Just Dreaming
Kip Ward
Posted: 04.27.2008 / 3:16 PM EDT
We all do it. We judge people. We are always evaluating and then reevaluating when we get more information. We tend to judge people by what they say and do. I think that’s why spin was invented. It is kind of a “get out of jail free card” for misbehavior. When I grew up my parents called it lying. And as children, if we were caught lying we were held strictly accountable. And to be caught lying was shameful. I guess not so much anymore. By the time everything is spun around it is hard to tell anything about anybody. I guess it all depends upon what “is” is.
I have a theory. I think you could tell a lot about the inner workings of someone if you could have insight into their dreams. Dreams define a person’s intent, which in turn defines their character. Can anyone imagine looking into the fantasies of Adolph Hitler? Would anyone have followed him? Sometimes as a member of the public, we get a break and we are allowed to see into the dreams of public people. Sometimes they even share them with us.
Dr. King had dreams. And he told us about them. He dreamed about the “highway to freedom” and about non-violence. He shared with us his dreams of winning the friendship and understanding of the white man. He dreamt of respect and dignity. We knew everything that we needed to know about him through his dreams.
About a month an a half ago I wrote a column titled “Monkey Talk.” In it I asked Barack and Hillary to stop the contest and unite as a team if they truly wanted to claim the office of President for the Democratic Party. A very good guess would be that neither read my column (not that they would have paid a whit of attention to it if they had.) and well, you know the rest.
So here we are, a month and a half later, with two significantly banged up candidates and now it has turned ugly. Both have diminished the other’s chances of winning the Presidency. And as they have wounded each other the jackals have begun to circle.
And Jackals have dreams too. They dream of riots at the Democratic Convention in Denver and of “Operation Chaos.” They have hate-filled dreams of winning at any cost. But they need Barack’s and Hillary’s help to reach their dreams. And help they have had.
I really hope that if Barack and Hillary can’t unite they at least make an agreement to simply stick to the issues and agree to support each other personally. It would be refreshing and would also give the millions of new voters the right message. After all, there will be ample personal attacks for everyone in the general election.
I dream that Hillary and Barack could just pause the bloodletting and I hope that they take a moment to look at what is circling. I dream that they don’t let the Jackal’s dreams turn into our nightmare.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
I have to say that in reading this blog it struck a cord with me. My life has always been propelled by my ability to dream about the possiblities the future holds. Specifically I dream about the potential of this country because I know what America can do with the correct action. Throughout the course of our history we have showed a resliance and fortitude uparalled in the course of human history because we dared to dream of something that would be greater than any one individual. It this dream that we need to hold onto. As we go farther into this election we need to put aside our petty differences and remember that we have always been at our strongest when we are united. Like Kip I worry that this “bloodletting” will have a negative effect on new voters. I worry that people will lose sight of their dreams and that young people like myself will not realize dreams are not achieved without hard fought battles. Unfortunately “mudslinging” has become a part of our election process. Whether or not anyone see’s it as a good or bad thing I don’t think there is anything we can do about it at this moment. That is why it is imperative to keep hope in the process and sift through all of the negativity put out there. The real questions we must ask is who can help the United States make the transition from the past to the future. I want to thank Kip for writing this article because it helped me to reflect for a moment on what is important in this election. I like everyone else have a tendency from time to time to get caught up in all of negativity that unfolds. At times this makes me unsure of who to vote for in the election. It is articles like these that take me back to my roots, and help me remember why I believe what I believe.