The President is under attack.
Not only from the right, but also from his "friends" on the left.
We certainly can expect the unrelenting attack from those so-called "Patriotic Americans" on the political and religious right. That's what they do. The Republicans and the Right Wing "Independents" are good at gamesmanship. And, they have the for-profit-media standing right behind them.
The for-profit-media is sure to repeat and sometimes distort, ad nauseam, every bit of news that might help the right wing reactionaries win the game and make more money for those who employ them.
But this is not a game. There is a lot at stake. What is at stake here is how we will move ahead as a country. What is at stake is who we will be, and what we will stand for.
So, why aren't the President's "friends" standing behind him, helping him to succeed at what he is trying to do?
That is an important question to consider. We know that the Democratic Party is a big tent. Democrats don't always stand together. While I would like to think that members of my party would work better together to support our President, it just doesn't work that way.
The thing is, it's not just our representatives in government who are not standing together to enable our President to enact the change that is needed. It is a lot of us out here who are expecting perfection. And, perfection is hard to achieve.
The Liberals or Progressives out here need to learn how to play the game. We need to learn that the way to progress is to simply take one step at a time. And, we need to learn that if we are knocked down, we must help each other get back up to get back in the game.
If we are to progress, we have to stop biting the back of the man who is doing his best to accomplish something substantial. We elected Barack Obama. Now let us help him do what we elected him to do. Let's stand behind him and protect his back.
Voltaire said; "Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien."
The translation of this quote has been cited as;
"The best is the enemy of good."
Or more commonly translated as; "
The perfect is the enemy of the good."
Let us not let our quest for perfection get in the way of accomplishing great good! Let us stand together as teammates and stay in the game.
One of the new calendars i got for 2010 was the was the daily "A YEAR WITH OBAMA" calendar. The entry for the Saturday-Sunday January 9 & 10, was a quote from a speech President Obama gave in Istanbul, Turkey on April 7th, 2009.
This is what he said; "I want you to know that the world will be what you make of it. You can choose to build bridges instead of building new walls. You can choose to put aside longstanding divisions in pursuit of lasting peace. You can choose to advance a prosperity that is shared by all people and not just a wealthy few."
I believe we can change the world. We can wish for peace and prosperity for all the people of the world. It takes one heart at a time and one simple action at a time.
So today, as we listen to the news of the events in Haiti since the earthquake, I am struck with how difficult it is to even get the the aid we want to give to help with the needs of the people of that unfortunate country in such difficult circumstances. This inability to get the aid on the ground and to the people who need it can make us feel helpless.
Nevertheless, we must try and do our best to help in any way we can. Of course, those who can, are volunteering to go in person to assist in the work at hand. The rest of us can donate to those aid organizations who are in a position to help immediately. And, we can, and we should, take a moment to work from spirit.
We can keep those who suffer around the world in our hearts and prayers. We can send them our our love and our best wishes for comfort in the moment and for a better future. We can be kind to our neighbor, and remember that, "but for the grace of God go we".
We must try try to help in every way we can. Let's donate what we can and give what we can, but let's not forget to take the take the time to work from spirit. Thoughts have power. Let's use ours.