They Did What !

Have you noticed the “need to be right� thing that seems to be going on at all levels of government these days? Being right appears to take precedence over finding solutions, making plans, correcting mistakes, or just generally taking care of business. Regardless of the consequences, the pursuit of this goal is a priority with our elected officials, diplomats, party leaders, talk show hosts, columnists – you name it – they all seem determined to prove their point at the expense of everything else.

This “rightiness� (second cousin to Colbert’s truthiness) paints everything in either/or terms. Either we stay the course or we cut and run. Either we agree with the war or we do not support the troops. Either we concur with everything the government does or we hate America. Everything is black or white, no grey allowed; Yes or No, with no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

The history of our country is peppered with times of dissent but with open minded debate that brought consensus, came growth and improvement for the country and the people. To believe there is only one “right� way is to believe that all people should think alike. I wonder what America would be like today if that was true?

It is possible to disagree with the course we are on in Iraq without thinking the answer is the immediate withdrawal of troops. It is possible to strongly oppose the war and still support the troops with letters, gifts and prayers. It is possible to disagree with some of the actions of our government, not because we hate America but because we love America and want it to be all it can be and has been.

Perhaps we could spend our time and energy examining those grey areas, looking at the ifs, ands, and buts, to see if we can find new and better ways to conduct our business and run our country. For starters we could demand real news instead of slogans and rabble rousing from our media. And we could elect people who are more interested in finding solutions for our problems than in proving their point. Enough already with rightiness.!