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Edited on Sat Nov-18-06 11:23 PM by NanceGreggs
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Polls …
By Nancy Greggs
A funny thing happened on the way to the polls on November 7th – the majority of American voters, many of whom seemed to have political amnesia for the past few years, got their memories back.
THEY REMEMBERED that wanting our troops brought home from an ill-advised, disastrous, unwinnable war is not a sign of weakness, but a victory of common sense over war-mongering rhetoric.
THEY REMEMBERED that while this president, his administration, and his party have warned them repeatedly about defending against terrorism, their policies have increased that threat.
THEY REMEMBERED that a government that lies a country into war cannot be trusted to tell the truth about the conduct of that war, or its chances for achieving anything of value.
THEY REMEMBERED that individual politicians who are guilty of moral and financial corruption are not likely to be trustworthy as representatives of honest, hard-working people.
THEY REMEMBERED that transparency of government should be the rule, and not the exception.
THEY REMEMBERED that true leadership is a matter of the implementation of sound ideas, and not a well-lit photo-op with the attendant empty slogan displayed in the background.
THEY REMEMBERED that fiscal irresponsibility is not a sign of courageous risk-taking, but a sign of poor judgment.
THEY REMEMBERED that staying the course in any venture, when it results in death and destruction, is not fortitude but mindless stubbornness.
THEY REMEMBERED that the Constitution is the foundation of our democracy, and not something to be disposed of when it obstructs the whims of those temporarily in power.
THEY REMEMBERED that this country’s strength lies in the collective values of the many, and not in the purported values of the few.
THEY REMEMBERED that the burning of a flag is not as great an issue as adopting policies that drag everything that symbol stands for through the mire.
THEY REMEMBERED that unless the hard-working middle class are rewarded for their labor, the profits of corporations are not earned, but stolen.
THEY REMEMBERED that unless every American wins in the war on poverty, homelessness, hunger, and a lack of education, no one wins.
But most importantly, THEY REMEMBERED their fellow citizens – those who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, those who were left abandoned in New Orleans, those who wander homeless in New York City, those who are jobless in Chicago, those who struggle to pay for life-saving medication in San Francisco – and said, “This is NOT my America. This WILL NOT stand.”
THEY REMEMBERED everything this administration has spent years trying to make them forget. They remembered that fear does not strengthen resolve, but destroys it. They remembered that the country belongs to them, and their leaders are elected to do the bidding of the citizenry, and not to act solely for their own benefit or that of a political ideology that thwarts rather than preserves freedom.
THEY REMEMBERED that the American dream belongs to every citizen. And in doing so, they voted FOR the preservation of that dream and AGAINST those who were determined to destroy it.
THEY REMEMBERED that in a democracy such as ours, every voice should be heard.
THEY REMEMBERED to raise their voices.
THEY REMEMBERED.
And there is something about that ability to remember that we, as Americans, should never forget.
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