Every once in a while, America has to be like Steve McQueen in that scene from the 1973 film Papillon, where he sticks his head through his prison bars and asks, "How do I look?"

Anyone who's awake knows that America "ain't looking too pretty" these days.  Take for example the Declaration of Independence's quintessential phrase, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."  What does that look like to citizens today?  For a great number of people, that phrase most certainly means something very, very different from what it meant to the patriots at the time it was originally penned.

So, how does the way we think about this phrase reveal how we see ourselves and, ultimately, whom we will choose to represent us?

Since America is the land of "We the People," it is certainly all about who we are.  What do we "look like"?  How do we think and reason?  Who are we at the very core of our being?

Ultimately, a democratic people living in a republic truly ends up getting the government it deserves -- a government that matches its ideals.

What follows are three truisms which can be helpful in dealing with the national mindset:

1. If you change the common denominator, you change the result.

We all know the adage, "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."  The "fix," then, is to do things differently.  A person wishing to overcome problems, or even problem people, in his or her life needs to change himself and his own attitudes.  We are the common denominator in our own lives.  If we change, then everything "above the line" (the numerator in math terms) must change as a result.

People planning on voting once again for Obama expecting different results for America -- e.g., more jobs, economic growth, racial unity, among other things -- are, sadly, "politically insane."  The common denominator must change in order to even begin to see different and hopefully better results.

2. Life works more like a Rube Goldberg contraption than a row of falling dominoes.

Many believe that their actions work like dominoes.  You topple the first domino, and all the rest fall in order.  What actually happens many times, however, is that the actions we take, the way we live life, really affect future results more in line with a Rube Goldberg contraption.  Instead of things falling domino-style in precise order -- A into B into C into D, et cetera -- life is more like A hitting G falling onto C popping up H accelerating M...all the way to Z.  We start the ball rolling, so to speak, and through many unseen and even quirky circumstances, incredible results materialize.

The important thing here is that we don't always see the flow of our labors.  Nor do we always know the part we play in the lives of others.  We could be huge or very small.  And our very small role may be crucial to keep the machine on track.  The most important thing is to set out making "A" noble and true, so that we may eventually find ourselves at "Z" through (dare I say) "miraculous" ways.

Setting America on the right course means staying true to the fundamental principles of the Founding Fathers.  Expecting a domino effect may leave us disappointed.  But through a force "behind the scenes," we may someday (and, hopefully, soon) see a glorious end result: the Constitution re-established as the law and inspiration of the land.

3. If "truth is relative," it follows that it is also changeable.

People on the left believe that they know what is true and right and good -- even if what's true-right-good over time does a complete one-eighty.

Progressives like to play fast and loose with the truth, so what ends up happening many times is that they find themselves supporting the exact opposite idea from what they championed decades previously.

Consider the evolution of marriage in the eyes of the left.  In the late '60s, it was all about "free love" instead of marriage, because marriage was a form of male domination imposed by a patriarchal society.  Weddings put women in shackles.  Society was told to loosen the chains on women, and everyone was encouraged to live together, as opposed to being "joined in unholy wedlock."

Today, marriage is so wonderful that everyone must be allowed to get married.  Civil unions for gays?  Not good enough.

In the realm of racial harmony, Dr. Martin Luther King urged us to base our opinions of people on "the content of their character."  With the election of 2008, that concept was tossed out the window.  It was "color of skin" that mattered.  People declared with pride that they were going to "make history by voting for the first African-American president."

Why, even the church has thrown in with more and more liberal "truth" as each year blows off the calendar.  What used to be "Jesus is the answer" has been replaced with "Who really knows what Truth is?"  And this particular "relevancy" shift is potentially the most dangerous twist in the "look" of America today.

The foundational truths of our individual lives, as well as the life of a nation, determine where we are headed.

So, just how will we answer the "How do I look" question of America come November 6?