Old News

Just love this image from Rolling Stone Magazine... So glad they are not in charge! Yippee! I realize that it is like um... wrong to celebrate this way, but I haven't been so amused by a polical cartoon since Maxim published Dave Itskoff's "Curious GWB." And that one will make me smile every. single. time.

It occurred to me that as I hadn't posted since the election, I might have given the mistaken impression that I was holed up in a corner licking my wounds after a defeat.

Not so dear readers!

I celebrate that we have elected folks who we can be proud of. Hope isn't just a buzz word, I feel it will be a way of life for this administration.

In the same way that the President-Elect did not make race a part of the campaign, I will note that for me it was never an issue either. I do my best to see that it never is, except of course when we are valuing differences. But I will give a nod to those to whom this was a serious bridge to cross and I am thankful that they did. With hope (there's that word again) it will help to heal a divide I see growing but just cannot fully understand.

I look forward to the civil and human rights that have been given away thoughtlessly over the past eight years being returned. "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." It is unclear who said this first, but if it was good enough for Franklin and Jefferson to quote, it's good enough for me.

I am optimistic that the rest of the world will recognize that as a people we are worthy of their respect, and our actions will be those that can be looked up to once again. It is horrifying that we are no longer the go to model for human rights.

I wish that in time, with the successes of the future, more people will recognize that it does not diminish their life to let others live and love in a different way.

Let us focus sincerely on the education and support of our youth. It is not a cliché that they are our future. Seriously. They are. Rather than refusing to provide them with funding, get involved in helping decide how the money is spent. Mostly I think that means School Board.

I hope that we will remember that life is one of the choices and allow a woman to make decisions which are in her own best interest and the interest of her family with the safe and free guidance of her doctor.

And can we please remember that every single one of us came here from somewhere else (even the Native Americans had to cross the Bering Straight at one point!) and stop pretending that getting here under the wire doesn't mean you are better than those trying to get in since 1952. Let's just repeal the whole damn thing and start over. It clearly hasn't worked very well. And also, may we please stop equating immigration control with protection from terrorism? Their Venn diagram has a very narrow overlay. (Thank you grade school math teacher if you understood that sentence. Education again.) Let us be a land once again that will say

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

I will find a way to participate in facilitating the change which must come. I challenge you to do the same. It is easy to say, "We put you in, now don't screw it up." But far harder to pledge your own time and energy to ensure success.

Here's hoping!