Desperate for sunlight

We attended a house party for Heath Shuler the other night.

Shuler is running for Congress, hoping to unseat incumbent Congressmen Charles Taylor, who represents some 656,000 of us in the 11th Congressional District of North Carolina. It was, of course, a partisan affair where even Congressman Taylor’s name could not be spoken aloud, and images of the low character of Republicans were part of casual conversation. Too partisan for our tastes.

We don’t believe Charles Taylor is a man of low character. Nonetheless we’re certainly looking with great interest upon any and all Democrats. That includes Heath Shuler, young, inexperienced and hopeful.

Political analysts are predicting Tip O’Neill’s old maxim that, “All politics is local,” may be turned on its head this year. That is to say all politics may be national, what with the War in Iraq dominating everyone’s thoughts.

When Saddam’s statue was torn down, we rejoiced that perhaps we had set a people free. But it is apparent our national leadership let us down and should have forseen the mess we now face. The subsequent bungled management has only made things worse, costing lives and national wealth. In return, we are reaping not a safer world, but an angrier, more dangerous world. It may not be time to pull out, but that does not alleviate our great disappointment in those who took us there in the first place.

Our complaints, too many to list, include: the rising national debt, the absurd effort to deny global warming and avoid all responsibility, the DeLay/Abramoff scandals, the expanding income gap, the hijacking of faith issues to focus on private acts while public morality goes lacking.

Congressman Taylor has done much for Western North Carolina, and cannot personally be held responsible for every national tragedy. But his party has a cloud over its head, and we’re desperate for some sunlight. – JB