A Lively Bunch...

... those Lagunatics! Met with the Democratic Club last night, as planned, and enjoyed the evening enormously. It was HOT in the little hall where we met, with virtually every seat taken, and human bodies adding to the accumulated heat of the day. Even the open windows and main doors did little to relieve the heat, and I was sweating profusely before I got the first piece read. I decided, too late, that I would have done well to have spec'ed out the space a little more thoroughly beforehand, and to have created a better perch from which to read and hold forth. That lack of foresight left me standing throughout, book in hand, with too much energy draining into pacing back and forth.

But I quibble. I found the audience very receptive, very warm to The Bush Diaries and its positions, and generally eager to respond. My hope is that the energy of the reading/performance will help to keep things stirred up as we approach the next election. We can't afford anything approaching a repeat of the Bush disaster, and what I dread is that liberal voters will not have the patience to last out the current, pathetically small Democratic majority and the stonewalling of a stubborn and inflexible president, so convinced of his own rectitude in all matters that he ignores the words and actions of anyone who does not toe his line; and that, as they have begun to do already, they--the liberal voters--will lose sight of the greater need and once again set to squabbling needlessly amongst each other, leaving open the field for another "strong", "decisive" Republican. This is my fear.

I would love to see the troops withdrawn from the Iraq fiasco, this afternoon if not sooner. I would love to see this president and this vice-president impeached, along with their attorney general. They most richly deserve it, and it would be a needed vindication of the power of the Constitution. But not at the larger cost of creating further divisions among passionate and thoughtful democrats, and making them look small-minded, "political," and vindictive. If this country is to rediscover its humanity and its leadership in the world, we liberals need to find the unity of vision and the resolve that have served the right wing so well in the past half-century.

That's why the Buddhist values seem so essentially important to me in our current predicament. Values like compassion. Tolerance. Patience. Generosity. A suspension of animosity. Unselfishness. Breadth of vision. A firm rejection of the ignorance of easy answers... Are you listening, Al Gore?