Can This Really be Happening?

Not the financial meltdown; we know that it is and the recovery is going to take a lot of time and effort! I’m talking about Republicans and Democrats saying nice things about their mutual efforts in securing the overwhelming passage of the Senate version of the bailout bill on this first day of October. Could America actually work like that? Or are we like the petty and shameful voices of the House of Representatives that eroded in mutual derision and over-simplifications that drew justifiable criticisms in the same effort earlier in the week?

Are we looking for the differences between and among us or trying to find the “tie that binds”? Are we trying to impose our religious or doctrinaire views on others or willing to respect that others may disagree? Exactly who are we? And if the “other party” wins the election, what is our commitment to the United States of America ?

How will Americans behave after the bailout legislation, in whatever form, passes (I believe it will) and after the November elections? We're not going to step into a world of fat jobs, juicy paychecks, easy credit and ever-escalating real estate prices. Prosperity is not just around the corner. This time, we have to earn it, each and every one of us.

So as we watch candidates promise what they probably cannot deliver and see others “getting away with murder,” do we throw up our hands bitterly and walk away or do we pull together to make it work? The Senate today gave America what it really wanted: Unity and Leadership. They didn't promise this as the complete fix, but they also didn't stare into the cameras pointed at them and tell us that the world would end.

We need our citizens to have at least two goals: 1. fix themselves and 2. help others who need help in dealing with this crisis. It’s selfish, really, helping others… it is what makes it all work so that the whole becomes where we really want to be, where we want our sons and daughters, our grandchildren, to live and grow. It’s what makes America … well… America again. Remember how that felt? I want it back.

I’m Peter Dekom, and I hope you approve this message.