A Day in History

As some of you who have been with me for a while know, this day has been a long time coming. I know lots of you feel that way, too.

I am watching Fox News.

Yes, you read that right. I am watching Fox News.

Why, skyewriter, why? You may be asking yourselves.

Well, the Marine Corps band is playing and EVERY other news channel has pundits and reporters talking OVER the music.

Is anyone else as sick of Chris Matthews as I am?

But, I digress.

I wish I was in DC. I wish I could stand on the same patch of earth where our new president is taking his oath and giving the inaugural address. I wish I could be in a crowd of millions of people all there with the same hope, the same determination, the same swell of positive emotion.

It's a strange kind of feeling today. Excitement, pride, patriotic.

There's only been one other time I can recall feeling THIS American. But I won't mention that day because that was a day of sadness, of fear.

Today is a day to celebrate. A day to remember why we are this country. A day to reset the clocks and begin again.

There have been many great generations that have come before us. But I cannot imagine a more important group of Americans as those who live today--who voted for hope instead of fear. Who voted for peace and not hate. We voted for dignity over tyranny.

The inauguration of Obama is about so much more than just this day. Or the election. It is about giving Americans back a sense of UNITY, purpose, and responsibility to ourselves and ALL others.

Today, America stands and proudly says:

Yes, we did.

Yes, we can.

Yes, we will!

May freedom ring!

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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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What does it mean when we say "America"?

In addition to the blogs I have followed for a while now, I have been reading more good ones lately.

Political Morsels and Other Droppings , A Time for Change, Musings of a Wandering Elf, True Blue Texan, and Willpen's World are great. These fine Americans are talking about the important issues in our culture. Issues where consensus is no easy thing.

It has started me thinking about what it means when we say "America". It's a term loaded with idealism and history and not all of it great.

There are a lot of folks who flung the Un-American-Monkey-Poo at each other this election cycle. Some are still trying it with the ridiculous tripe about Obama's birth certificate.

I recently called the Hawaii Department of Health I got so fed up with all the internet broo-haha; they don't just hand out birth certificates like Halloween candy. The poor fellow I talked to sounded exhausted and although he was very kind, I could tell I wasn't the first person calling with such inquiries (or even the 151,441st, given the tenacity of these kooks).

So, what does "America" mean?

We are THE social experiment that is the culmination of almost 3,000 years of Western history. People seem to think ancient Greece was the cradle of Democracy. To a certain extent, it was. But it had slaves, had a barbaric legal system in some cases (think Plato and hemlock; ideas could get you killed), and there were no rights for the ladies (except for a precious few and even they were sequestered like Vestal Virgins).

If I really stop to think about it, is the America of today so very far removed? We have a class of working poor in this country that have been falling through the cracks for several decades now. If you want a sad quick read about this, Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickle and Dimed is an excellent first-hand report about this huge group of Americans. They may not officially be known as slaves, but they indeed live, work, and die like they are.

As far as the legal system, I still can't figure out who it works for in America. I know there are many good attorneys and judges out there. However, I cannot help but feel sorry for them in a system where they are over-burdened with frivolous law-suits, ethics aren't always black and white, prisons are bursting at the seams, and innocent (and in many cases mentally ill or handicapped) people get put to death.

And women. Well, women in AMERICA are still fighting to keep the basic right to control whether or not they become pregnant or stay pregnant. I wish it were called pregnancy control-- birth control is jumping the gun 9 months way too early.

Perhaps the best thing about America is that it is hard to define-- it means something personal to each of us. Kind of like the religion thing. Or the gender thing. Or the sexual orientation thing. Or the thing we think of as freedom. 'Person'-al being the operative notion here.

I named this blog November Fifth for two reasons. First, November 5th, 2008 was the first day of a post-Bush 43 America. Second, I named it for Guy Fawkes. V for Vendetta is an excellent movie; if you haven't seen it, you should. You can't kill ideas like freedom or justice or hope. They live in the people who fight for them and for every one who falls defending these ideals, three more rise to take their place.

America is wounded; it's broken and yes, I still love it and believe in it.

Like Hemingway said, "The world breaks everyone, and afterwards many are strong at the broken places". As Americans we have entered a time when we begin the work to heal our country. The voices of irrationality will not drown out the voices of reason and civility. America will heal at the broken places, and afterward we will ALL be stronger for it.

Happy New Year; may it be the best one yet for each and every one of us here at home and everywhere on Mother Earth.

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The idiots have landed

So, I wake up slowly like I do most Sunday mornings. I have a cup of coffee (maybe, not much of a coffee drinker) and spend the morning multi-tasking, flipping between Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, Meet the Press (I miss Tim Russert) and Face the Nation while I read the New York Times online and Huffington Post (among others). One recent addition to this morning ritual is reading some blogs that I have come to enjoy thoroughly (see list above).

I'm not going to let the idiots who have hijacked one of my FAVORITE blogs spill onto mine. But, I am pissed (sorry Donna or Dad if you are reading this :).

Here's what I am repeating to myself (and will continue to do so all day today):

I believe in the power and justice of the first Amendment, regardless of how many f**kwits to which it gives voice.

I believe that our country is going to get back on track, regardless of the unrelenting forces, mostly from those whose choice for President didn't get elected who are acting like cornered, wounded, wild animals, that are trying to keep us divided.

I believe that I have seen a new America and it's beautiful again.

That's what I'll be saying to myself all day. Trying to bask in the glow that is post-Bust 43 America.

May we all come together in the spirit of peace, courage, and understanding, even though apparently, the Idiots have landed.

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November VII

There are reasons why the Roman empire fell. Lots of folks know why. It really boils down to this: selfishness and greed.

I think on Tuesday Americans turned away from those options. We all (hopefully) know that just because Obama got elected, that doesn't mean we should expect him to do ALL the hard work. It's going to take patience, fortitude and stick-to-itiveness for us to get through the coming months and years. We are going to need to learn to get along and count on each other. No one gets a pass this time.

When you get impatient with the person at the front of the grocery line who's writing a check or needs the price for something without a bar code, take a deep breath. You've been there and know how it feels to be that person.

When you're driving on the road, try not to get angry with nincompoops who don't know how to drive.

If the end of the month comes and funds are low (or empty) look to who you have in your life, instead of thinking about the things you don't.

My husband and I have been married for just over 5 months now. We are poor graduate students who live uber modestly, but we know we are working toward our goals. More importantly, we know we have it better than some folks right now. We have each other.

Now, I know this reads hokey and cheesy, but we all have to start somewhere, sometime -- even if it's the hundredth time we've started. Keep a good thought. After all, Rome didn't fall in one day-- it wasn't built in one day either.

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