A Moment of Political Clarity

I suppose it's typical after an election to do one's best to be conciliatory. Both the President and John Kerry, to their credit, did superbly in their respective post-election speeches to put aside the bitter battle for the White House and implore Americans to come together again.

This is perhaps our brief moment of national political clarity. Make no mistake about the ongoing presence of partisan feelings in Washington, around the country and even around the world (did you hear: the London Mirror thinks we're all idiots...). But they stifled their vitriol and said to the nation, "let's get on with it."

This is how politics and government should be. The business of government should not be to play people against each other or to perpetuate stereotypes in order to galvanize supporters. We should call for our leaders to make political campaigns LESS WWF and MORE C-SPAN. Fewer histrionics and more genuine problem solving. Less Joseph Goebbles and more Winston Churchill.

While this may take the basal entertainment value out of politics, we will more than make up for it with good, sound policy making and leaders that are focused on successfully attacking the task at hand rather than creaming their opponents. After all, we don't pay our leaders in order to watch them fight, we pay them to make good policy.

Propaganda does not becomes us. Our nation is too great, our principles too honorable to sink to smoke & mirrors and sleight of hand instead of informed discourse and honest debate. The problems and the times we face are far too grave to preoccupy ourselves with mud slinging. Let us bring the best of ourselves to these obstacles, that we might overcome them. Let our victory be in the grand solution, not in the successful character assassination.

Here's hoping our post-election moment of clarity stays around for a while. There's important work to be done.