Heart and Soul

The Democratic National Convention has begun in Denver and the Republicans are appearing on all the news shows giving their opinion about what the DNC is doing wrong. People that live in glass houses should not throw stones. Next week the places will be reversed.

But in fairness to all parties I watched videos this morning of the highlights and lowlights of the night. And one thing seems clear: if it is said by a Democrat it is for the Republicans a cliche but if it is said by the Republicans it is a rallying cry or effective sound byte (i.e. flip flopper).

We are sure to hear a lot of cliche's and sound bytes and rallying cries and lies in the next couple of weeks. It is our place as responsible voters to weigh the evidence and do our homework. We have stayed away from the voting booths in record numbers, we have allowed the Republicans to cheat their way into office twice, we seem to think it is acceptable to pick our president in the same way we choose laundry detergent (by the ad and the package) and that has gotten us to the place in this country were it is do or die. After almost eight years of G.W.Bush we are hated by the world, no longer a champion of the oppressed but the oppressor, our dropout rate for our young is as high as 40% in some states, and our middle class can no longer afford to drive to work.

There was a joke when I was in college about Republican's and Democrats; if you were a Republican when you were young you had no soul and if you were a Democrat when you were middle aged you had no money. Well, there are currently a lot more people with no money these days and so the Republicans had to say you were not against terrorism if you were a Democrat. I think you have no heart or soul if you are a Republican. And the Republican pundits on the news this morning with their snipping at Senator Kennedy, President Clinton, and Michelle Obama I think proves that.

Yes, Senator Kennedy made some mistakes in his youth. So did Richard Nixon as President my friends. And when Bill lied nobody died like when GW lied to the free world about Iraq. I think it is not so much about the mistakes we make as how we live our lives after that. The amends we make. And you don't throw stones when you live in a glass house. The twenty-four hour coverage of every aspect of our lives and especially our public lives makes it imperitive that we not merely behave intelligently but with heart and soul and compassion.

It would be a far better world if those that have the bumper stickers: What would Jesus Do? actually do it.