The motivations for this blog (like the internet needs yet another one) were two: first, we got tired of sending letters to the editor of the Miami Herald (many of which were published), but feeling like we were spitting into the wind. The second was watching Barak's acceptance speech this week and feeling that maybe, just maybe, this county still had time to regain its soul. It's been a tough 8 years, and neither of us would have believed this much damage could be done in so short a time. Guess the founding fathers never envisioned their magnificent system of checks and balances running up against the perfect storm of an executive branch that cared nothing for the constitution, a spineless legislative branch, and a judicial branch that had been co-opted by years of Republican appointments.
This country needs to be motivated again by hope, and not by fear (and before we get any further into this, neither Dawn nor I are officially or unofficially part of Barack's campaign, other than as supporters). We do not need to be living as if the United States of America were under an attack that might actually jeopardize our existence - there is no terrorist flotilla off the shores of New York, no terrorist parachuters ready to drop into Chicago. While the attack on the towers was a horrendous act, no one has or can suggest that it will lead to an occupation of Amercian cities (unless it's by our own National Guard) or threaten our way of life unless we do it to ourselves. As Joe Galloway has said, "They would have us believe that a nation of 300 million people must surrender what a million other Americans gave their lives in war to protect in order to protect us from a couple of hundred fanatics hiding in caves in Waziristan." (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/galloway/story/43123.html) It just seemed like a good time to add some comments to the discussion during what the Chinese might suggest is an "interesting time" - it used to be that when the Chinese wanted to curse someone, they wished for them to live in an "interesting" time. We're there.....the possibility of the first black American president, a woman who may be one heartbeat from the presidency whose main claim to fame is her time served on a city council in the middle of nowhere, a resurgent Russia, a never ending (false) "war on terror", the possibility of never ending (actual) wars in the Middle East and South Asia, the rise of China to what will likely be the dominant world power of the 21st century, the possibility of the earth's climate changing to such a degree that the planet will be fundamentally altered, and the potential establishment of an entrenched American oligarchy of energy companies, pharaceuticals, lobbyists, and ex-politicians (Republican and Democratic).
While it's probably said at some time in every election, this November may in fact be a true turning point when, if the wrong choice is made, the tipping point will be reached and our children will have to live in world we would never wish for them. In the meantime, we're praying for our friends and for those we've never met in South Louisiana as Hurricane Gustave bears down on them. As someone who went through Hurricane Andrew in Florida in 1992, I can only imagine the fear and anguish they're experiencing as they watch that storm approach them. God Bless.
More will be revealed.
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