Sunday, April 19

The least we can do is distance ourselves...



I really think the least we can do is banish Bush, Cheney, John Yoo, Gonzales, Rice, and Rumsfeld. Send them with some of their winnings, taxed at 85%, to Bolivia or some other former-Nazi haven to live out their days away from American society.

But I'm dreaming that there will be any accountability and I don't need to discuss my emotional reaction to that.

That's the caution here, folks: Do not indulge the self-talk of how upset this makes YOU. Making a fetish of our own upset, whether it's about 9/11 or Abu Ghraib or Gitmo or Bush or Obama, is taking our eyes off the ball. Pushing for justice requires the vigilance of a calm heart.

Somehow we always forget the serenity prayer. Bloggers are not a serene people, and more than once this week I've smiled to think Obama gave us the gift of further outrage. I'm working with all of that today, praying for discernment, wisdom, patience, acceptance, and most of all, courage. Grateful that praying for this president is SO much easier than praying for the last one. Amen.
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7 comments:

  1. Cirze1:39 PM

    Usually I meditate, do a little yoga, chanting until I feel balanced.

    But then I saw "W" on the morning tube doing his China venture capitalist star turn (not to mention Dick Armee, Newt and even DeLay starting up the lying again in the MSM), and that old nauseated feeling began to creep back in.

    Thanks for the soft words, BG. And soothing music.

    We need that.

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  2. pissed in NYC8:06 PM

    Um, and what do those of us who do not believe in the power of prayer do? Must add, that now I am beginning to understand why people get solace from prayer.

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  3. Fran / Blue Gal9:18 PM

    Pissed, I know you well enough to know that's not a backhanded insult. Those who believe differently from me find their own ways to stay alert and not get distracted by emotion. That's not my opinion-- I know many non-believers for whom it is true.

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  4. The Young Swell10:37 PM

    I take for my koan: A full glass may be stirred, while an empty glass can only clatter.

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  5. Manila Ryce5:00 AM

    I respectfully disagree. I think Democrats are only trying to be understanding instead of angry because he's "our man" and no on likes the taste of humble pie. I believe anger is essential to enacting the "change" Obama repeatedly fails to deliver. That's why I love this St Augustine quote (it's almost like he's talking specifically about the Obama administration).

    “Hope has two beautiful daughters: their names are anger and courage. Anger that things are the way they are, and courage to make them the way they ought to be.”

    You're right, we shouldn't simply become immersed in anger, but anger channeled correctly is far better than the complacency I've seen from bloggers since Obama took office.

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  6. Fran / Blue Gal7:11 AM

    That's what I mean, Manila. You said it better.

    But I don't have time to criticize other blogs, let alone read them nearly as much as I should.

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  7. Cujo3592:35 PM

    Re: pissed in NYC

    I've always admired the thought behind that prayer. It's good advice, if you ignore the praying part.

    Re: BlueGal @ 7:11 AM

    I wasn't sure what you meant in the article. Glad to see my first impression was wrong. I'm angry, but I'm not mindlessly angry. I think it serves the purposes of Obama and the people he's protecting to think we're all just lunatics or ideologues. Then he can be one of the reasonable people. The plain fact is that protecting the people who abetted and committed the torture isn't reasonable.

    That's one of the reasons I'm angry.

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