A bumper sticker distributed by Common Cause carries the words

Democracy is Not a Spectator Sport

Never in the course of human events were words more true than is that simple statement in today’s world.  We may sit around our keyboards as we moan and complain all we wish.  We may energize some person out there, but we have a greater effect when we take action on our own.

Paul Wellstone had the right idea when he said

The future will not belong to those who sit on the sidelines. The future will not belong to the cynics. The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

Fathers – some of them are engaged in their children’s lives, some are enigmas and some are completely missing.  My father fell into the enigma category.  Try as I might to pry some edges loose I never quite knew what he was thinking or feeling.  He was a silent and solitary man rarely given offering an opinion on things.

I found one way to connect with him and that is what the following story is about.  He was a neat and tidy man who valued taking care of things.  So with that in mind, I am reprising this first story I wrote here almost two years ago.  I’ve polished it up and detail the edges – just like my Dad.

Well, folks.

Late Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008, Barack Obama became the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.

16 months ago, I was invited to go and see him announce his candidacy in Springfield, Illinois. I could not make it due to car troubles, however, I did watch his speech on TV and I think since that time there is so much to reflect upon.

I have invested much time and energy into this race, but more importantly I have come to have a large emotional investment in his candidacy. Last night I did not expect to be shaken up by his wrapping up the nomination, something that had been a forgone conclusion almost 4 months ago. However, there was something inside of me that made me so proud to be an American, an Illinoisan, and a Democrat.

I write this looking out over Charlottesville from the top floor of the Omni Hotel, at the end of the Downtown Mall.  And in the midst of the storms of politics, I thought I would take a few minutes to share something that matters to me, and perhaps might interest others.  These will be lyrics of two songs from the Quaker singer/songwriter John McCutcheon, from his album The Greatest Story Never Told, which shares the title of one of the songs on it, although not one from which I will quote the lyrics.

Several of the songs on this album were inspired by the events of September 11, which makes the relevant in the midst of our current political storms.  I will share the lyrics of these.  The link above will give you the lyrics of all the songs on the album, including introductory remarks about each by McCutcheon.

I will below the fold explain why I am thinking about these songs today.  

A front page post earlier today by Meteor Blades referred to a speech given in 1990 by Aung Sang Suu Kyi.  The title of the speech was Freedom From Fear.  The first words of the speech were

It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.

As someone who is about as impartial as they get around here when it comes to the Obama/Clinton wars and someone who has pretty much stayed on the sidelines, with the exception of a few diaries that actually defended Clinton from some unwarranted and unsubstantiated attacks, I have tried to point out other issues going on, offered up diary after diary about John W. McCain, wrote about and linked to close to a dozen Congressional candidate interviews I did with thereisnospoon and tried to discuss topics that I thought weren’t getting nearly enough attention.

And with a UID that puts me here since right after the 2004 primary wars, I can’t speak for whether things were worse then or now, although such a comparison is like picking between horrible and miserable anyway.  But if I wasn’t here then, that also means that at least 2/3 of the registered users weren’t here back then either, and frankly, 3+ years is an eternity.  

As the song goes

Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose

Or is there more to the state of real freedom?  Today we see our freedoms being taken away little by little by an administration more bent on power than on the purpose of democratic government, protecting individual and overall freedom.  

The dictionary offers a variety of definitions for freedom including

the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint

Living in a nation founded on principles of liberty and justice for all gives me hope that one day we will live in a state of real freedom.  Follow over the fold for more of the possum's pondering and consideration of freedom.

Solutions are the key to better living for one and all.  I am guilty as anyone else of sometimes standing around and pointing out the problems which all can see without my advice.  This approach often leads to a case of seeing the forest and not recognizing the trees.  We can all understand the bigger problems but to overcome the difficulty we must find the smaller components and refrain from being overwhelmed by issues too large for our comprehension or individual resolution.

The answer to all our troubles lies in solutions.  The nation today is very diverse.  There are people with many disparate bits of knowledge.  The world is far too complex to expect any single person to have the solution to every problem.  What we need is more cooperation in terms of suggesting and analyzing a variety of solutions in order to find the best way to resolve the issue at hand this moment.  The solving of individual issues leads to the resolving of bigger issues over the course of time as the actions add to a tsunami effect.

In politics these days substance seems to be about as rare as hen’s teeth, which any country boy can tell you are nonexistent.  The dictionary defines substance as

substantial or solid character or quality.

