An Upstanding Citizen

Rodin has a hot post about politics in the USA.

I totally agree with his point about how the polarization of American politics into Right vs. Left has completely obscured what I consider to be the heart of Novus Ordo Seclorum. He goes on to praise Tony Blair:

He is substantial, and willing to take risks and stand up for what he believes in, and do it right. I think if we had more people like him run our country, it wouldn't matter as much which camp they were in.

This is the same reason I have some amount of respect for President Bush. Rodin might not continue to agree with me here, but I feel that the man has some integrity and is constantly striving to do the right thing by the American people. He's not perfect, and I may very well decide not to give him my vote in November, but the thing I just can't understand is people who claim he's destroying the fabric of the Republic. The affairs of a nation as large as the United States are complex and anyone who claims to be able to initiate sweeping policy changes to "fix" everything is clearly delusional.

I am proud of my heritage as an American, and I aspire to public service, but I think that we've lost sight of the vision of the Founders. Thomas Friedman once made the point that the burgeoning democracy in Iraq only needs three people to succeed, but those three people are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and John Jay. I think we could use an infusion of their spirit here at home, too.