Open Letter

A little change of pace here, mainly to show that although there are many things that need changing, I pray there is one aspect of my life that will never change. That is the love of my life, Meghan. She is not only my wife and the mother of my children, she is beyond doubt the most amazing person I have ever met. She has conquered so many difficulties in her life, and she has emerged from them as a strong, intelligent, beautiful woman. She is my rock, and her love is the solid foundation upon which all things in my life are now built.

When I was growing up, I would dream of my wife, thinking of the life that I wanted to make with this woman. Meghan has made all those dreams come true, and even more. We will have a lifetime together, but every day is truly precious with her. Everything that I dream and hope will come in the future, with my career, with our family, with our country and world, cannot be achieved without her. We will walk this path together, and I cannot think of a better, more amazing person to hold hands with. My love forever.

Discovery

As a child of the Seventies, I remember hearing and reading about what life was going to be like when we were adults. Basically, we were all going to be living on the moon (Space 1999), or living in wonderful cities (Logan's Run, but without the color crystals and enforcers and killing and such), or living in space stations (from Star Trek all the way down to my Scholastic magazine). Of course this wonderful view of the future had been in vogue for the course of the 20th century - from H.G. Wells to Metropolis to Buck Rogers - but it seemed that it really going to happen. We had actually been to the moon, and it seemed only a matter of time that we would be going back, this time forming colonies and stations. Well, here we are thirty years later, and what changes there have been seem pretty small. We have better cars, but they are still cars running on gas. We have computers, cell phones and microwaves, but really they have just better typewriters, regular telephones, and ovens. But what is really frustrating is that there was not the big leap, where poverty was eliminated or reduced, where ignorance and bigotry were a thing of the past, where the world would embrace all nations, races, and religions. Instead, more people then ever, both in the U.S. and the world, are barely surviving, racial and religious wars and hatreds are growing, and despite all the world's knowledge now available to everybody via the internet, we still don't understand each other.

What we need is that next big discovery, where live as we know it is changed forever. Change seems to be handled best by the human race when it is evolutionary instead of revolutionary, but a big shakeup would probably be good for us right about now. Maybe it is finding a cheap and clean power source. Maybe it is a health discovery, like curing cancer or AIDS. Maybe it is a new economic tool or model, or a new philosophy, or even a new favor of Coke. We just need something positive to make everyone stop and say "This life is about more than controlling resources, destroying your political adversary, or what Nicolette Sheridan was not wearing on Monday Night Football." Maybe it will come, maybe it won't. But we should keep striving towards that big discovery in whatever we do. Because who knows? Maybe that can of Diet Low-Carb Lime Cherry Cola Coke will be fueling our cars someday.

Changes

The world is changing. It always is. But it seems that we are about to go through one of those seismic changes that is only suppose to come around once a generation. But this would be the third one in my lifetime, and this one will be the rubber match. The first one was great: the fall of communism in Europe and Russia, the end of the Cold War and the threat of global nuclear war. The second shift has been for the worse: the globalization of radical Islamic fundamentalism and the related threat of terrorism. This has lead to September 11th, Afghanistan, and the Iraq invasion. And now the third one, which I feel will come from the death of some of the most influential world leaders of the later part of the 20th century. It has already started with the death last night of Arafat. At some point in the near future, Pope John Paul, Fidel Casto, the Dai Lama and others will pass away, leaving huge power vacuums in structures that directly or indirectly affect billions of people. Who will fill those positions? What changes will they bring to the world around them? They could possibly bring peace to the Middle East, change centuries-old social stigmas, open up the Caribbean for economic growth, and help bring the most populist nation in the world closer to openness and democracy. Or the entire Middle East could be swept into war, religious schisms could ripe the whole fabric of a faith apart, an entire population could be denied freedom and continue to affect American policies, and shove China towards crackdown and conflict.

And we don't know what will happen. But it is sure that these changes will come down to all of us and affect us in ways we cannot fathom today. But there are other changes coming, changes that will be from the bottom up, changes that will make this a better world, and hopefully will make the death of old terrorists (or freedom fighters) not such a scary proposition.

A Passage to Blog - Beginnings

Where to begin? This blog is to act as a walk-up call, a virtual call-to-arms to my country, my party, my family and friends, and most importantly myself. Last week I was standing in line to vote, confident that my vote was not going to affect the race for president, but also confident that my guy was going to win. Four years of bad leadership and bad policies on taxes, the war on terror, the war in Iraq, world trade, the environment, international relations, the economy, the budget, it all would be wiped away. I found Air America on the internet, listening closely at work while Franken and the rest of the hosts sounded upbeat and continued everybody to vote. I got my kids tucked in for the night, and then rushed down to watch the results. And then it started. The vote total started to get away. The electoral college tally started to get away. Florida never got close. No big upsets in West Virginia, Arkansas, or Missouri. Finally at 2 in the morning, I was just staring at Ohio, knowing that the red wasn't going to fade away, and then one thought got into my head that a lot of other people in the nation were probably thinking under a happier context: Four More Years.

But what to do with those years? Do I just spend it like I did the previous four, happily married, watching the wonderful birth of our second son, collecting a paycheck, taking care of our house, going on a couple of vacations, but merely watching events unfold that you know in your heart are going to destroy this great country and planet? The thing is, a lot of people would kill for my life. And I wouldn't not trade it for the world. But there has to be more. Remember when you thought you could change the world. Then you wake up, you are in your thirties, and you have bills to pay, obligations to meet, and diapers to change, not worlds.

But that too can change. I believe that we can do it all, have families, have great relationships with our spouses, children, family and friends, but still leave an impact on this world that will not fade. How to do it? Damned if I know. But that is what this will be about. A search for that more perfect world and life. It will be a progressive search, in terms of politics, religion, world view, and rock & roll. So I hope you enjoy the search along with me, and if the truth happens to smack you upside your head along the way, there are three more words to remember: Share, Share, Share!