Most political campaigns these days have little solid character but instead focus more on entertainment value and the physical presence of the individual candidate.  Why have we come to this state of affairs?

In my mind the problem originates in the media of the day.  We are blasted day by weary day with sound bite announcements that foster a short attention span but are designed to attract attention nonetheless.  We are taught to expect simple explanations of complex issues.  We have a nation filled with philosophers, historians, teachers, and others who have the knowledge and the background to ask questions of real substance of our political leaders.  Why are they not in the forefront of questioning today?  Is America so lost to the "feel good" and "don’t worry" syndromes that we are afraid to confront our leaders?

I've lurked on this site for about 4 years, and after reading kid oakland's diary respect.empower.include, I felt compelled to share my "endorsement" with friends and family.  After the jump is an e-mail I sent on Super Tuesday regarding the current primaries. On one hand, it’s an endorsement for Barack Obama. However, I’d like to think of it as a celebration of how my own journey has been impacted by the work of both Michelle and Barack Obama.

The current round of trials at Guantanamo Bay are generating a great deal of press coverage.  Some of those proceedings call into question the ideals of justice, truth, and the American way.  The process of military tribunals along with other recent events and readings bring to mind many questions of justice and how we determine the definition and refine the thinking.  Justice has various definitions in the dictionary  including

the administering of deserved punishment or reward.

Justice is to be sought under all circumstances, the question becomes how to determine just punishment.  What are the rules?  How does one decide just versus unjust?  Is there a middle ground upon which all may agree as to what is or is not just?

These are troubled times in this United States and around the globe.  Our citizens face economic distress.  The administration admits to the use of torture in questioning detainees.  News of hidden prisons and unidentified prisoners (detainees or enemy combatants our government calls them) continue to surface on a near daily basis.  The Congress is twisted in knots over an intelligence bill that may allow further erosion of privacy in our nation.  The writ of habeus corpus is for all intents and purposes lost to the so-called Patriot Act.  What ever is a person to do to survive?

In the past, and still today, the citizens of our great nation have risen to the fight and accomplished what many may have failed.  We survived the Great Depression of the late 1920's.  We as a nation fought two World Wars without losing sight of our basic foundations.  We survived the Korean conflict and the Vietnam War bloodied but unbowed.  We will survive once again.

Ambition is a passion, at once strong and insidious, and is very apt to cheet (sic) a man out of his happiness and his true respectability of character.--Edward Bates

Bates who went on to become Abraham Lincoln's attorney general was speaking of his personal perspective at a time when he and others including Lincoln were being considered for nomination to the Presidency.  We all today might find a measure of wisdom in the thought.

Change is defined in the dictionary as the following:

to make the form, nature, content, future course, etc., of (something) different from what it is or from what it would be if left alone

Every politician on the trail today is bandying the word, change, about as though we could expect to see real progress in making a difference tomorrow if that person is elected.  With so many saying the same things what are we to expect?  Can a politician today bring about real change by any means at all?  Can we think a real difference is coming when most major politicians are entrenched in the system or backed by the same money influences that already rule the day?  

Four years ago it was clear to me that I needed change. I was fat and out of shape. I wasn’t doing what I always thought that I wanted to do. We had an idiot as a president. And, it seemed like America was going in the wrong direction in every possible way that it could.

Could Americans really be this stupid? Could I be this stupid?

For quite some time now I have been feeling like a lost soul wandering in the wilderness.  Life has changed over the past few years from what I believed our nation had become in past times.  I grew up in small town America where everyone in town knew everyone else.  People in need in those days were often looked after by a neighbor or a friend.  The government stood as a last safety net for those who fell through the social cracks.  The general feeling was one of respect for one another and of well wishing toward one another.

You will have to keep reading to see why my title is relevant.

I want to devote my diary today almost entirely to the words of another. Michael Martin is a research analyst for the Arizona School Board Association.  He and I overlap on a number of educational lists, and I have found him to be one of the most thoughtful writers on educational issues I have encountered.   When I read what I will post below the fold, I suggested that he post it here -  I know that he is a regular visitor since he periodically emails me about things I have posted.   He suggested instead that I post it, but of course give him credit.  

I am going to ask you to trust me on this.  Please keep reading below the fold.  I will explain the context and then offer Michael's words.   And I know he will at least read any comments posted in response.