The Better Angels of Our Nature?!?!?!?

Yesterday, Figgins and I heard Senator Ted Kennedy endorse Senator Barack Obama, as his choice for the Democrat Party's 2008 Presidential Nominee. Kennedy did an expert job with what I recognized as an old-style-politics approach to whip the audience into a frenzy. To me, this approach magnified the irony of the current "Change Candidate" exulting in the endorsement of a man who has been in the U.S. Senate since 1962. But, whip them into a frenzy he did. The challenge for Figgins and I, as we listened, was trying to find substance in Kennedy's passion-evoking rhetoric. For us, this reached its peak when Kennedy described Obama by saying, "... he also has an uncommon capacity to appeal to the better angels of our nature." At that, we just cocked our heads and looked at each other. Though neither of us said a word, you could tell we were both thinking, "What the heck does that mean?!"

Since this is Figgins' first time around with a Presidential campaign, I knew we would need to draw on my experience, in order to try to answer that question. As I thought back and as I considered that much of the endorsement event's rhetoric made allusions comparing Obama to JFK, I realized something about this comment did seem familiar. It did remind me of feelings that had been stirred up in me by JFK's Presidential candidacy when I was just a young teenager. Though I probably couldn't have pointed out a single thing I objected to with the Eisenhower administration or with the heir-apparent, Richard Nixon, there was just something excitingly appealing about that handsome young Kennedy, his beautiful young Wife, their idyllic young family and the emotions he aroused with his rhetoric.

Reflecting on the time of JFK's Presidential candidacy ... what that time was like and how I felt then ... was an interesting reverie for me. But, of course, looking back, I couldn't limit my consideration to just that "moment in time". I, also, had to consider what followed that time. In my view, much of what followed that time causes me concern for what could follow the present time. A time when, like those days of "Camelot", we elected a President who's rhetoric was inspiring but, in many significant instances, it lacked substance.

With these things in mind then, I knew it was important for me to respond to this question with advice for Figgins. Advice I'd like to pass along to all of America's youth, who are getting involved in Presidential politics for the first time. Advice that comes from lessons I didn't begin to fully grasp until I was nearly thirty years old. My advice would encourage our youth to be as fully involved as they can be in the Presidential election process and that there is nothing wrong with getting excited about a particular candidate. Likewise, there's nothing wrong with looking to a leader for inspiration ... in fact, the ability to inspire is an excellent leadership quality. But, most importantly, before you commit yourself to a candidate, be sure they have the substance to match. If they inspire you by talking about "change", demand to know in detail "change from what and to what". And when they use rhetoric that makes your pulse race, discipline yourself to ask, "What the heck does that mean?!" and don't rest until you have a crystal clear answer.

Greater Love ...

Of course, the biggest story of this week has been the tragedy of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. For those as young as Figgins, I'm sure its particularly stunning, not having encountered this sort of thing before. I'm among those who still remember details of what they were doing when they heard of JFK's assassination. So, I've encountered this sort of thing before but that doesn't mean I can fully explain it to others, especially those who are dealing with it for the first time.

Naturally, the most common question seems to be "Why?!" The answer to "Why?!" these sort of things happen seems simpler to me. You can label it however you see fit but for me, its just sin. The more challenging question for me is "Why?!" would someone like Benazir Bhutto knowingly and willingly put herself in a position where this was so likely to happen. She was an attractive, intelligent, woman of means who was married, with children. She had twice-served as Pakistan's Prime Minister, already. And, she did this in the face of facts that included: her Father had been hanged by a former President of Pakistan, her Brother had been assassinated, her Husband had been labeled as corrupt, she had been exiled and the day she returned to Pakistan, she was greeted with an assassination attempt similar to the one that ended up taking her life. And yet, she vowed that none of this would deter her political campaign or her fight for human rights. "Why?!"

Ironically, the most common response I've been hearing to answer this paraphrases the Gospel of John, when Jesus says, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." I say "Ironically" because Benazir Bhutto was Muslim, not Christian. But the irony doesn't mean its not true. What Jesus said applies to anyone, regardless of their gender, faith, nationality, etc. Benazir Bhutto did, knowingly and willingly, lay down her life for her friends. My hope and prayer is that Benazir Bhutto's friends ... her fellow-Pakistanis ... will honor her by keeping her great love alive in themselves and to allow it to continue to propel them towards the goals of democracy Benazir Bhutto had in mind for them.

As Figgie and I considered all this, a renewed sense of thankfulness emerged. Thankfulness that we live in a nation that Benazir Bhutto openly acknowledged as the inspiration for the goals of democracy she had in mind. A nation that has been blessed with Patriots, akin to Benazir Bhutto, from the battlefields of Lexington and Concord to the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq. Patriots, all of whom, rest in the truth and inspiration of those words spoken two thousand years ago ... words that honor them all and today, especially, honor Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto ...

"Greater love hath no man than this,

that a man lay down his life for his friends."