Poosey Digest: What’s good, what’s right, and what we really are

I am not a rabble-rouser, I swear. I’ve never led a protest march and since at my stage of life a sit-in would eventually involve a get-up, I’ll pass on that. That’s why it seems strange that I’d like to lead a march on Washington.

Okay, there’s nothing new about that. Everybody marches on Washington… veterans, the million-man groups, civil rights organizations, assemblies of women, and advocates of everything imaginable. Like my waistline, my march is a bit broader. I’d simply make a modest proposal that everyone march on Washington. I won’t even ask you to protest because we’re not complaining about anything.

In the coming months we’re going to hear a pot load of high-priced slime slung back and forth across the election trails, and a person who didn’t know better would think the U.S. is the most dysfunctional nation on the planet. Democrat or Republican, if you’ve got a lick of sense you’ll be embarrassed by what you’ll see, hear and read as both political parties show that the quickest way to a man or woman’s vote is with bucket of PAC-funded slop.

That’s why we need to march on Washington…by the millions. We need to block the roads, tie-up the airports, and put a strain on the cities utilities with our sheer numbers.

The agenda is simple: Take your summer trip to our nation’s capital. Don’t shout, don’t wave a sign, and if TV cameras show up just smile.

Stand in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Gaze up into the marble face carved out by Daniel French and see the sadness in the eyes of a President who knew what it was like to have his nation torn apart by rancor and division. Walk around to the side of the statue where the 16^thPresident’s Second Inaugural Address is inscribed. Read of how even in what should have been a triumphant time for the North, Lincoln spoke of reconciliation, of forgiveness, of a need to understand and care for one another.

Walk on down the street to stand on the portico of the Jefferson Memorial. Jefferson stands there looking directly at the White House, as if wondering what sort of men and women might follow him in the office. Turn to the southwest wall and read his, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal…” And as you stand there, silently put in the names of every race and creed you know.

Then move your family on down to the world’s tallest stone structure, the giant obelisk at the end of the National Mall. Let the spirit of George Washington speak to you, encourage your children to crane their necks to look to the monument’s top-most point, tell them about how Washington first guided our nation by gazing into a hopeful unknown.

You’ll not run out of inspirational sights…the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the DC War Memorial, the tribute to those who died in Vietnam, Iwo Jima, Korea, the Pentagon and 911. They’re all places of profound silence at most times of day as even the most jaded tourists are struck with the magnitude of what they represent.

So let’s load up the busses. Let’s pack the SUV’s, buy the plane tickets, hop on board the trains and converge upon Washington, not to protest, but to remind ourselves that despite what an embittered Congress and a pandering election campaign may say about us, that is not us. Let the Tea Partiers join hands with the Progressives, the Right to Life-ers walk right beside the Women’s Choice folks….traditional family advocates looking into the eyes of Lincoln beside those preferring alternative lifestyles.  Let’s clog the National Mall with Americans who cling to the tolerance that makes our nation the envy of the world, the fairness and forgiveness proclaimed by these great figures.

Many of the world’s great religions put great stock in the idea of “making pilgrimage,” a journey to their faith’s most holy place. Americans have never put much stock in king making or the worship of monuments, but we hold common ideals that can best be portrayed in stone and steel in our nation’s capital.

And if there’s a child anywhere in the vicinity, grab that little hand. Tell her to ignore what she hears from the talking heads on TV. Advise him to look instead into the eyes of Lincoln, the mind of Jefferson, the heart of Washington. Pray that some day she will bring her children here to be reminded what’s good, what’s right, and what we really are.

You ever ’round Poosey, stop by. We may not answer the door but you’ll enjoy the trip.