May we all rise...

Like Colbert in his monologue below, my first realizations of politics were Watergate as well as President Jimmy Carter's peace talks with Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin - examples of American leaders at their worst and best.

So what are we, the polarized folks...living through this round of American politics to do?  I offer these words from these bright and very different minds - Stephen Colbert, Dan Rather, Maya Angelou, and Ellen DeGeneres.

As Colbert expertly sums things up:  "We all now feel the way Rudi Giuliani looks!"  As he notes, "Politics is everywhere and that takes up precious brain space needed to remember all the things we actually have in common."  But, in a lighter vein, he points out that "you cannot laugh and be afraid at the same time."  Take a look and a listen:  Stephen Colbert....signing off on this election

A thought from Dan Rather and strength, beauty and wisdom from Maya Angelou: 

In times like these, when waves of emotion threaten to overwhelm me and a fogged brain struggles with contemplation, I often seek space and solace in the world of poetry. Tonight I have found myself returning to a spirit of uplift courtesy of Maya Angelou's Still I Rise. I thought it was worth a share here. 


STILL I RISE
You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may tread me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.                           ~ Maya Angelou

And - just so you know, Ellen shows us there is:  Hope for your little iguana

And from me ~ Each of us are beauty full.  Love stops hate.  Beauty and a generous spirit stops negativity.  And, yes - laughter stops fear.  ~  May we all rise.  c