The night time heebie jeebies

Usually I sleep like a rock in my high canopy bed, so quiet here miles away from anything. Sometimes I hear the calls of the owls and the hissing of the deer, and when the moon is full, as it has been these last few nights, I am awakened by the brilliant light of it, pure and white, beckoning me to wander out onto the porches and wonder at the beauty of such light falling on pastures and the sleeping cows.

But lately, I awake in the middle of the night, and I am afraid for this country I love. The media from the right and left is too shrill, too pandering to their own interests, too eager to tweak the worst in us.

I voted for Obama because I thought he was truly a good man and had the heart and strength to put forth his ideas of making this country great again. I believed Obama had a mission to make this country work. I still think this. I am disheartened with every pragmatic compromise he must make.

Living here in rural America where everyone totes a gun and for the most part are suspicious of any new ideas (gays, blacks, taxes), I am so aware of class differences. I am aware that rigorous thinking is foreign to our neighbors - and to many of my countrymen. Is there anyone out there over sixty-five who does not appreciate Medicare or Social Security?? Come on! This is government run! We pay our taxes for this stuff! And we love it! Don't you know this?

And here is where the media, mostly the right, comes in. They whip up folks to say they won't have choice in health care, they'll be thrown out of the system. Have they investigated this? No! They just listen to the ads that are backed by the big pharmaceutical and medical companies who in the end just want a huge profit in their pockets.

What disgusts me is our Congress that has to pander to these large companies. A senator cannot vote for Sotomayor because of the gun lobby etc. With very few exceptions I think our legislators have been bought by special interests.

We have a bipartisan form of government, a wonder in the world. I respect the differences in philosophy and want this to continue. But I am cynical in my old age. We have lost our way in the homage to Big Money and Power. We have seen this as America caused the global recession.

I voted for Change. And now I see the cracks. My night time heebie jeebies are about racism.. The talk shows discuss whether Obama is truly an American. I have such distrust for these guys who are actually making a ton of money whipping up the emotions of people who do not think any where near rigorously. They talk about elitism. This, of course, hits a nerve. (Fear, envy?)

How could any rigorously thinking person believe that Sarah Palin could run this country?

Is our destiny to understand everything in 140 characters? I think we are better than that.