Truth, Justice and the American Way

Given the silliness that is going on in our political sphere, I had to use this space for a brief rant. No, this is not going to be a political blog, but the stakes are so high that I can't keep silent. Blame it on my youth as a near-professional protester (I have the bailbond receipts to prove it!). Blame it on a cloudy day. Blame it on waking up on the pessimistic side of the bed at oh-dark-hundred.

I keep waiting for our political leaders to show some degree of maturity. If you've raised children -- your own, others, as a teacher, or in some other capacity -- you know that one sign of maturity is accepting responsibility. When a glass lies broken on the kitchen floor, the immature child says, "it got broke." The more mature child tries to blame someone else, "not me. Sissy did it." And the mature child says, "I broke it."

We have a broken economy, a broken national budget, and the worst international image in history. So, as I watch our elected leaders squabble over how to save our way of life through saving the economy (and grabbing pork all over the place), I see more of "it got broke" and "they broke it," rather than "we all broke it and it's time to work together to fix it."

Or maybe we just need Superman to swoop down, blast the greedy guys, shore up the economy and set us all on the right path. Instead of truth and justice, we have greed and finger pointing. I hate to think that this has become the American way.

Introducing Me

Born in Washington, DC, I was raised in Southern California where I ran wild with coyotes in the hills above Malibu. Although I protested the war in Vietnam, burned my bra for feminism, and am a social liberal but a fiscal conservative, I ultimately realized I had to earn a living. After spending way too many years in college, in the process earning an undergraduate degree and three graduate degrees, I entered the military-industrial complex after an academic career as a student and teacher. I count myself a survivor of the corporate brainwashing, because I still have the ability to think. Not outside the box or any other cliche, but creatively and objectively. Married for nearly twenty-five years to the same man, I am a writer, a thinker, the mother of three grown stepchildren, companion and friend. I find time to work with young women, mentoring them to succeed in the workplace without losing their identity, write fiction, play golf, sail, hike and read. I write on ecological issues for two local newspapers and frequently publish essays in regional magazines. I love riding behind my husband on his motorcycle. You'll have to decide for yourself if and where I have a tattoo.