There comes the nightmare: ancient its vintage as it struck in the tenderest years of one now grown grizzled. Then had father caressed and reassured with old yellow incandescent light nearby while dispelling the tentacled monster's image when it did grapple and entwine 'round mother earth. Now it returns and Dad's love within is ready to do battle against it. The misdirection, hollow encouragement, the projection of all the Deceiver's failures onto those offering a dawn of correction: these are some of the errors masquerading as vision. Mockery and viciousness, cynicism and indifference: these bestride the land that wants to awaken, but a paralytic tick is embedded near her spine.
We see a chance. An uncool man, his ways perhaps quaint, his virtues causing discomfort and dislike, but we are drawn to him. Slyness grows wearisome and straining attempts to demolish and degrade leave an emptiness that inspires not. Hope? Yes, we want it. And this anchor in the form of the handsome, "square" man, is given to steady our drifting barks, not tossed as a necklace to submerge them and us. Self-loathing remains a peculiarly American habit. Rather, it is a western pathology that comes from too much circumspection and overheating of our race's fine intellects turning in on themselves: critiquing critiques and perpetual ponderings of relativistic ping ponging that amounts to nothing while it brings impotence and death. The shy, self-effacing man continues to persuade and overcomes his chary ways for a greater purpose.
The goodness, the kindness, the generosity, the forgiving hearts that are largely ours: these have not been crushed. "You can fool some of the people some of the time" said Lincoln. "Some all of the time" he continued, followed by "all some of the time" and reminded us concludingly: "you can't fool all of the people all of the time." Change? Yes, we want it. But we want to get it right. Hard work, American know-how, no empty sloganeering, no time and energy wasted hating our neighbor because of the car he drives or the size of his bank account. Free to succeed, free to fail….our liberty is all and we will survive, but the recovery will be speedier and more healthful with a grown-up back in the Oval Office and a uniter, not a divider at the helm.
We see a chance. An uncool man, his ways perhaps quaint, his virtues causing discomfort and dislike, but we are drawn to him. Slyness grows wearisome and straining attempts to demolish and degrade leave an emptiness that inspires not. Hope? Yes, we want it. And this anchor in the form of the handsome, "square" man, is given to steady our drifting barks, not tossed as a necklace to submerge them and us. Self-loathing remains a peculiarly American habit. Rather, it is a western pathology that comes from too much circumspection and overheating of our race's fine intellects turning in on themselves: critiquing critiques and perpetual ponderings of relativistic ping ponging that amounts to nothing while it brings impotence and death. The shy, self-effacing man continues to persuade and overcomes his chary ways for a greater purpose.
The goodness, the kindness, the generosity, the forgiving hearts that are largely ours: these have not been crushed. "You can fool some of the people some of the time" said Lincoln. "Some all of the time" he continued, followed by "all some of the time" and reminded us concludingly: "you can't fool all of the people all of the time." Change? Yes, we want it. But we want to get it right. Hard work, American know-how, no empty sloganeering, no time and energy wasted hating our neighbor because of the car he drives or the size of his bank account. Free to succeed, free to fail….our liberty is all and we will survive, but the recovery will be speedier and more healthful with a grown-up back in the Oval Office and a uniter, not a divider at the helm.
No comments:
Post a Comment