Tue, Sep 08 2009

American know-how or American know-it-alls?

I was heartened by the fact that many people gave President Obama's talk to students a fair chance today. It's a little frustrating when folks get so frozen in one major party or another that they see everything in black and white when the world is so many colors. I've always remembered that President Bush was readng to children at a school when he received the news about the events of 9-11. It was a shame that it happened at all, but in some ways it was kind of comforting (in an odd sort of way) to know that our country's major political leader could be going about his day doing something simple for children and have his day shocked the same way the rest of us did. It never occurred to me to make his visit to the children political, except to see that it was the kind of thing that presidents do. Thank goodness he didn't read about elephants or donkeys that day. It might have looked partisan and started a big row among those waiting for a chance to throw a verbal punch.

Can't we just enjoy President Obama talking to kids? I'm all for choice and fairness and respect, but this partisan bickering is starting to look silly and irresponsible to me. I don't want to be negative, so I'll just say that I hope we can focus on the issues and stop labeling people as liberal/stupid and conservative/stupid. With the anniversary of 9-11 coming up in a couple of days, this is a great time to focus on pulling together and helping one another along the trail. It's okay to have a joke or two and express our opinions, but the name-calling and personal ridicule are making both those who claim to be liberal and those who claim to be conservative both look mean-spirited and evil-minded. We can be better than this.

posted at: 18:27 | category: /Politics | link to this entry