The dream shall never die...

We're now roughly one week removed from the special election for Senator Kennedy's replacement in Massachusetts. Flared tempers have settled a bit, and we now have the chance to put it all in a bit of perspective. First things first - it's hardly the end of the world if you're a Democrat and it's hardly the indication of the second coming if you're a Republican. Am I disappointed? Yes. Can I give up hope? No. I absolutely refuse to give up hope. At the DNC in the summer of 2004, a young Senate hopeful from Illinois told us that "out of this long political darkness a brighter day will come." There have been days in the past year when that bright day has been dim, but, much to the chagrin of many, the light has yet to be extinguished. "The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die."

What is so disheartening to me is the vast number of people who believe that politics is absolutely black and white. The current political discussion is devoid of rational thought and civil discourse. The Glenn Becks and Keith Olbermanns tend to bring out the worst in us. For the record, I used to love watching Countdown. I'm hoping that Keith will settle down a bit after Jon Stewart called him out this week.

If patience is a virtue, it's clear that DC has a lot to work on. Bush 43 was given eight years to get us where we are today. I think it's only fair we give our current president more than 12 months. He inherited a financial crisis brought on by turning a budget surplus into a record deficit and years of deregulation of the financial services industry. Was he too ambitious to tackle health care reform in the midst of it? Perhaps. But when unemployment is soaring and credit is tightening, tackling the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the country isn't such a bad idea if you actually think about it. He's tried to manage TARP - a baby of a Republican administration - as effectively as possible. The so-called capitalists believe we should just let the banks fail. But seriously, think about what would happen to our economy of BofA failed.

The lesson for all of us is that we can't continue to live in a vacuum. We are all inextricably linked as one people. And the lack of civility that prevails today only hinders our future success. Should everyone think the same? Absolutely not. Government of the people, by the people and for the people depends on different viewpoints, but it also depends on recognizing our common humanity. In his commencement address at Notre Dame this year, the President said "when we open our hearts and our minds to those who may not think like we do or believe what we do, that's when we discover at least the possibility of common ground." I hope you can find some common ground in your life.