From the right: fear of an outside threat called a terrorist, fear of an inside threat to ‘family values’ called gay marriage…. From the left: fear of corruption in high places, fear of war-mongering leadership….

I yearn for a leader who will inspire and not generate diviseness; someone who instills courage and not derision, hatred or intolerance of others who are different from me.

Would that we could remember one president’s words of wisdom, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” In 1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt’s inaugural speech gave America something to focus on; our strengths and our interdependance on each other:

“In the field of world policy I would dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor—the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others—the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors.

If I read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize as we have never realized before our interdependence on each other; that we can not merely take but we must give as well….” (http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/)

As Americans we cannot rely on one or two people in office to show us the way, to have absolute integrity, to be intellectually capable, to have the answers to our pressing needs, to have impeccable character.

These are qualities we should exact from ourselves first before seeking it in others. Above all, we should LOVE each other as we claim to love ourselves.

be well, be blessed.

They have to be afraid. Because if they were cool and rational, they would come up with a much better strategy than simply trying to destroy this obviously well-liked woman. They have made themselves look just like the kooks they are, and Palin seems calm and reasonable.

My biggest current fantasy is walking through certain neighborhoods, having a cup of coffee in certain coffee shops, on November 5, 2008. I’ll be the only one able to consume one of those tasty scones, ya’ know?

- Aggie

BTW, at a gathering of acquaintances the other night, the book-burning smear and the pregnancy cover-up smear were taken as truths by more than a few people there. All smart, all aware. But hopelessly biased and, I think, afraid.

p.s., Sorry for the caps. I used to know how to the bold thingy in HTML but since I’ve been away from it for a while my brain is screwed up with threads of GML, and a couple of other markup languages that I’ve used.

I set up a few Google Alerts relating to “white trash” and “trailer trash” and Palin or Palins, and even I, who expected a lot of bilge, am shocked at its sheer volume.

This is a brilliant post and should be read by every thinking person in America. The hatred directed against this woman is stunning. They hate her while assuring the rest of us that they are tolerant, rational people.

I think that there should be billboards all over the country titled: How Tolerant Is The Left Really? And then just one, two or three examples each. AND it should be on youtube. This is infuriating.

- Aggie