I know many of you have seen the picture
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9147259/ - a man holding onto a newborn baby, standing knee deep in water, looking up in anger and despair at a news helicopter flying overhead. It's the image that will stay in my mind as I write this, my last DailyKos diary. It's this image that was the straw that broke the camels back for me, a father of a one year old. Honestly, the time has come for me to stop watching life from the sidelines, stop looking for the right soundbyte before I speak and act, and start living my life in each moment to serve justice and compassion. So, thanks to this community for being so great, and if you like you can read my rant below the fold:
Thousands of our nations poor starve in a sea of other people's incompetence while the vice president goes and peddles oil in Canada and the president stammers through yet another lame attempt at compassion and leadership. I am left with only painful questions. What has happened to the fortitude and justice that defines my America? What has happened to the compassion and selflessness that defines my Faith. Am I wrong to pledge allegiance to America and to place my heart in the hands of Jesus? This is my Country and my God, hijacked and invaded by traiters and false prophets.
Yet, I just sat and watched. For too many years, I have watched and hoped it would get better. I watched CNN from a hotel room on September 11, 2001, after my plane was the last to land in Baltimore, and as Rumsfeld, Bush, and Chaney said God Bless America, the worlds Beacon of Liberty and Democracy, and invaded a sovereign nation. And I watched as my own Methodist Church circumvented every one of Jesus' teachings on compassion and forgiveness to call gays sinners. And I watched as corporate appointed environmental experts called global warming a myth and then told me that, if I really cared about people, I would stop making such a big deal about conservation and stewardship of nature's resources.
Finally, I watched a young man carrying his baby through a flood to a thankless shelter with no food, or water, or medical supplies. I looked in his eyes, and I saw America crying out for restoration of dignity, and I saw Jesus dying on a cross. This is my Country and my God, hijacked and invaded by traiters and false prophets. And I want it all back.
So wish me luck, friends, as I leave your side and cease to be a watcher. There is perhaps, in everyone's life, a time where one is to reunite with their deepest hopes and dramatically change course. For whatever reason, that time has come for me. Perhaps I'll see you out there on the streets!