We Reach For The Stars

it's easy to blame...it's easy to complain...and it's easy to make excuses. it's hard to accept...it's hard to understand...and it's hard to take responsibility. but in light of the president's speech tonight, it is upon all of us to seek the humility and the humanity that we seemed to have lost.

except, in the wake of tragedies like the one this past saturday in tuscon, there are never any words to say or actions that can be taken that will ease the pain and suffering of the victims.

at these moments, we look to our leaders to guide us. and though sometimes i hope that aaron sorkin would come to the rescue and put his rhetorical magic into the mouths of our public speakers, i know jeb bartlett will only speak to the "streets of heaven being too crowded with angels" in the annals of television history.

but sometimes, reality surprises us. oratory, when given well, has the ability to move us like music and deliver us an emotion that we could not have conjured ourselves. and while the president's speech tonight touched on many issues: anger, acceptance, humility, hope, and remembrance of those loved and lost...i will focus on his foresight and desire to see what we can be in light of what we are. expectations...to ourselves and to each other...all summed up in the eyes of a nine year old girl, a role model for the innocence and optimism that our country and political arena are built on, that too often we forget.

"i want to live up to her expectations, i want our democracy to be as good as christina imagined it, i want american to be as good as she imagined it. all of us, we should do everything we can do to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations"