By Steve Lungrin, September 17, 2008

Well, I haven’t been as crazed this year as I have in the past….actually I have, but not as vocal.  These elections bring back some very painful memories for me…mainly because of how shamefully the leaders of the republican party have tried to strip the United States of it’s common humanity and sense of community.  They cannot win an argument by telling the truth about what they want to do so they prey on the ignorant and uneducated as well as the privileged and elite with two separate messages.  For the ignorant and uneducated they say, “Some people just can’t be trusted.  ‘They’ are just not ‘our’ kind of people.”  “They” changes every cycle….whatever group of people the republicans think they can scape-goat for the sake of dividing us against each other becomes the target.  In Bill Clinton’s 1992 Convention Acceptance speech he said, “Them, the liberals.  Them, the gays.  Them, the immigrants.  Them, the lazy poor.  We’ve just about “them’d” ourselves to death!.  There is no them…there is only US.”  Here we are 16 years later and they are still doing the same old crap.  To the elites and privileged they say, “You’ve earned what you have and deserve it….and we won’t EVER take any of that away from you just to give it to all the ‘other’ people out there who HAVEN’T earned it.” 

In both cases, they appeal to the very worst in human nature.  The ignorant and sheltered are easily frightened by groups and people they’ve had no experience with.  The elite and privileged quickly become accustomed to their own lifestyles and out of touch with the struggles and stresses ordinary working people are dealing with.  Instead of standing as an example of tolerance and understanding to the ignorant, they validate their fears and insecurities and give them a comfort zone for bigotry and narrow mindedness.  Instead of reminding the elite and privileged how lucky they are to have lived in a society that makes their stories possible and ask them to give back to the national community that facilitated their success, they feed their egos and foster a sense of arrogance and entitlement.

This strategy has won them 7 of the past 10 presidential elections…EVEN when the evidence clearly shows in both domestic and foreign issues that voting for them is against the national interest as a whole.  They have exploded our debt, which will translate into a permanent tax increase on working Americans for generations to come, they have concentrated ungodly amounts of wealth and power into the hands of the already wealthy and powerful, they have stonewalled protections for consumers and families and regulations to fight corruption in powerful industries, they have sat idly by as millions lose health care coverage (and while millions more have health policies not worth the paper they are written on), they have forged unnecessary battles that drain us of our national treasury and our soldiers while at the same time filling the pockets of defense contractors and oil companies, and they have created a genuine disdain for our government and society around the world at a time when building a global community of friends and allies is more important than ever before.  But in the end, they have done one thing worse than all of their policies.  They have stripped us of our precious national community.  They have helped to create a culture where there can be no civil disagreement and no mutual respect.  They have created a society where our common humanity is no longer more important than our interesting differences.  They have created an environment where it is unacceptable to stop fighting over what we can’t agree on and start fixing what we can agree on. 

For seven years I felt like an unwelcome stranger in my wife’s family and home.  Not because of our differing views on politics, but because of the culture incubated and grown by the republican party since 1968 that draws lines in the sand and identifies in black and white terms who is “good” and who is “evil”.  Julinne grew up in that environment her entire life…she was raised to not know shades of gray…only black and white.  Finally after years of getting the message that I was not “their kind of people”, she shut down.  Her tolerance for anything I did went into the tank.  Her ability to compromise on anything went away.  Her faith and belief that I was a fundamentally good person had been shaken and tarnished.  The one place you should always feel okay about being yourself is at home with family.  At her home, I always felt on the defense.  I, who have managed to give thousands of dollars on modest salaries to the USO over the last 8 years had my patriotism and love for our soldiers in combat questioned to my face repeatedly.  I, the son of a man born into a family in poverty who worked his way through college and eventually opened his own business and survived one of the greatest realignments and shifts in commerce in American history had my value of hard work questioned repeatedly.  I, who loved Julinne Johnson with all my heart unconditionally simply was not “good enough” for her parents and family.

