I share Crunchy Con’s slight nausea over this video, and especially the line “I pledge to be a servant to our president and all mankind.” This is now tied with American Prayer for most insufferable Obama video.As for their pledges to help the world through volunteering, I remain a steadfast curmudgeon on this issue. I mean, I’m not anti-volunteerism, and hats off to them for organizing so many people on MLK day. And better that Demi work on ending slavery than, say, a new line of exercise workout clothes. Seriously.But let’s remember that when George H. W. Bush pledged to transform America through “a thousand points of light,” the left mocked him for his naivete. The Obama folks definitely have cooler graphics and a better website, making their approach Points of Light 2.0. I don’t mean to sound dismissive; tapping into the functionality and energy of social networks to promote citizien action and volunteerism may prove to be an important development.But I remain convinced today, as I did then, that encouraging volunteerism without dramatically increasing the opportunity for full-time service is not going to change the world. You need full-time service to achieve better results, and to help harness those unpaid volunteers.

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