RE: Group Reflections

[Rod &lt;Cameron&gt;</li>]

The group voice is the American voice-- diverse points of view clamoring for approval and recognition.  Listen carefully and you will hear not discord, but harmony (apologies to Walt Whitman).  Every voice in this deliberation speaks in the name of traditional American ideals: freedom, equality, justice.  But, sadly, they do not speak here to celebrate those ideals, but to sound a warning of that which threatens them-- an indifferent and uninformed populace, and an inaccessible and dishonored political system.  It is a riddle to all of us: which came first?  It is easy to blame the PACs and lobbyists, wealthy candidates, big business, special interests, bad schools and inattentive media.  But in the end, the undeniable responsibility lies, in our system of government, with the voter armed only with a ballot and the politician.  

Where we differ is in our analysis of what obstacles stand as a barrier between that voter and politician, what tools are needed to break down that barrier.  All our thoughts on this are but speculation.  It may be the truth is known only by those in power.  So we are left wandering in the night, lamp held high, searching for one honest politician.  

What we must do is to continue to hold the lamp high because the search is worth it.