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Our jobs, as citizens, as activists, as human beings, is to work to make America, and possibly the world, a little bit better. That's really what it's all about. We don't have to expect utopia to come out of our efforts. We all know it's unattainable. We don't have to forget all of America's mistakes and missteps, or its many betrayals, but we need to focus on what we can do to fix these things.
In the end, that's what this election is all about. We can argue personalities and perspectives until the cows come home, but the driving issue in our hearts must be "what can we do to improve things?"
I've said it before and I'll continue to say it... The duty of any conscious, aware, and decent human being is to behave towards others as if that is the very foundation of our existence. A relationship with a transcendent deity isn't the point--it's the relationships with other people that matters. Those that forget this tend to get caught up in self-righteousness and boorishness whether they want to or not.
We're not fighting to elect a black president, or a female president, or any other particular president, so much as we're trying to elect a president who will, finally, embody at least a little of the image of what we want America to be. For the past 7 years we've had a swaggering, self-involved bully standing at the helm, and THAT became the embodiment of what America saw itself to be, and how our neighbors saw us.
George W. Bush is a foul little creature, either a puppet of malevolence, or a malevolent force in his own right. Perhaps both. We've had enough of swaggering bullies.
We're fighting for change, but we're fighting for it against people who would gladly adopt that platform even after supporting Bush for the past 7 years. What, precisely, would they like to change? They want to be a different kind of asshole?
Yeah, that's what we need. NOT.
Neither the Obama nor the Clinton camps are doing us any favors right now by hammering away at each other with charges of sexism or racism. First and foremost, we're Americans in the fight together. If we're not, we will definitely lose. It can't be about the people at the top, it has to be about each and every one of us, and about making it better for each and every one of us. And then trying to make it better for those who rely on us as an icon of liberty and justice.
We need to look deep inside ourselves and realize that this is about more than just being right about a candidate, or winning an election. It's about where we go from here. It's about what's really important. The future of all of us.
If we can't see past the smoke and mirrors, we're setting ourselves up for a spectacular failure. And, though we'll try to point fingers wherever we can, we can truly blame no one but ourselves.
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