Years of public opinion polls have shown a growing disconnect between the American people and the nation's political leaders. Rasmussen's conclusion: Americans don't want to be governed from the left, the right or the center. They want to govern themselves. The American desire for - and attachment to - self-governance runs deep. It is one of our nation's cherished core values and an important part of our cultural DNA. And right now, it needs to be saved.

"Self-governance is about far more than politics and government," says Rasmussen. "It requires a lot of the American people, and it has nothing to do with the petty partisan games played by Republicans and Democrats. Unfortunately, even after more than 200 years of success, there is an urgent need to defend this most basic of American values."

Rasmussen dissects the issues brought about by an "unholy alliance" between government and big business. He details the concept of self-governance, how we live it every day through the choices we make at home and in our communities, and how we exhibit it through volunteerism and other things outside the world of politics.

My guest on the first half of the program today will be Scott Rasmussen. Scott is the founder and president of Rasmussen Repors, and independent media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion polling information.

On the second half of the program (1:30pm - 2:00pm) I will speak with Joe Loconte re: his article on WorldMag.com entitled "A Plea from the Past - A call for spiritual strength in 1940 offers a lesson for today's appeasers".

In the article he writes, "It is difficult to read these words and not think of today's religious left and its strident opposition to America's war on radical Islam. Most of their criticisms parrot every half-truth, slander, and mindless slogan from the secular political left. Like the ministers of the 1930s, they obsess over America's shortcomings. They refuse to admit any positive results from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They pretend that Islamic radicalism is a valid political protest movement, a child of U.S. foreign policy, and that it can be mollified through clever diplomacy."