Letters to the Editor
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@ ann1960
"This is a make or break election-- and we must do everything in our power to win in November. Wanna win? Then act like you love this country."
This is the crux of the dilemma!
You're presenting a view close to the "win at all costs" side of the spectrum, which has merit.
But it also has downsides, especially, imo, longterm.
If the only way we can win is by pretending to be who we're not because it's expected of us, what sort of damage does this do to society?
To me, as a black person, this is precisely the kind of thinking that leads to the tolerance of racism and the persecution of the Jews, etc.
Once you go down that road of pretending for the sake of short-term benefit, you legitimize opinions that might ultimately prove far more destructive than the outcome of one election.
I don't want to just win this election, but I want to win it with a clear mandate.
I don't want a candidate who's beholden to mindless patriotism because this mindless patriotism is itself a deep part of the problem.
As Obama says, he doesn't just want to end this war, but to end the mindset that got us into the war.
That's profound stuff and risky.
He might not be able to pull it off, but at least he presents a model of what that would look like.
It's about telling the truth.
It's about not pandering, at least on this issue.
It's about calling a spade a spade, you know?