCTUALITY, RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY, SELF-RESPECT, SELFLESS SERVICE, SPORTSMANSHIP AND TRUST.

• There will be three versions of the curriculum; elementary K-5, middle school 6-8 and high school 9-12. 

• Each class will consist of a mix of race and gender students. That group will remain unchanged (except for departing and new students) for every school year. This is part of the power of the Homeroom concept of operations.

• Over the years, each student will develop deep feelings and respect for their Home Room mates.  Over time Home Rooms will have names, mascots, tee-shirts, a website, competition with other Home Rooms, an unshakable identity, peer pressure and peer support.  “I have your back” will become an unspoken pledge from each to all. That group of about 20 students, will become their “gang.”

• Bullying has always been a problem for youngsters and seemingly more so today with the availability of social media.  Home Room will bring bullying to its knees. One of the most powerful subjects in the Home Room Character Curriculum is respect. By their very nature, bullies do not respect others or authority.   With respect imprinted on the soul of every youngster and emphasized day after day, year after year throughout their student careers, it is doubtful that bullying will even be a mentionable problem in the future

• Out of this will come an overpowering culture of ACCOUNTABILITY, RESPECT AND TRUST.

• Truancy is an enormous problem in this country and is the super highway to dropping out of school. An estimated 725,000 students in the United States discontinue their high school education each year; that is over 4000 each school day. Over 80% of prison inmates are high school dropouts. With the bond built among a group of Home Room kids over the years it will not be easy to bring one’s self to skip school or drop out. Accountability will become a powerful way of life for every student. 

• All of the information and impressions from Home Room will link right into the days’ classroom work.

• Just imagine the impact Campaign Home Room can have with 50 million youngsters standing with their hand over their heart reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and then participating in a substantive discussion about one of the subjects in the Character Curriculum every school day and then adjourning to their class rooms to live/be/do/demonstrate those values.  What could be more powerful?

•  Home Room will be a game changer and there is no cost.

WHO ARE THE HOME ROOM VOLUNTEERS?

The essence of Campaign Home Room is decentralized execution.  Each individual school Principal will be responsible for finding a handful of volunteers and that should not be a problem.  For example, there are about 70 million Baby Boomers retiring at a rate of about 10,000 per day and many are looking for something interesting, meaningful, and challenging to do in retirement. 

Tap in to local organizations and churches for help: Kiwanis, Lions Club, Chamber of Commerce, VFW, American Legion, AARP, Shriners, Country Clubs, etc.  Get them to sponsor an entire school and provide all the Home Room instructors.  Easy to do and retirees bring a wealth of knowledge and experience for the mentoring of youngsters. 

Additionally, there are almost two million retired military men and women across the country.  They all have three things in common: they are proven leaders, they are teachers and they have spent their professional lives in a fully integrated and value-based organization in which they operated daily immersed in a culture of ACCOUNTABILITY, TRUST AND RESPECT.  They have the perfect skill set to administer the Home Room Character Curriculum. 

True story. A few years ago, I was invited by the paster of a large church in my community to speak at the Wednesday church supper gathering of about 75 folks. I presented a twenty-minute presentation about the concept of Campaign Home Room and 10 minutes of Q and A.  About a week later the paster called to thank me. He also reported that there was a lot of positive talk around the church about Home Room. He told me that if I could get Campaign Home Room started in our local school system, he already lined up about 300 volunteer instructors from the church. Yes, communities with step forward.

WHAT TO DO NOW?

President Trump should assemble all of the Governors to explain in detail the concept of operations for Campaign Home Room.  He should point out that there will no need at the federal or state levels for bureaucrat oversight, for regulations or for funding. Every Governor should introduce the program and from there it can be completely implemented by a decision from local School Boards or by an individual Superintendent or by an individual school Principal.  At whatever level this program is activated, it can be successful, it will make a positive difference and it will be transformative for the communities involved. 

