The Unclad Soul

When I was a kid growing up in grade school we were graded on our ability to get along with other children. Our report cards listed "citizenship" as a requirement for a student's progress. No one is born a good citizen. Like so many other important lessons in life we learn this from our parents, from the church, from teachers and coaches, and from other significant people in our lives. Hopefully, politicians, people in Congress, military leaders, and others in government are models of good citizenship. But today, we have lost interest in this. There is a distrubing lack of respect for the presidency. Some of it is the result of the behavior of past presidents. Bill Clinton disgraced himself and his office by his crude impulses. George W. Bush was so ill prepared to be president that many of his statements and actions embarassed the nation and diminished his high position. But none of that excuses the raw, obnoxious behavior of so many today who simply disr...

Is it possible that Congress could be more dysfunctional?   It is clear that Republicans, for the most part, will have nothing to do with President Obama.  They dislike him personally.  They say it's not about race, but race keeps coming up from Republican supporters.  Crazy, mean, vicious stuff.   The Democrats seem clueless.  They appear afraid to confront Republican idiocy.  They keep trying to work with them even though the Republicans obviously are not interested.   Meanwhile, nothing substantial gets done in Washington.  The country goes without leaders.  Important legislation is abandoned.  Division grows everywhere.  Blame is shifted from one party to the next.  Even as we continue with two wearisome wars, an oil spill that threatens human and animal life, and an economy that remains so anemic it barely functions except for the ultra rich and connected. Lao Tzu, the sixth century B.C. philosopher, wrote...