Decoder Rings or Shiny Pennies

Back in the golden days of civic participation (the kind that wasn’t tainted with moralistic vitriol, conspiracy theories run amok, and a mass media hoodwinking of the public) everyone lined the edge of the parade route, children perched on dad’s shoulders, waving their little American flags, Moms standing at the ready with their picnic baskets of apple pie and Coca Cola.

Maybe that’s a Norman Rockwell print I saw at my grandparents once, people full of pride, bursting with All-American goodness. It seems to be how we remember ourselves, but not how we think of ourselves today.

What happened? Even if we didn’t live through it, we grasp enough recent history to sense the difference in mood. Just look at the news of that time: from coverage of the moon-walk, to coverage of political assassinations, embattled school-houses, and White House resignations. Now my Grandfather was a Walter Cronkite kind of guy. He knew the issues, took it seriously; was a poll worker on Election Day. And when cable TV news started running all day long during the twilight of his retirement years, he ate it up with a spoon. He held on to the idea that the more information, the better. He trusted the news, believed that people walked on the moon.

But the world kept on spinning and news departments became profit making infotainment centers and “fair and balanced” became the call letters for the Bush Bureau of Misinformation.

These days, some Americans wonder if we really did land on the moon. You know the original footage is missing from the archive, right? It says so on the internet. We seem to have lost our decoder ring of factual truth. But the world is turning again. We are entering a renewed stage of civic participation. And people are figuring out what’s real again.

Reality has wedged its way into our everyday lives in the form of gas price spikes, oddly transforming seasons, healthcare that goes down the drain with lost jobs, and a deficit gifted to the new president like a blanket tainted with smallpox.

It’s time for us all to take a hand in fixing the problems of our day, step up, speak out, and make a difference. We’re not in it to rage with anger or lash out in fear. We are building a community of freedom loving, patriotic people who will work to make the future a hopeful and more prosperous place for our children. And yours. Sure, people can try to fault me for being a partisan. Much blame for today’s nasty political scene gets thrown at the boogie man of partisanship. But there’s nothing wrong with being a Democrat, or with being a Republican, like my CNN watching Grandfather was.

There is something wrong though, in vilifying everything that crosses your path as a matter of mere political strategy, and there are some “non-partisans” out there sinking to depths that even Republicans find intolerable.

This dehumanizing of the opposition hurts all Americans, crushing the civic participation once shared by Americans of every stripe. This is today’s backlash: citizens taking action, but fueled by old hatreds, new fears and worst of all, faux solutions.

It does nothing to strengthen our democracy or solve our problems to claim to be a shiny penny bright and new, yelling, "It’s the other guy" who tarnishes everything. So, next time you hear a lie parading as the truth, or a simple explanation, backed up by a way-out conspiracy theory, speak up, don’t turn away. Get out your decoder ring and get to work. You’ve been invited to participate, don’t miss the real party.