call to discussion

Although it went tragically unheeded, 9/11 was a call to discussion.  Am realizing more & more that what happens in our lives - large & small scale, good & bad, but perhaps especially what feels like bad - is meant to provide fresh perspective, new awareness of even longtime ideas & ideals.  

When the Republican party lost the presidency in both 2008 & 2012, their argument for blocking progressive legislation was that they spoke for the American people, not just the ones who voted.  Now that they are firmly in control of both houses of Congress, the voter is all powerful, a sanctified entity whose will should not cannot will not be denied.  Let the president roll over, the American voter has spoken, even if fewer of them voted than since the mid 1940s.  Now that it's a Republican majority, it is sacrsanct.

Now, just a couple weeks ago, that would have riled me up.  Instead, am finding myself draw to the need for a larger discussion, even if it's just among my Facebook friends.  Should casting a vote give a person a greater say in what policies Congress pursues?  Does the fact that voters overwhelmingly put the GOP in the driver's seat negate the 2012 presidential election that gave Barack Obama - again - the power of the presidency, including veto power?

These are questions that call out for deep consideration.  As a people, we've gotten so used to going off half-cocked when triggered by events that it feels we've forgotten the concept of talking about things, about considering different angles, of striving for the larger view that illuminates our personal beliefs & deepest values.

The past six years deserve some consideration.  They have been amazing.  The election of the first African-American president, giving immediate rise to a an unparalleled coarsening of our American politics & the emergence of the Tea Party.  The passing of the ACA & the backlash against Obamacare.    Citizens United & rulings on gay marriage.  And those are just a smattering.  

With the arrival of the Tea Party, America's electorate has literally changed.  Our national character seems to be changing, seems to be increasingly - and, in some quarters, intentionally - divisive & hostile.  

Let us have a conversation with wide-ranging views.  Let us act like the educated elite, now reviled where they were honored, that once helped the USA be a land of laws & reason.  Let the last six years become a discussion about who we are, where we are going, and why.  We might not reach agreement, but - done rightly - we will be more informed & able to work across our personal aisles.