I got a link to this article in my Sojomail today The United States of Ronald Reagan, Sojourners Magazine/September-October 2001. It’s by someone who feels the way I do about the former president. I was so angry Sunday morning as I ate breakfast listening to NPR “news” gush on and on about how great he was for the whole hour as if this were news and nothing else was going on in the world that was news worthy. I had to turn it off. I couldn’t listen to it any longer. I’m lucky I managed to calm down by the time I started The Gathering after venting to my wife and Philip who owns Above and Beyond.
The next morning, I became even angrier listening to the NPR news when I heard that John Kerry was taking a week off from campaigning and canceling all appearances in honor of Ronald Reagan who was a great “bipartisan president who brought hope back.” Is this the best the Democrats have to offer? It was bad enough when I heard Kerry say last fall that Bush sure had him “fooled” about the war in Iraq. I thought “You fool! He didn’t have me fooled, and you want to run for president?” Where is the leadership? Where is the alternate vision for America? Is there no real opposition party? He might as well say W is a great bipartisan president who’s bringing us hope since W shares the Reagan vision.
Al Gore has been speaking out strongly lately. I like what Dennis Kucinich had to say in the primaries. I even liked Wes Clark.
I never voted until Reagan ran for president. I thought they were all a bunch of bums. However, I could see that Reagan was really worse than Carter, and so I started voting regularly. I voted for Clinton and was happy and optimistic when he won. I was disappointed with his performance as president and that had nothing to do with his sexual escapades. He was too moderate, but he was a hell of a lot better than what we have now. I’ll vote for Kerry in the fall, but without any excitement. Rather, I’ll look at him as the lesser of two evils, and I used to have a lot more respect for him than I do now. It’s sad. I’m loosing faith in the political system as a means of bringing about change. I don’t even know if we’ll have a fair election since the last one was stolen. I even fear that Bush will allow another terrorist attack on the US, declare marshal law and cancel the election. Things are so weird now, anything is possible.
Meanwhile, I’m engaging in more spiritual practices and teaching them to those who are ready to learn.