{"id":60289,"date":"2012-08-11T07:01:32","date_gmt":"2012-08-11T11:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=60289"},"modified":"2012-08-11T10:39:36","modified_gmt":"2012-08-11T14:39:36","slug":"the-great-equalizer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/by-judith-gayle-2\/the-great-equalizer\/","title":{"rendered":"The Great Equalizer"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States was founded by the brightest people in the country — and we haven’t seen them since.\u201d<\/em>
\n— Gore Vidal (1925-2012)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The road to hell, it is said, is paved with good intentions, and each of those paving-stones is cut from a block of rationalization. Rationalization, which is the crafting of a plausible explanation to make something seem reasonable, has a wicked stepchild: justification, the defense of actions one is ‘forced into’ by the facts at hand (proven by clever rationalization.) Humans have used this combination — rationalization and justification — for all manner of self-interest, including hatefulness and cruelty, since time began. Listen for just a moment to the political rhetoric of the day and you will feel the flames lick at your soul.<\/p>\n

\"Political<\/p>\n

Perhaps the political ads routinely turn your stomach, and the one where Romney sings “America the Beautiful” makes me snort, chuff and mumble profane words every time I hear it. They play that over and over here in the Pea Patch, and it makes me not only cover my ears in distaste but wonder WHY the man sang it all the way through. Because Barack got a national high-five for giving us a taste of Al Green and the Mitt-bot didn’t want to be outdone? In the black\/white world he inhabits, perhaps so. I can’t tell what goes on in the minds of his campaign handlers. Heretofore, rationalization has required a modicum of truth in order to lend itself to political justification, but not lately: now they just make shit up. Seriously. They do<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After weeks of skewing Obama’s record, misquoting and taking his statements out of context, Romney has now declared that his campaign has taken “the high road,” not attacking on personal attributes but only on policy. Hmmmm! How un-Rove-like of them, and hardly credible given their list of high-rollers and their multimillion-dollar advantage. While some might think this more of the peculiar Republican delusion that’s been branded “truthiness,” boldly believed despite all signs to the contrary, this is more likely a calculated position: justification for a renewed assault on the prez. Apparently, Obama’s critique of Bain Capital and Romney’s brass-knuckled wealth-building techniques was considered a personal attack, simply beyond the pale of modern political warfare. The religious right took it in stride, knowing Obama to be both demonic and a socialist\/Muslim implant, but the business class took real umbrage, considering it a vicious attack on the sweatshop capitalism they seek to re-establish as the latest version of “America, land of opportunity,” circa 1898.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Recently, an Obama Super PAC produced an ad featuring a former steelworker whose job was fed into the Bain destruct-o-machine. The gent suggested that if he’d still been employed, his wife might have sought earlier treatment for the cancer that took her life. In a world where tit is measured against tat, the possibility that Romney’s actions might be responsible for someone’s death could be compared to thousands of accusations that Obama plans to kill Grandma and countless others by rationing health care (as if Paul Ryan’s proposed voucher system will keep them all safe and well.) In such a comparison, the Obama campaign is still “in the black,” in terms of who has the high road. We can’t prove the accusation against Mitt, but the one about Dem “death panels” has been swatted with a newspaper a multitude of times (and buzzing and bleeding, just won’t die).<\/p>\n

Of course we aren’t in a tit\/tat struggle. All things are NOT equal between the two campaigns, not even their rhetoric. Consider this recent exchange of insults: ‘Romney Hood’ v. ‘Obamaloney.’ Really, Mitt? Frankly, I’m embarrassed for Republicans everywhere, especially those who think that to be an equal jab or — gasp, choke<\/em> — even funny. And I applaud one of Obama’s campaign operatives who retorted, “When the Romney campaign finally reaches the high ground, we look forward to greeting them there.”<\/p>\n

Now, admittedly, all of this is just silly business, the stuff that campaigns are made of in a traditionally silly season. It’s not nearly as deranged as the campaign season of 2008, when Palin did her soccer-mom best to make Alaska the new summer White House, nor is it nearly as entertaining. But back then, battling over who could see Russia from where, and who thought they might be able to fix the red-flagged economy in a weekend, we had little notion of how critical that election was, how much it would matter to the next four years and the well-being of the world. Think of what a McCain\/Palin administration might have given us (put down that Prozac bottle! Down!!).<\/p>\n

