We are One America

The upcoming inauguration has me thinking a lot about the dreams of happiness we have for our own lives and the efforts we make along the way to realizing those dreams.

I also have been thinking about the manner in which we treat others to get where we want to go.

Are our actions guided by love and hope or are they guided by a sense of fear and resented obligation?

I think it has to do with the nagging sense that we, as humans, are about to witness some major changes in our world as we know it. We are living in a moment of history and have means to record our place in that history as a country in ways never possible before.

I can only write about the wonder and awe I feel when I see our new President--a man who inspires people he doesn't even know to want to be better people. Inspires them to be part of their neighborhoods and communities because that's how we are supposed to be.

This is not hero worship as some in the burgeoning wingnutteries would like to believe. Those who cannot see the goodness in Obama are choosing to be blind. Are shirking any responsibility to join together with the rest of America in fixing our limping country. There's a lot of haters out there. And their speeches or rants usually start with blame or an excuse. It's never about taking personal responsibility.

As a (sometimes) reluctant optimist, I often am disappointed by what I see when I take a look out into the world. I see people hating and hurting each other over fear. Fear that comes from ignorance. Fear that comes from self-loathing. Fear that comes from not wanting to change or to be kind because that might somehow take something away from them. Fear that their "deciders" are no longer there to make their decisions for them. Fear that comes from a sense of powerlessness.

I see people trying to put others into neat boxes to keep their sense of order:

• Democrat/Republican
• Liberal/Conservative
• Us/Them
  
• American/Un-American
• Smart/Stupid
• Pro-intellectual/Anti-Intellectual
• Capitalist/Socialist
• Friend/Foe
• Pro-Choice/Pro-Life
• Pro Gun/Pro Gun-Regulation
• Religious/Athiest
• Christian/Non-Christian
• Blue State/Red State
  

Those dichotomies never get us very far. One needs look only to history to see the danger of such binaries and the atrocities committed in the desire to make one side the "right" side.

The more I think on it, the more I realize: there's only one way we will get our collective asses through the reconstruction of America.

Together.

Perhaps instead of focusing on the things that divide us, the things that make us individuals, we should focus instead on the things we ALL share.

We need to reconceive the collective American Dream.

Here's some of my thoughts (and I welcome any responses regardless of agreement or disagreement).

The American Dream is about living life:

• With a sense of purpose
• Free from the fear of oppression
• With the sense of responsibility to your fellow human beings.
• As an example to others of tolerance, kindness, and charity.

The American Dream is about everyone--not just a select few.

I start this inauguration week with a confession and a pledge.

I admit, I was not as vocal or as participatory in my government as I should have been between 2001-2007. In some real sense, the attacks on our country fueled my fear that life was way beyond my control. That I was just one person in a sea of billions who had no power to change anything. So my sense of responsibility atrophied. I focused solely on my own personal dreams.

I lost hope in the bigger picture. I thought that every person was out only for him/herself.

I could never quite fit into that mold, no matter how hard I tried.

I noticed that kindness and compassion were things that were ridiculed. In the class I teach, students have confessed they see kindness as a sign of weakness. To be polite is to be beneath.

Huh?

I hear this type of idea thrown out by the voices of dissent. "Bleeding heart" is spat an insult.

I care about you; each and every one. And that doesn't make me weak, or stupid, or liberal.

It makes me human. Just like you.

And I pledge starting this moment, to live up to the potential that Obama sees in me, in all of us.

It's not about just him. He's one person. But so am I. So are you. And together, we are one America.

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RWFN: They're losing it big time

Apparently, RWFN haven't just lost an election, they are beginning collectively to lose their minds. As you read the following, ask yourself (as I did): Are we witnessing the beginning of domestic terrorist grassroots here? (More like Ass-roots, but I digress-- enjoy).

The following was written by Brandon Friedman: "Distraught Conservatives Retreating into the Realm of Fantasy" Huff Post:

"I'm not a psychologist, but this is really fascinating if you put it all together: It appears that distraught conservative pundits and bloggers are actually in the midst of collectively retreating into the world of fantasy as a psychological defense mechanism. Let's take a look at three recent exhibits that illustrate what I'm talking about.

