Irreconcilable Differences??

Monday, September 11, 2006

What a heyday for the media...mourners, revelers, pundits and prognositicators...on this 5th anniversary (which some claim to be celebrating), no one is excluded. This day is an equal opportunity anniverary...no perspective is ruled out. I find within myself a cacophony of emotions. Grief, despair and confusion are all mixed up with a sense of hope and optimism. Unfortunately...I also have a sense of trepidation.

My grief is felt in empathy and in sympathy to those who died needlessly and to their families who suffered this virtually unimaginable tragedy. My hope is predicated upon my undying and uncompromising faith in the human spirit. In between are those other emotions which refuse to be quelled...the confusion, the fear and the trepidation. At times I find myself adopting the mindset of the survivalist...things are bound to get better, but they might get far worse in the meantime. We may have a distinctly dark period through which we must traverse, as a nation and as a world, before we can see the light of a new day, a new era.

My fears grow from political and social developments which appear to bode ill winds ahead. Our administration continues to perpetuate its agenda of lies, deception and fear. They appear to be escalating this agenda at every opportunity and one wonders just what they will NOT do in the efforts to realize their goals. I am acutely concerned about their view on dissent, their appeal, on nationalistic and patriotic ground, that criticism of the government will only serve to get Americans killed. My local, morning newspaper echoed the same chorus. Granted...the bipartisanship in this country is excessive and granted, the American public is disenchanted with both parties, but to imply that speaking out against policies which are detrimental to our freedoms is NOT to be discouraged. Our freedoms are predicated upon this right. Many of those who wrote and ratifed our Constitution were adamant with regards to an adversarial press. Some beleived a free press to be MORE important than the executive branch of government!

It is this pejorative view on dissent that emboldens my fears and which gives wing to my trepidation. Are the concepts of a strong America and a free America mutually exclusive? Does the debate between unlimited executive power and Congressional oversight have no common ground? Are the differences between those who would "stay the course" and those who would "alter the course" irreconcilable?

I choose a middle path...strength AND freedom, America AND the rest of the world. We must see past our differences and remove the blinders that render our vision limited. We need not be myopic; rather, we can see unlimited possibilities and work towards a world where terrorism finds no home, where equality and fair trade amongst nations prevails, and where the idea of this world, which no longer lives in remote and separated isolation, can truly become one of peace and prosperity.

trickster108