For any chief of a government program, getting the title "czar" can be the kiss of death. Utah's short-lived position of "porn czar" could be Exhibit A.

But Wade F. Horn, assistant secretary for children and families in the Department of Health and Human Services, is making the most of his label "the chastity czar." He's not only applying Nancy Reagan's famous "just say no" drug phrase to sexual abstinence, he is determined to show that chastity is not a physical state. It is a state of mind. He stands firmly against the notion that "once the ice cream thaws, you can never re-freeze it." He wants to resurrect old virtues.

He is — in his own words — "passionate" about abstinence.

And we wish him well.

At age 50, Horn is young enough to still feel some zeal for public service. At the same time, he has experience from heading up the Head Start program. He has yet to have the cider squeezed out of him by the nation's bureaucratic machinery. He is enthusiastic. "The only thing unstoppable," he says, "is time."

When asked to name a villain in America's war against promiscuity, Horn singles out Hollywood, calling it irresponsible. And he's ready to pick a fight with Tinsel Town. And with Congress again taking up a plan to pump $168 million into abstinence-only programs, Horn will have a lot of fire-power in his fight.

Such vigor is refreshing, especially in a government official. And it may be what it takes to get the message of self-control across to the nation's kids.

Education, he says, is the key. And as a trained child psychologist, he knows it's important to deliver a message that is simple, direct and focussed. He is critical of sex education programs that include information about condoms and other forms of contraception, claiming they send a mixed message.

His "can do" style also leads him to believe that he can actually make sexual abstinence "cool" again.

Not everybody is on board, of course. Some, such as Rep. Henry Waxman of California, feel Horn is too sunny by half. But we say, don't rain on the man's parade.

It's so surprising to hear someone talk about personal virtue as achievable, we say give him his lead. If, as Waxman cautions, Horn's dreams don't completely take flight, at least he dares to dream.

And who is to say?

Horn's enthusiasm just may ignite America's youths and help them see they have alternatives they themselves didn't dream about.