You arrive on the scene of a structure fire.
Defying thousands of years of self-preservation instinct, you go inside, on your hands and knees, feeling along the wall on your right, visibility zero, searching for victims.
You find one.
The victim is inert, unresponsive.
It’s possible they have stopped breathing.
It’s possible they are in full arrest.
It’s possible they have all kinds of other injuries.
All these things desperately need attention.
But not right now.
Now is not the time to think about any of that, because you're in an environment that is immediately life-threatening, and the threat is about as imminent as imminent can get.
Right now, your job is to get that victim OUT of the burning house, because if you don’t do that, none of the rest of it will matter.
So you drag the victim out of there.
Then and ONLY then can you turn your attention to the victim’s injuries.
The 2008 Election is a lot like that.
I don’t have any illusions about Mr. Obama.
I don’t think there’s a substantial difference between his platform and the platform of Mr. McCain. There MIGHT be a SLIVER of a difference, that MIGHT mean a POSSIBILITY of improvement with Obama that does NOT exist with McCain.
And maybe not.
But it seems to me that the immediately life-threatening environment of a McCain-Palin administration makes it urgent to drag the country out of there as quickly as possible.
No doubt about it, the government is unresponsive.
Maybe our national heart has stopped beating.
Maybe our country cannot be revived.
All these things desperately need attention.
But not right now.
Right now, our job is to get the country OUT of that burning house, because if we don’t, none of the rest of it will matter.
So I’m going to go in and try to drag the victim out of there, by voting for Mr. Obama, because I think then and ONLY then can we turn our attention to our country’s injuries.
I won’t like it.
I’d rather vote for a good man, a man who’s demonstrably honest and the best man for the job, which, in my opinion, is Mr. Nader.
But then, I’d rather that house wasn’t on fire, too.
sj
6 comments:
Statistical insignificance nonwithstanding--I still believe in hope. Not stupidity, but hope.
K
Indeed.
The trick is to know the difference.
sj
SJ..I agree with your choice, and am glad you are going to vote. You must think Fe and I are a pain in the butt. What is happening with Brandy? Did you ever use an Indian Bosal, and if so, what do you think?
Lori
Holy Xxxx, and Blessed Be! :-)
(And, I feel your analogy.)
Thanks Lori. I'm not sure I agree with my choice.
Brandy is getting a rest; turned her out into a paddock with better shelter, due to the weather. We'll see what happens when we get together again.
Haven't tried that Indian Bosal, but it's at the top of my list.
sj
Thanks, Coyote.
I'll be holding my nose on voting day, no matter what. I'm not sure I can bring myself to vote for a "lesser evil."
In a free Republic, voting should be a ritual that celebrates liberty and equal justice under the law.
Instead, it's a chore closer to scraping dog dung off the heel of my boot.
Got to change that.
sj
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