For the first time in a long time, I'm feeling quite proud of what this country has done. Not simply that we chose the guy I supported, gave money to and voted for, but that we made a strong choice for a very different direction. It is also because of Wes and all the rest that gave their lives in Iraq. Despite all my objections to that war, this, the power of our nation to have a "peaceful revolution," is what Wes gave his life for.
It turns out that some of the other Gold Star family members were going through the same thing I was -- anxious and tense throughout election day, thinking of the ones they lost in the war. I guess we just didn't realize how deeply we connected politics to our grief. There is one thing that Obama has done that truly, at last addresses our grief. He calls for a national spirit of sacrifice, finally ending the arrogance of leadership that urged us to live life as usual -- go shopping! -- while others carried the burdens of national defense. Those leaders failed to acknowledge that we are all connected; the bell tolls for thee, as John Donne wrote, and each man's death diminishes me. We have a new leader who is involved with humanity and who leads others to be so involved, though success and failure, life and death. I am proud of what we have begun and look forward, yes, to what we can do. Nick _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