That was a bullet dodged and — fingers crossed — it seems likely we will be able to outwit Romney this time, as well. Doesn’t hurt that nobody can warm to this man, even rabid-right Ann Coulter thinks he’s a twit. But it’s the numbers that impress, with less than a hundred days to go. It has been reported that a mere five percent of voters remain undecided at this juncture and that Obama has a sizeable lead, somewhere between four and seven percent. Yes, I know: the Pubs in the Red states are doing everything they can to disenfranchise leftie voters, especially those of color and the elderly, but the Republican brand has an approval rating of only eleven percent — even our head-up-ass, dysfunctional congress enjoys a higher number than that. Even better, recent polls show that the nation doesn’t blame Obama for the current financial debacle, and that it trusts him more than Mitt with its financial future.<\/p>\n

Should we be worried? We should be concerned, especially about local elections that create obstructionist candidates, impeding our ability to fashion a functional future. We should be lending our voice and resources in support of the local candidates we believe in. These hundred days are so important; please don’t doubt it. What lies ahead of us is the next leg of a journey this planet began long ago and challenges that will demand the energy and intention of each of us.<\/p>\n

The most important thing we can do to prepare ourselves for this adventure is to fully inhabit our hearts, bringing our best, most genuine effort to each moment. Ex-congressman and former presidential candidate, Gary Hart, bemoaned our collective silence in a recent piece<\/a> for Huffington. Hart points out the many reasons we don’t feel adequate to speak up in this powerful moment, but rightly concludes, ” … silence conveys assent. Assent for the status quo. Assent for the majority opinion. Assent for the loudest voices and largest megaphones.”<\/p>\n

After all the personal work we’ve done in these last years, to remain distanced from what calls us to stand up for ourselves now is perilous, both to ourselves and for those we love. During those long and frightening years that George W. raided our national coffers to fund his multiple wars, I remember Edmund Burke constantly quoted as a goad to get Americans up off their excuses and standing tall for their values, and that warning is no less true today: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”<\/p>\n

In recent conversation with a friend, commiserating over the darker forces that serve the plutocracy (or perhaps vice versa) I mentioned that the lizard-brains don’t appear to be the infallible ring-masters they used to be. The 2012 energy is shaping up to be The Great Equalizer, making each of us aware of our vulnerabilities and pointing us to the critical points of consciousness we have not attended. It seems to me that what the dark side has not attended, perhaps due to (and at least encouraged by) our protracted silence, is the inevitability of the Light.<\/p>\n

No matter the rationale, no matter the justification, this is no longer a time to remain silent, giving implied assent to those who are so sure they have “the high road.” There are liberal values at stake, progress in the cross-hairs, truth to be told. We can’t know which of our neighbors just needs some little piece of the picture to banish their confusion, we can’t be sure what bit of kindness or encouragement can change the way a co-worker sees the world. We can’t know which word we speak will vibrate necessary change into the world, but let’s agree that it can and will happen as we become mindful of our power. This is not a time to retreat, holding close what we know. If you’re reading these words, then you’ve had lifetimes when knowledge proved dangerous, when what we knew put us on the rack, tied us to a stake, drove us underground. No longer.<\/p>\n

Let’s put the road to hell behind us, shall we? Let’s put the old fears to rest. We came to share what we know, summoning courage, clasping hands — shifting an era with our intent and our numbers. As we love, we reveal a universe of lovingness and compassion; as we evolve, we bring in waves of evolution. These are changes organic to the moment, not requiring defense or justification. What is light-filled will chase away the darkness and this is our time to put fear aside to shine brightly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Judith Gayle | Political Waves \u201cThe United States was founded by the brightest people in the country — and we haven’t seen them since.\u201d — Gore Vidal (1925-2012) The road to hell, it is said, is paved with good intentions, and each of those paving-stones is cut from a block of rationalization. Rationalization, which … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[1744],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60289"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60289\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}