Youngsters who are committed to youth organizations such as Scouting, First Tee, Boys and Girls Clubs avoid joining gangs or becoming bigoted because they have developed a positive value base.  They have learned accountability; they trust each other and respect authority.  But these great programs only touch a fraction of the kids.  We have to teach values to every youngster in the United States for generations to come.

 DOES CHARACTER EDUCATION REALLY WORK AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

Usually with a new unproven concept, the nay-sayers can overwhelm all the positive projections. We are fortunate to have proof of concept today with 28 years of data to back up its success.  

The First Tee is a national non-profit organization devoted to teaching their “Nine Core Values” (respect, honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy and judgment) plus Nine Healthy Habits and introduction to the game of golf.

First Tee mission is, “to impact the lives of young people by providing educational programs that build character, instill life-enhancing values and promote healthy choices through the game of golf.”

The desire to understand how character training impacts young people prompted The First Tee to sanction a study by an outside group of highly qualified researchers.  It began in 2003 with a snapshot look at the program with the following results:

• Communications skills…..74% positive, 24% no change, 2% negative
• Confidence.……………………76% positive, 22% no change, 2% negative
• Responsibility…………………74% positive, 24% no change, 2% negative
• School grades………….….….52% positive, 44% no change, 4% negative
• Social skills………………………66% positive, 30% no change, 4% negative

With these impressive results First Tee then sanctioned a four-year study, 2005-2008 with the following findings:

• 73% of The First Tee participants were retained in the program from year one to year four of the research.  This retention rate is impressive given the average dropout rate per year is about 50% in other youth organizations. 
• Year one:  Character training impacts the lives of students quickly.  During year one the participants declared there was a positive life skill transfer to school work (100%), a job (35%), friends (60%), activities (30%), family (85%) and sports (70%). 
• Year two:  First Tee participants were compared to youth in after-school activities without a life skills curriculum. The First Tee youth scored higher than the comparison group on use of general life skills including goal-setting, taking initiative and managing their emotions, as well as on most measures of transferring life skills and demonstrating positive character traits. These differences between First Tee youth and the comparison group were statistically significant.
• Year three:  73% reported high confidence in their ability to do well academically.
• Year four:  In each of the four years of the study, 100% of First Tee participants identified school as a setting in which the character training transferred positively.

The best feedback I can report to you is what has been relayed to me in conversations with teachers while working with First Tee national staff as well as with a local chapter.  While every teacher was initially skeptical about using 20 minutes of valuable school time each day, every teacher reported that to their surprise and delight within just a few weeks their students changed; became more attentive, more polite, more cooperative and more accountable.  Music to my ears.

At some point, perhaps in the sixth grade, a Home Room student will suggest to her mates that they challenge the other Home Rooms to a grade-point-average competition.  At that point that school just reached the Promised Land. 

This nation does not need a pilot program to test character training; we just need to execute.

MAXIMUM CENTRALIZED PLANNING, MAXIMUM DECENTRALIZED EXECUTION IS A PROVEN CONCEPT FOR MOST ORGANIZATIONS

Fortunately for Campaign Home Room the centralized planning does not consist of thousands of federal and state bureaucrats; there should be zero. The “centralized” planning can be limited to the promotion of  the concept by the most senior leaders in the nation, the President and 50 state Governors.

Maximum decentralized execution is from the County/City Board of Education Chairperson on down through the Superintendent to the school Principals.  There is no requirement for thick pamphlets dictating rules, regulations and reporting requirements; this concept of operations is the basic plan. 

With decentralized execution of Campaign Home Room, the local county/city populace will soon come to understand that the accountable officers, the Superintendent and the School Principals, are right there in their community and are not some nameless, faceless bureaucrat in Washington DC or at the state capitol.

THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF PLANNING PROCESSES, DELIBERATE AND CRISIS.

Deliberate: we would take a couple years turning over every rock working our way through phases one through five.  Time would be on our side. We could begin with character training in every kindergarten. The following year Home Room with the first grade and the new kindergarten.  Continue on adding at kindergarten each year until, after 12 years, every school in the country is conducting daily Home Room character training K-12. 

