http://arlenegoldbard.com/2004/11/03/a-narrow-bridge/ culture, politics and spirituality Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:35:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 http://arlenegoldbard.com/2004/11/03/a-narrow-bridge/#comment-80859 Arlene Goldbard » Blog Archive » Different Drums Tue, 17 Apr 2007 17:07:13 +0000 http://new.arlenegoldbard.com/?p=39#comment-80859 [...] When the Iraq War started four years ago, we nay-sayers represented about the same proportion of the electorate as the minority that typically breaks from a positive consensus on a much-praised film like Pan’s Labyrinth. When I look back at my early blog essays (I started my Web site in the spring of 2004), I read entry after entry in which I denounced the war, pointed out the mendacity and self-dealing of the Bush administration, lamented the spinelessness of the Democrats, and so on. When George W. Bush was elected in 2004, I offered consoling words. This is from November 3, the day after the election: I don’t minimize the damage Bush can do in four years, nor take lightly the danger of the Democratic Party foolishly succumbing to pressure to move further right. But neither prospect alters the reality that we internal exiles are the canaries in the national coal mine, the harbingers. We have crossed the narrow bridge from home to the wide world, and we understand that new conditions call for new responses. We are the leading wedge of a shift I am absolutely certain will come. Our challenge is not to be afraid, not to allow fear to undermine the depth of what we know. If we honor the depth of our understanding, our span will grow. [...] [...] When the Iraq War started four years ago, we nay-sayers represented about the same proportion of the electorate as the minority that typically breaks from a positive consensus on a much-praised film like Pan’s Labyrinth. When I look back at my early blog essays (I started my Web site in the spring of 2004), I read entry after entry in which I denounced the war, pointed out the mendacity and self-dealing of the Bush administration, lamented the spinelessness of the Democrats, and so on. When George W. Bush was elected in 2004, I offered consoling words. This is from November 3, the day after the election: I don’t minimize the damage Bush can do in four years, nor take lightly the danger of the Democratic Party foolishly succumbing to pressure to move further right. But neither prospect alters the reality that we internal exiles are the canaries in the national coal mine, the harbingers. We have crossed the narrow bridge from home to the wide world, and we understand that new conditions call for new responses. We are the leading wedge of a shift I am absolutely certain will come. Our challenge is not to be afraid, not to allow fear to undermine the depth of what we know. If we honor the depth of our understanding, our span will grow. [...]

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