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"As I think back, I remember all the hope and promise that I felt for the future, seemingly summed up so well in this innocuous ditty, as I watched them all, Bill & Hillary, Al & Tipper, boogie their way into winning the election that year."
Not a bad song, not from one of my favorite groups, but somehow it seemed perfectly right as the "unofficial" theme song for the Clinton/Gore campaign of 1992. Middle of the road pop/rock, maybe, but it was still a clear sign that this ticket was "not your father's democratic party." Because of a past life as a rock n' roll guitarist playing in "cover bands," I had fond memories of the tune. It was a sure-fire crowd pleaser, always got people on the dance floor, and kept the sales of thirst quenching brewskis humming. So I got quite a kick out of hearing it in the background of so many campaign events -- made me want to get up, grab a beer, and boogie! And if it made Tipper want to get up and boogie too, so much the better! As I think back, I remember all the hope and promise that I felt for the future, seemingly summed up so well in this innocuous ditty, as I watched them all, Bill & Hillary, Al & Tipper, boogie their way into winning the election that year. Little did I know that eight years later it would take on a more profound and ominous meaning.
(Fade to black...)
Now, as we stand at such a critical juncture in our nation's history; we should all be thinking a lot about tomorrow; we should all be thinking a lot about the future, we should all be thinking a lot about the judgment of history! Our actions or inactions during this, one of the gravest constitutional crises that our country has ever faced, will determine the shape and the character of the America that we bequeath to the future. As the world's most powerful country -- and until recently, the grandest expression of the social experiment known as Democracy and a beacon to oppressed people everywhere -- our successes and failures in this crisis will inevitably influence the history of the world.
In my opinion, the very survival of our country's 225 year-old way of government is at stake. The future of our Democracy will be decided within the next few years, one way or the other. Will it continue to grow from it's lofty but imperfect beginnings, and through it's struggle with the identity crisis of slavery? Will it continue to evolve in its attempts to secure for all of its citizens the rights and freedoms so audaciously imagined by its founders? Or will it mutate into a thinly veiled theocracy controlled by an unholy alliance of corporate greed and religious fundamentalism? A government controlled by self-appointed interpreters of a 225 year-old political document, and a 2000 year-old religious one? We must make a choice; this is our burden. A fate none of us has asked for, a burden that many of us may want to shirk, but a choice that we will nonetheless make, even if it's through our inaction. We are at the crossroads, and the verdict of history is waiting.
(Fade again...)
So there we have it - a title of a pop song, a campaign theme, and a challenge - "yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone...Don't stop thinking about tomorrow...".
Robert C
New York
NEXT: "CLINTODERM CJ© FOR ADDICTS"
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