In recent weeks and months, the children’s story about the emporer’s new clothes has often come to mind. I love the diversity that IS this nation. I cherish the freedom we each have to say what we think. I prefer to refrain from pointing fingers and name-calling, but common sense somehow puts me in the proverbial role of the child who broke the silence of his community as he verbalized the thoughts of many: “Look! The king has no clothes…”

I wonder if this is one of those times when we need to be “wise as serpents, yet harmless as doves”…

Is anyone else as bumfuzzled as I?  While ideas currently “in vogue” (in power?) may have their bases in some areas of reality, surely, SURELY there are better ways to deal with the issues than to stoop to the basest parts of humanity, running rough-shod over dissenting voices or different perspectives!

Try as I might, I cannot keep my head buried in the sand. Watching this evening’s news, I am reminded that the system of checks and balances built into the fabric of this great nation – these systems put in place by people far more savvy than I – are still at work, still providing a voice of reason, still helping knit us together as a truly great nation.