Michael,
With your indulgence, I'll cross-post this from the Open Thread.
Mornin' {Y'all}
I'm going to start today with a tiny bit of blogwhoring, but I think we need to keep our minds, our wits, our history and our goals clearly in focus. So much was sacrificed by so many in the last nearly 300 years to create, steward, hand down and continually perfect the freedoms with which we are blessed.
Dr King (may he rest in blessed peace) said, "We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." It's not going to bend all by itself, though. It is up to us to put a foot down, stop the madness, intolerance, bigotry and war. It's not a "twice every four years go vote" thing. It's a minute-by-minute, situation-by-situation, day-to-day and week-to-week job.
Today of all days, upon the 40th anniversary of Dr King's death, I'd like to honor him with a promise to continually take up that heavy, heavy cross and work for equal justice and equal dignity for all. Unless it's "for all", then the word "justice" is empty.
Let us work together to fill that cup, to the brim and even above the brim. Then and only then, will we have completed the task the Framers set before us. Then and only then, will we be a true, honest, and moral nation. We cannot claim the latter even one second before then.
I said it a long time ago, when the wackogelicals were really beating on GLBTs in order to get elected that being married to my partner of over 12 years is a dream of mine. But for now, that takes a back seat in my goals: the right for us to marry wouldn't mean a damn without those other rights in the Bill of Rights. I still feel that way. Our day will come -- after we restore the Constitution and rule of law. Sometimes the personal wants have to be set aside for the much, much greater good.
The Founders set aside their personal lives to give us this precious gift in the Constitution. The least we can do in respect and honor of their sacrifices is to safeguard our constitutional heritage and pass it down to the succeeding generations -- polished and intact, rather than as a tattered remnant.
As long as I still have it, I intend to use my First Amendment to the fullest for I believe if we don't use those precious ten Amendments, we will surely lose them. You might not agree with what I have said, but I hope you will pause just a moment for reflection upon the monumental task before us.
"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful." John 14:27 (emphasis mine)