But we are a nation in crisis.  Crisis demands action. By the beginning of next school semester. By next month. Or by next week. Yes, it can be that doable, that necessary.

Note to County/City Boards of Education, Superintendents across this nation and School Principles, don’t debate it, don’t study it, just do it, do it now, let it grow, innovate as you go.  Be the example, give every kid under your responsibility the opportunity to be all they can/should be going forward. Be brave, believe in yourselves and your organization.

Attack the crisis. Be so confident in your capabilities that you can stand up, all at once, Home Room in every grade on day one K-12.  Yes, the 12^th graders will only get

Fact: Change can be difficult. Change can be scary and sometimes even dangerous.  But sometimes change is so necessary leaders will willfully step of into the unknown because the crisis demands it. Build it and be proud of your accomplishments. If you are afraid to go where your school has never gone before, believe in your leadership abilities, believe in yourself and be proud as you rise above the fear.

HOW WILL WE KNOW IT IS WORKING?

We will begin to see “it”; more importantly we will begin to feel “it.” (Character Curriculum is in bold)

• Accountable students do not resort to blame.

• Students who are steeped in commitment, confidence, perseverance, punctuality and responsibilitydo not skip school, fall behind or drop out.

• Students who are deeply rooted in trust and respect will strike down bullying and are unlikely to become racially bigoted adults.  And they will believe the famous words of Martin Luther King, “……they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” 

• Students who are compassionate, courteous, honorable, good citizens and demonstrate the courage of their convictions do not join violent street gangs.

• Students who have accepted honesty, morality and integrity as their guiding light will likely be life-long upstanding citizens.

• Students who understand, live and accept a life of selfless service are unlikely to become self-serving adults.

• Students who have an understanding that there is a lot they don’t yet know and even part of what they believe they know might be incorrect, have the quality of humility. 
  
  
• Students who understand self-respect recognize that they are now better than they used to be and can be counted on in times of temptation because they are morally strong and dependable. 

• With this value base, students across the nation are more likely to exercise good judgment and become great leaders.

Home Room will make every youngster a better student and a better person. Keeping up becomes important, dropping out becomes unthinkable.

CONCLUSIONS

WE CAN FIX THREE THINGS ON A NATIONAL SCALE ALL AT ONCE

• Vastly increase proficiency levels in all grades, all subjects.
• Vastly improve race relations everywhere in America.
• Institutionalize a culture (ACCOUNTABILITY, RESPECT AND TRUST) that will transform America and make it great again by first making it good again.

“We the people”, those first three important words of the U.S. Constitution, we the people have to start over.   We have to begin with the kids; little kids. And “we the people” have to work it hard for a generation.  If goodness, and hence greatness, is to be regained for this country, it will be accomplished one youngster at a time through character education in our schools.

The “have” parents will begin to use the word, “transformational” when describing their kids’ educational environment. The “have not” parents will begin to ask, “why don’t our schools have character education?”  And when they do begin to ask the hard questions, they will not be addressing some nameless bureaucrat in Washington, they will look to the Principal, the Superintendent, the Education Board members or the Governor they voted for. Social media can move character education through the nation’s conscience like a raging wild fire. 

This campaign isn’t just about political violence or antisemitism or anti-ICE operations or multi-arrest violent criminals walking our streets Those are just individual manifestations of the greater, deep-seated, rapidly spreading, nation-wide culture of hate and blame.  Deciding on and initiating a lasting transformational solution NOW is of critical importance. We have a crisis and doing nothing is a huge mistake that we will live to regret if we survive as a nation.

BOTTOM LINE

This is still the land of the free, make your school the home of the brave.

Campaign Home Room can become a Turning Point for our nation.

We can create millions of Charlie Kirks. Dedicate this campaign to Charlie Kirk

If you have a better idea, let’s hear it before it is too late for our once-great nation.