Well, the Lincoln Memorial Beckanalia has come and gone, and all the handwringing and ridiculing that led up to it has subsided. But there's one critical thing that still needs to be said. Regardless of what you think about Glenn Beck, or his crowd's political views, you at least have to give them credit for being politically active. America's meta-problem is not a couple hundred thousand conservatives rallying in DC. The problem is the couple hundred million citizens who are tuned out of politics altogether.
To help drive home that point, here's a 4-minute mashup video -- a taste of some true American originals -- serious thinkers and doers, past and present, who made and continue to make the mold that others make cheap knockoffs from. They embody root American ideals and values to the core of their being, and in all their public actions. They never fail to uplift. Or to tell the truth, especially when the truth is difficult to digest.
And that truth is that the vast majority of Americans are far too passive in their roles as citizens. Which virutally ensures dysfunctional government.
It's a message most don't want to hear, as it places responsiblity back on ourselves. It's so much easier to blame big government, or big business, or big media. But an honest appraisal of the true state of mass America's civic denial is a necessary companion to the celebration of our better angels. A potent reminder of the full nature of the challenge ahead.
So take a few minutes, and take to heart the call to action in this video -- a call to the general public to abandon apathy and cyncism, and rejoin the great American conversation, regardless of one's ideological inclinations, or lack thereof. And a call to the informed engaged minority to turn to everyone in your life who's living in the darkness of civic apathy, and help them turn the lights on.
And help move America one day closer to realizing the dream.
(move your cursor after clicking play and the progress bar will disappear)