What’s new?

I have news for you. All this national drama? All this international angst?

It’s happened before.

I have had the joy and honor, the past few weeks, of lovingly combing through our town’s newspaper archives as I put them into archival quality boxes to protect this most important record of our town’s history.

I can’t resist the urge, from time to time, to peek at the content of the pages. I have followed along to see the rise and fall of kings, presidents, congressional leaders. To see the concerns about the economy, the moral compass of the nation, the saviors and the swindlers.

It’s all happened before.

There is no doubt that the current political melodrama playing out on a national stage is unique. To a degree. But political melodrama on a whole is nothing new.

We can become mired in the dismal wailing that points to failure of our system and our national moral compass.

Or we can hold a new perspective. This has happened before. Have faith that the ship tossed by the storm of political discontent will eventually right itself and make headway to a brighter shore.

In some ways the contrast is healthy for us, as a nation. Many of us knew it was bad, but not this bad. Now we see with new eyes. That will revive our healthy interactions with each other, and look for new ways to reach out and be inclusive. We will stand strong, in unity, with each other. The gaps in the system are revealed and we now know where to focus our efforts.

The veneer needed to be ripped away. Now we can focus our attention to build real and solid improvement, and make this nation one, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.