Exhibit A: The RedState Army Strike Force

Earlier this month, the most prominent conservative blog, RedState.com, began promoting what they've dubbed the RedState Army Strike Force. They've even gone so far as to design a unit crest reminiscent of an actual military insignia:

This Strike Force is apparently code for a political "field organization." And yes, it's funny. But what makes it a little odd are the periodic posts on the website that use an overabundance of military language when referencing normal political field activity. Like this excerpt from a post by founder Erick Erickson called "Soldiers on the Ground:"

In Kentucky we have only 75 members of the RedState Army of Activists. We need a surge in Kentucky -- we need an army of activists who are willing to pick up the phone and metaphorically kick Mitch McConnell in the nuts as situations warrant.

McConnell either works for our side or he works for the Democrats. But the only people he'll really listen to are in Kentucky. Same with other Senators.

So if you haven't signed up and aren't willing to help, stop the bitching. It's time to deploy the troops and fight.

When faced with the reality that they don't have any field infrastructure remotely close to anything progressives have put together in the past two years, it's almost as if these bloggers start... fantasizing. Like kids. What their project doesn't demonstrate, however, is any in-depth knowledge of field organizing or any seeming long-term commitment to the hard work that accompanies the act of successful political organizing. It's as if, rather than facing up to their electoral failures in 2006 and 2008, they'd rather take solace in pretending to be "warriors" locked in "battle" with their Democratic enemies.

But here's where they really start to make the stampeding retreat into fantasy:

Exhibit B: Repeated References to a Fictional TV Character as a Role Model and Source for Torture Policy

Ryan Powers does the honors for ThinkProgress:

The right wing's love affair with Bauer's use of torture is rooted in fantasy. The so-called "ticking time bomb" scenarios that Bauer often finds himself in and that conservatives cite as instances where torture should be allowed rarely, if ever, occur.

Unfortunately, Powers adds:

If right wingers see Bauer as an example of how to prosecute the war on terror, they might be disheartened to learn that even the man that plays Bauer, actor Keifer Sutherland, doesn't see his character's torture techniques as effective in real life. "You torture someone and they'll basically tell you exactly what you want to hear, whether it's true or not, if you put someone in enough pain," Sutherland said last year.

But that's no matter for your average conservative talking head or blogger. To them, Bauer has become a surrogate -- a stand-in -- for the leaders they wish they had. Even a number of my conservative Facebook friends have begun updating their statuses to praise Mr. Bauer. It's catching on. Thus, while liberals and moderates rally around the upcoming inauguration of a real, actual, charismatic leader and role model, conservatives are left to soothe their scared and broken psyches by taking comfort in the efforts and tribulations of a fictional character on a TV program.

Exhibit C: Making a Regular, Blue-Collar Guy into a War Correspondent who Delivers the News They Want to Hear

Whereas most of America sees a largely incoherent plumber from Ohio wandering cluelessly around Israel with a microphone, conservatives are witnessing the reincarnation of Ernie Pyle before their very eyes. Of course, if you've heard the guy open his mouth, you know this is, indeed, fantasy. But it had to be done. When the bad news delivered by the likes of Nic Robertson, Michael Ware, and Christiane Amanpour reached a crescendo for conservatives toward the end of October, they decided to invent their own reporter. In their own minds, they pined for one who wouldn't challenge their long-held beliefs that Arabs are Muslims and Muslims are bad, that Saddam did 9/11, and that there was no way a man named Barack Hussein Obama could ever be elected as President of the United States.

That trailblazing, fearless reporter for truth became Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher -- a man who, as soon as he got there, proclaimed "the media should be abolished from reporting."

I have to say, though, that of all the recent conservative fantasies, the idea of Joe the Plumber as the voice of conservative American media is the least surprising. That's because it is a persistent belief among many on the Right that training is unnecessary, that education is for elitists, and that wishing hard enough for something can supersede those things.

And I'm okay with all this. To me, it's evolution. By retreating so deeply into this fantasy world of strike forces, pro-torture heroes, and swashbuckling, allied journalists, we're witnessing a self-induced thinning of the herd by conservatives. They're actively choosing not to participate in the reality that is present-day America, instead opting to fall back on the comforting, familiar images of handymen and handsome actors on their television sets.

So much the better for the country. We'll tackle real problems head on -- with real solutions starting next Tuesday. And we will progress without them."

This would be funny if it weren't:

A) True

B) Scary

C) True

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