Vigil For Civility

Neither candidate has a claim on these simple, inspiring two words, or course. It is ours, and the dreams of every American patriot are theirs alone, born not out of conferrence, but innate to those who treasure the blessings and responsibilities of liberty.

Please allow these lyrics from two different slices of America’s history inspire you this weekend as we approach the final two days of the vigil. May it never be that the dream fades due to any lack of vigilance or honorable civility in our generation.

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL
Oh beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years.
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.
America! America! God shed his grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.

Then… years later, a more reflective, self-questioning version:

Patriot’s Dream
words and music by Arlo Guthrie

Living now here but for fortune
Placed by fate’s mysterious schemes
Who’d believe that we’re the ones asked
To try to rekindle the patriot’s dreams

Arise sweet destiny, time runs short
All of your patience has heard their retort
Hear us now for alone we can’t seem
To try to rekindle the patriot’s dreams

Can you hear the words being whispered
All along the American stream
Tyrants freed the just are imprisoned
Try to rekindle the patriot’s dreams

Ah but perhaps too much is being asked of too few
You and your children with nothing to do
Hear us now for alone we can’t seem
To try to rekindle the patriot’s dreams

Well I am keeping an eagle eye on the media coverage of potential manipulation and fraud in the election. Remember the focus is on the Presidential election but there is activity that matters “downstream” from the big races. So far so good. I have seen historically partisan newspapers like the San Diego Union Tribune cover a very emotional gay marriage initiative with balance and fairness: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20081031-9999-1n31field.html

I’ve seen commentary in the Huffington Post strike a neutral point of view on the use of underhanded techniques to manipulate the vote.    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/27/better-machinery-and-regi_n_138183.html

However I’ve also seen some pretty amazing claims such as the one by Mayor Bloomberg as reported by  the NY Post where he is claiming no early votes were awarded to Barack Obama. This is worth looking into because a republican mayor is the one leveling the charge.

There will be more allegations, counter charges and outlandish editorials, but so far the media is doing an outstanding job of looking into the claims and doing their job which is to report the truth so we can move forward. This certainly gives me some level of confidence that the fourth estate is helping us as we look for a civil discourse and a fair election.

This may come as a shock to many of you, but believe it or not, there are people out there that doubt our sincerity, and worry out loud that there is another agenda at work here.

My reply to this is simple and comforting. Let’s bring in more authors to blog here. All that is required is that they have a track record of civility and a passion to match in these final days before the election.

This should make the blog more interesting for sure. Go ahead and comment here to be considered. The process, just like the rest of this process is wide open.