We didn’t get to this point as a society over night, and we won’t cycle out of it overnight either.  But even as the media and press focus on polls (that are not completely accurate because of the turnout models they are using), gaffes, scandals, and attacks, something very incredible is happening.  Barack Obama is trying to appeal to the very best in us rather than the very worst.  He is not asking us to hate…only to disagree.  He is reaching out his hand and saying, “Even if you can’t give me your vote, I’ll have a seat for you at my table where we can try to make progress on things that matter to us all.”  In short, he is saying “America will heal our wounds both domestically and globally when we just start being America again.”  As cheesy as it sounds at times, it is also the most powerful thing I’ve ever witnessed.  He is giving us permission to hope and dream again without feeling naive and stupid about it.  And while the race is closer than it should be, that is just evidence of how powerful the status quo can be.  I think this country is full of people who want to believe in something greater than themselves again…and while they can’t commit to it yet because it would be such an enormous “about-face” from what we have been doing for the last 40 years, I think on November 4, 2008 we will stand up and endorse the power of idealism and hope.  This is our time as an American community.  The hate mongers and fear spreaders who have made careers out of exploiting the worst qualities of human nature have had their time….now is our time.  I don’t believe this is about democrats and republicans….nor do I believe it is about progressivism vs. conservatism.  This is about hope vs. fear, and most importantly about the future vs. the past.  Republicans and Democrats both have important ideas to contribute to this nation.  We’re both wrong…we’re both right.  The United States will be at it’s very best again when we can have vigorous and lively debates about how to handle things during the day and then meet in fellowship with mutual respect at night.  It is not just time for a shift in policy in the United States…it is time for a shift in tone.  I believe at my very core that Barack Obama is the leader to help move us toward that cultural shift.  And I hope that the first person he reaches out to work with on a big important issue is John McCain.  This is bigger than me, and bigger than my party.  This is about my country.

Love,
Steve
P.S.
I thought the pictures and article in the link below were quite inspiring.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/16/113954/416/527/600538

I start my “new/old” job tomorrow & this some e-card sums it up quite nicely.    I worked in a very similar position to this 8 years ago – not to mention the FREE LIVING, which we cannot wait for!!  

Had a great time in the O-G — a little “va-k” pre-start date!!   So fun to see old friends – such history!   My visits are always so nostagliac, specifically bringing back such wonderful childhood memories.  A BIG SHOUT OUT TO CHERRY FOR HOSTING US & BEING ONE OF THE ONLY PEOPLE I ACTUALLY KNOW, WHO READS MY BLOG REGUARLY!      

I will keep you all posted as I return to the land of college students.   I cannot wait!!

Go see them if they are near you.

So I have a favorite new hobby…browsing the SomeECards site for hours upon hours.   Seriously….they are so hilarious – I cannot get enough of them.    I would really like to be a freelancer for them, cuz I have a few originals that belong on this site.   This one is one of my personal favs, mainly because this is something I have caught myself saying — but there are many more cards far funnier than this one.   If you have some spare time to kill — check this group out.

J Lo recommended that I pick up the June issue of Vanity Fair – the one with Angelina Jolie on the cover, so I did a couple of weeks ago @ Chicago-Midway on one of my trips this month.   Apparently J Lo thought I would enjoy reading the article about the history of the Internet.   Parts were good, but the article as whole was a bit of a snoozer?      I did however, LOVE the Angelina Jolie interview…..and perhaps I was hormonal when I read it — but I know I teared up @ least twice.    What an incredibly deep & intutitive person — who has a vision for her life & because of that (and her success) is truly living her dream!   I find her inspiring.   I loved this quote – especially since we have studied interests patterns for 5 years on our business project.    I whole-heartedly agree with her!

“Artists raise their kids differently, we communicate to the point where we probably annoy our children.   We have art around the house, we have books, we go to plays, we talk.   Our focus is art and painting and dress-up and singing.   It’s what we love.   So I think you can see how artists in some way raise other artists.”  – Angelina Jolie, Vanity Fair

The video I have selected to go with this blog is one of my all time favs from 2 bands I love — Bon Jovi & Sugarland. I think it’s such a great song and I especially connect with it when I return to my hometown, specifically where I had the pleasure of growing up, the O-G!!

So, NOT only did my brother perform his best concert to date (he keeps topping himself) — returning to OG is just the best experience, so wonderful in fact that it’s actually difficult to describe.  Many of our family and friends still live there — which makes returning so wonderful!   All I know is that I feel so blessed to have grown up in a smaller community, where people are truly connected.   I am convinced that this taught me the value of friendship and community at a very early age.  I was also totally blown away by the efforts of Linda’s girlfriends to throw such a wonderful memorial in her honor, what an expression of love!  And mostly because I grew up watching these women be so close and supportive of one another all throughout their lives, I am convinced that they modeled for me how important a good group of girlfriends are in a woman’s life. Watching Linda’s slideshow was eye-opening. This group has been with each other for 30+ years! I know that I am one of the lucky ones who have a network of friends in place — and we only get better with age.

It was just wonderful to be back — and to be so grateful for such strong roots.