Debate reaction

[Zlatko Waterman]

I'm with mtmynd about hope.

Perhaps we should all read this wonderful poem by Emily Dickinson ( someone else from Massachusetts) again?



Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.


--ED

[abcrystcats]

"I don't think Massachusetts is dumb enough to reelected anyone that many times should they be ineffective"

Excellent point, mtmynd. That is something I hope to use to some effect with my parents, along with other points, when issues of "flip-floppiness" and Senatorial absenteeism come up, as they inevitably will. I can't believe those tired old accusations of Bush's are holding any water right now, but the MASS is an ASS -- especially in this country at this time. Has it penetrated anyone's consciousness yet that the job of being Senator is worlds away from the job of being President? Kerry is responsible to his PARTY and his CONSTITUENTS as a Senator. That involves a whole different set of responsibilities and loyalities. Abstaining from voting when, at certain times, he differs from his party may be one of them.

Feel free to correct me if my assumptions are naive. I am vigorously trying to push my parents over the edge to Kerry's side now that they have finally seen the futility of trying to back this President.

As for my brothers: I can count on one to use common sense, logic and instincts in evaluating the candidates, so that's one vote for Kerry.

The other ... well, let's just say he falls into the psychological category mentioned earlier. The transactions on Litkicks earlier in the year finally convinced me that the Army did something terrible to him, and it hasn't gotten fixed. I can accept that, because I seriously believe it isn't his fault. I have to revisit the whole concept of wars and armies at a later date. He never even saw active service, but he's never been the same since his enlistment. That other person I knew seems to have just died. It's very sad.

Yeah, and while we're revisiting Ms. Dickinson, how's this for the opposite effect:

"After great pain, a formal feeling comes --
The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs --
The stiff Heart questions was it He, that bore,
And Yesterday, or Centuries before?

The Feet mechanical, go round --
Of Ground, or Air, or Ought --
A Wooden way
Regardless grown,
A Quartz contentment, like a stone --

This is the Hour of Lead--
Remembered, if outlived,
As Freezing persons, recollect the snow --
First -- Chill -- then Stupor -- then the letting go --"

Is this what we've come to, as a nation? A letting go?

"A Wooden way/Regardless grown,/A Quartz contentment, like a stone --"?

I think this election will answer that question for us all.

[Zlatko Waterman]

Good choice of an ED poem, Cat.

If everyone will simply read the article I posted on this board ( I think it's listed right above this thread) by Desmond Tutu you will get a sense of my frustration and disappointment over neither candidate's taking a firm stand on what Tutu identifies as the main problem. His article on the Burmese peace activist asks the right questions.

--Z