Now that I am finally home and processing the journey, there has been time to catch up on politics and policy through blogs, diaries and video.

When I hit play on Mccain’s ad, the Summer of Love, every other sound in the house and neighborhood faded into a distant hum. Transfixed by the manipulation of Obama’s campaign message of hope and change, as well as the patriotism of the 60’s generation, I hit play again. Repeat.

Mark, blogging for News Corpse, offers an acute psychological assessment of the ad. Of course, anyone with sound mind recognizes McCain doesn’t have one. Sure, that’s snarky, but honestly, at this juncture we should be traveling upward in our evolution and I’ve simply had enough of those in power who prohibit it.
The article acknowledges the gravity of being a prisoner of war, while drawing the important conclusion that while McCains’ sacrifice was commendable, it is precisely the thing that restrains him.

“The fact that McCain cannot recognize the importance of that era, and the contributions of citizens who lived through it, is representative of a larger problem for him. The time he spent in captivity was a defining time for those of us back home. There were so many socially profound events that altered just about everyone who lived through them. John McCain was not one of them. The history that shaped millions of Americans, McCain only heard about secondhand, after the fact.”

So it may not be so surprising that McCain is trapped in a time warp, unable to relate to a country and world that shared these tumultuous experiences, but from which he was excluded. It may explain his hostility to a generation that was arguably more engaged in public service and community activism than any generation before or since.”

The article’s author was able to extrapolate on the sickening in my stomach. I am infuriated by this recurring implication that those involved in peaceful civic engagement do not share the same love of country as those who use weapons to fight for it. These antiquated ideas are still embedded deeply in the American consciousness and often interfere with our ability to apply new approaches to old problems. I see it in our leaders and I have seen it in thousands of my fellow countrymen-regardless of age.

“The announcer declares it a time of “uncertainty, hope and change,” skillfully associating uncertainty with two words that have become iconic within Barack Obama’s campaign. It then proceeds to insult an entire generation by asserting that McCain had “another kind of love - of country,” thereby implying that young Americans in the 60’s and 70’s were less than patriotic. As one of them I can assure you that it wasn’t because we hated our country that we dedicated ourselves to peace, civil rights, and free expression. Are those unpatriotic aspirations?”

What I have found is that all humans have very similar needs, convoluted by the various strategies by which we obtain them. Not only am I disenchanted by political leaders who make it difficult to navigate what many see as an obtainable common ground, but also by the leaders of so called progressive movements.

To finish reading this article, check out the website the art of the possible. This is the first article out of many that I will blog for them about my thoughts on the Peace movement!

Obnoxious video in question: