Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the Theo-Blog are the author's alone, not reflective of any organization, institution, religious deomoniation or political party. Furthermore, I reserve the right to change my mind and deny I ever said whatever it is I am saying now. For the freedom to make such a blatant declaratation of militant ambiguity, I would like to express my appreciation to Gov. Mitt Romney, whose campaign has shown that facts don't matter and nobody cares if you flip-flop until your slippers fly off.
Is the American star rising or setting?
The Presidential Election of 2012 is a dance atop a razor blade. Thin slices of population in a few battleground states will chart the direction for our nation of 300 million+ souls. What strikes me as a partisan observer is how profoundly our culture has moved from politics--which is the art of compromise--to zealotry, which makes compromise a mortal sin.
We have important issues to decide as a nation. Too many people are lacking fundamental human rights, like universal medical care, equal justice under law, marriage equality, equal pay for equal work, a graduated income tax which requires everyone to pay their fair share, quality public schools and affordable higher education, safe roads and bridges, urban transit, living wages, equitable retirement choices, and enough firemen and police to protect our families, clean environment, global and regional peace initiatives, and freedom from hunger and fear.
The very complexity of such issues requires give-and-take among all players. Yet, the tax-pledge minions of Grover Norquist and the inflexibility of the Religious Right have made compromise impossible for the Republicans. When a candidate like Governor Romney runs a right-left, zigzag course after securing the GOP nomination, he gives the impression of a man sprinting through a mine field. His party faithful demand inflexibility on the Right; the nation is basically Centerist. No wonder he has made a calculated decision to dash centerward in the closing weeks of the campaign. Obfuscate, switch directions, deny you ever said what you clearly campaigned upon until last week. Or yesterday. Or this morning, if necessary. Pundits have cried wolf so many times during this endless election season that nobody believes them any more. Facts don't matter. Tell me your new position, and all is forgiven...
The USA cannot grow as a nation set in concrete. We must have the flexibility to shift, to argue, to locate fertile common ground. But there is a difference between flexibility and spinelessness; there is a difference between, "Tell me what you want to achieve..." and "Tell me what you want to hear..." There is only one presidential candidate who has shown consistency and flexibility, only one who has understood when to compromise and when to draw a line in the sand.
During the US Constitutional Convention, May-September 1787, George Washington's chair (above) featured a sun on the horizion carved on the headrest. James Madison reported that Benjamin Franklin
looked at the chair after the work of the new Constitution was nearly copmplete and remarked, "I have often looked at that behind the president without being able to
tell whether it was rising or setting. But now I... know that it is a
rising...sun."
What made the US Constitution possible? Flexibility, compromise, and consistency. One nation came from diversity. Now, we have an opportunity to vote on whether the American star is rising into an era of equality and justice or setting behind clouds of economic and political inequality. For me, the sun also riseth...
