my father just sent me some of his right wing crap that this time deals with cindy sheehan. it seems that the right wingers have gone on yet another tirade, and are doing what they do best, which is "digging up dirt" on ms.. sheehan. i am supposed to believe that if you research her life and background, this will somehow nullify what she was doing. why, in this country, can't we just accept people with their flaws and faults, and not feel the necessity to always win by tearing down the opposition? whatever became of standing by your own message, and not feel the need to tear down the other person? all of it is just psychological diversion from the real subject. if you aren't comfortable with the truth of the subject, you immediately divert with something completely not related. whatever kind of person cindy sheehan may or may not have been in the past has nothing to do with the present. in the present she is this: a mother who lost her son in a senseless war she is someone who wants the president to get out of his ivory tower and see the real human results of this war. she is a grieving parent. she is a citizen. she is a middle-aged woman. what her personality is like or how her marriages went has nothing to do with anything now.
we are sitting here in virginia in the middle of a governor's battle in which each of the two major party candidates are spending more time insulting each other than they are discussing the issues. the only one addressing the issues is the independent candidate. may other people besides me be disgusted with the political "business is usual" attitude and vote for the guy who looks on the surface as if he doesn't have a chance. he will have a chance if enough people start looking a little closer and cast their votes because they believe in the person, not in the probabilities. i am really tired of hearing "it's a wasted vote" as the reason why people don't vote with their hearts and minds. as long as we follow this defeatist course, no change is ever going to be made for the good. it doesn't take a brain surgeon to see that we are on a downward spiral in this country, and we need some positive changes. we need some positive people, not rich egomaniacs who use the position to satisfy some sort of personal ego need. a poor person has no chance to be elected these days because of the money and graft involved. so we are left with the same old same old over and over again. what poor choices we had in this last presidential election, and the one before it. it is sad when you don't want to vote, or you end up voting for the "lesser of 2 evils."
change happens when people take a stand. it is time to take a stand. it isn't all about me getting what i want. it is about looking at our collective society, and putting hard work and elbow grease to work to make change. it isn't just about writing a check to the red cross and feeling self-satisfied because you have helped. it is more about doing something that takes a little sacrifice, something that disrupts the routine and makes you sit up and notice. it is making the choice to make care boxes for people in the gulf coast area and collecting and delivering them to someone who needs it. it is opening up your homes or volunteering to work in a shelter, instead of assuming that someone else is doing the work.
we are a fat, bloated, closeminded, selfish society. we just had a dose of reality this past week. may the good that comes out of it be the sudden realization that we are NOT SAFE in our cushioned little worlds. may we learn that it isn't all about money and material things, although watching the tv and seeing the victims, it is really hard not to think that the socioeconomic setup in this country allowed those who could afford to to escape from new orleans and the other areas. those who could, went. those who couldn't, stayed. and stayed. and stayed. and died in some cases.
as a nation, we need to take a hard look at what we really are and what we really want to be. to make the right choices is going to involve sacrifice in time and work. to make the right choices is going to involve being able to stand up against the tide and continue to stand, no matter how much you are battered, both mentally and physically. it is going to involve digging deep, and touching the courage and truth that we all have, but have somehow lost or ignored. we have to be aware, and sensitive. to do that involves getting out of our comfort zones. let's hope we can do it.
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