I'm reading around the site tonight, and it's a sad kind of place. The news is bad. Even when the bad news is supposed to "make us happy" because it means that Bush will be more vulnerable, it's still bad news.
It's tough times, but maybe there's still some hope...
What's bad for the president is still bad for me.
I have a friend serving in Iraq; a friend I want to see again. I would also like to see the world. I'd like to visit France on frendly terms for a week. I'd like to go to eastern Europe, Korea, Australia, without having to fell apologetic and remorseful for my country. The prospect of having to do this, or of just not traveling at all, brings me down.
And let's face it; the race from our end is turning ugly. Nobody is clean at this point. It's mean and it's petty and it's what we all warned ourselves about six months ago. "Let's just remember we're all on the same time," we said. But when the chips are down we've got to test each other, don't we?
And though it's sometimes painful and over the line, it's also necessary in a certain sense, as long as we can all come together when the moment arrives, this dogfight is in our self interest. No one's said anything they can't take back. All the flame-wars here and the fisticuffs at the debates, those are just sparring rounds between friendly partners. The real fight is just beginning to brew, and we've got to be ready.
So this is just a plea for hope and strength from our camp. The next couple of months are not going to be fun for anyone. It's going to get worse before it gets better. There's a lot of stress in the offing, but the thing to remember is that we can and will unite when the time comes; the stakes are too high not to. We're all willing to sacrafice, to take responsibility. So take heart.
In the mean time, we don't help anyone out by killing ourselves with stress and worry. Any casualties or burn-outs now only benefit our opponents. Let's not forget that there are good things in this world. Children are hope made flesh, the Democratic party still stands for a few things, Liberalism is a proud tradition, and the right forces will align when the time comes. Some day soon all this unseemly mud we wallow in will be long gone, the stuff of inside jokes and great fireside war stories, and you'll all be welcome to my house for the victory party. I look forward to that day.
