'We understand why children are afraid of darkness but why are people afraid of light?' ~Plato
Since our president's blog has transcended from being a campaign vehicle to a mouthpiece for promoting his agenda to and through the public, then it should be presumed (as he has constantly reminded us) that he wants all points of views and all parties "at the table" to put together reform. The current agenda, as seen on this homepage, is health care reform.
Unfortunately, strategy meetings at the white house have not included all parties but, rather, those individuals from organizations such as Planned Parenthood who have helped him form his personal views and political policies. In the latest of these meetings, attendees were told to remind them (that would be you and me) why we needed his reform package. This doesn't sound like bringing all parties to the table. It is definitely not collaboration in the democratic sense, which Princeton University's Wordnet defines as coaction or acting jointly ( http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=collaboration&sub=Search+WordNet&o2=&o0=1&o7=&o5=&o1=1&o6=&o4=&o3=&h= ) . However, the second definition given of collaboration perhaps is more fitting: "act of cooperating traitorously with an enemy that is occupying your country" . From that view, we can then understand his private strategy sessions with those who have helped form his reform package, and then public appearances before audiences of those with opposing views (identified by the media as conservatives, and by Janet Napolitano as terrorists). This, however, is not collaboration but, rather, the same old politics we have always had in this country. It is simply
dressed up a bit using these social networking methods, and soothing words to make us want to belong to the phenomenon of Barak Obama. It is a delft move towards becoming the strong "in crowd" and, just like those cliques we all remember and most hated in school growing up, the "most cool" person at the lead of the clique made us want to be part of his group. Even once inside and belonging, we knew what he said did not always "jive". So now we get to be part of a nationwide "in-group", led to believe we have input into the agenda when actually we are being used as the vehicle for promoting and putting the agenda into action. That is an entirely different thing than true inclusion.
There are always a few of us outliers whose conscience cannot accept duplicity. We have a long history; a few thousand years at least, and a few hundred years in this country alone:
"Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful." (Samuel Johnson 1709-84)
Our forefounders knew this, and created a government for the Land of the Free. Not the Land of the Dominated. Nor the Land of the Fooled.
This blog, then, is for the outliers who see truth as ultimately greater than inclusion.
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