"Wishing Will Make it So," that optimistic song of the 1930s, does not always work.

If it did, Tom Watson would be a six-time British Open champion, for who among us was not wishing, urging and praying for that putt on the 72nd hole to go in.

It was, after all, a putt which we had all made at times. But, it was also, as we well knew, a putt we'd all missed. Nonetheless, we wished, because this 59-year-old was on the threshold of history, and no one in golf has more class than Tom Watson. But wishing did not make it so, any more than wishing will give us universal health care or prosperity or peace or (you fill in the blanks.)

Nor will rhetoric, either in threats or calm cajoling. Barack Obama is like a favorite uncle, able to douse our fears with soft promises and reassuring words. It seems that every time you turn around, he is in front of the camera and the teleprompters, soothing us.

But suppose that favorite uncle has broken promises in the past and bent the truth and pretended to be an expert on subjects of which he knows little. Will we still nod and give our thanks for his words of wisdom?

Some will.

And they don't want to hear any "slow-down" words of caution. If expert economists point out that some of the president's proposed plans stand a good chance of bankrupting the country, the Obamaites respond with finger-pointing and name-calling and sarcasm, as if such tactics will daze us into submission.

Why? Aren't we all interested in doing what is best for our neighbors and our country? Or is this merely another competition to see who can make the 10-foot putt? But this is not a game; it is our freedom that is at stake, and too many of the "changes" promised are simply nonproductive moves toward total government control that turns us into lock-step serfs.

The most independent people among us are the small-business owners. It is small business that supports America; small business that hires; small business that keeps us going. Small business runs on borrowing: laying out huge sums to put seed in the ground and then waiting months for a harvest.

That is the case not only with the farmer but the retailer, small manufacturer, etc. Despite the need for small business and the rewards we all gain from small business, this administration seems willing to crush the small-time entrepreneur with heavy taxes and penalties and restrictions.

An example: Our federal government has handed out immense bail-out funds to big banks but none to that bulwark of small business loans, CIT. This makes no sense when you realize how important to small business CIT is. Our government is willing to let CIT founder while passing out our tax money to the big boys. What does our government have against small business? Simple. Small business doesn't create enough votes and donations. Big banks and unions do, thereby increasing government control.

From the beginning, we have been a nation of free individuals. The 10th Amendment to our Constitution guarantees that "the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

The people. That is us, and neither Congress nor the president can take that away from us, although they are trying. Let us remind them over and over again that we will not sit still for power-mad narcissists trampling on our Constitution. The best way to remind them is with phone calls and e-mails and letters and, most of all, votes. Wishing will not make it so.

Still, I wish Tom Watson's putt had found the cup. We old geezers like to support each other.

Allan Jefferys, a former New York theater critic and newsman, lives in Pinehurst. Contact him at oldjeff@embarqmail.com.