change

via Daily Kos: State of the Nation.

Petty Grievances
by Hunter
Thu Jan 22, 2009 at 07:30:03 AM PST

Hunter is ranting against the ever-too-cautious middle-of-the-roaders who want to have their cake and eat it, too. Jim Hightower said that the only thing in the middle of the road is yellow lines and dead armadillos.

Hunter:

This is why I have come, in these recent years, to despise these people. There is no abomination on this earth worth an emotional outburst, in their minds — no conflict worth a raised voice. There is only the mushy, cowardly middle, one that never stands for anything too much or critiques anything too loudly. They all stink like fish, they have been praising the status quo for so long and so colorlessly — and yet they fancy themselves intellectuals for it, and even presume themselves courageous for it.

Amen. I am not your flaming lefty loony, or on second thought maybe I am, but Hunter is speaking here for me, for my sense of right from wrong that has been rubbed raw the last twenty some-odd years since Reagan.

I thank him and I want to add that there is really no such thing as “the center” or the “middle”. Everyone has opinions about the issues, on some they are left leaning, some right. Hunters reflections are how I feel.

But the bigger question here is this; can we come together in this new era of Obama on fundamentals like a women’s reproductive choices without being so personally insulted that we cannot reach a compromise?

Can we support the kind of politics that Obama is preaching? If we believe in our hearts on hot-button issues like abortion that we are right, can we swallow some of that anger and reach our hand out to shake the right-wing’s hand in compromise? We say that Bush broke the law by illegally wiretapping and they, the neo-nut-jobs say that what he did was done out of sincere concern for safety and Congress agreed.

They, the right-wing, are on the wrong side of this and many issues but to them, we are the ones on the wrong side and yet we are all proud and patriotic citizens.

Obama spoke of dictators saying:

To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

But that statement applies also to the Bush administration and the Karl Rove philosophy of the continual campaign. Can we reach out to them?

I think that if we took the lead and reached across the isle first, maybe something good might stir up from it. We can still have our deep feelings, and they can still have theirs, but it has become painfully clear that it is necessary for us to move toward each other and to see that we are more alike than we realize. Our President is trying to inspire us to do just that.

And yet at this moment, a moment that will define a generation, it is precisely this spirit [a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves] that must inhabit us all.  For as much as government can do, and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies.  It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours.  It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child that finally decides our fate.

Change has come

So we can rail against the right and even against the middle, but eventually we must realize that there is only two directions for us. We can travel together with those who offer different opinions in order to make this union whole again, or we can continue to be more and more divided.

The President is right. It is not he who brings change to this country. It’s us.