Choices and Consequences

Today I read that the South Carolina legislators are considering articles of impeachment against Governor Mark Sanford. As I thought of all that has transpired in his life, there is a clear morality play being performed before our eyes, one that teaches the importance in the choices we make.

First we hear that he has disappeared and no one can find him. From that we learn he has gone to South America where he was engaged in a love affair with someone other than his wife. Remember the love letters read for all the world to see? I thought at the time, this man really loves that woman. It was clear from his amateurish proclamations. Amateurish I thought, but nevertheless genuine.

Upon returning, he was faced with a choice. Should he go to the one he loves? That would have been my choice. Or does he try to clean up the mess and reconcile with his wife. What followed were statements from key republicans and by the governor that took on the feel of a really bad soap opera. He had sinned, and with his friends at C-Street, he would reconcile with God and his wife. He made a second decision as well. He reimbursed the state for his plane fare, and insisted he had taken no state money.

His wife agreed at first to give it a shot, but ultimately decided against reconciliation. By now, Sanford had lost both his love in South America and now his wife as well. Then a study showed he had used considerably more state money for private use. More calls were made for his resignation. Another choice. He would remain in office. As in the first choices, power triumphed everything else. Power vs Love. He had made his choice.

So here we are today. The state is considering articles of impeachment. Even if he prevails, his power is forever compromised. He wanted it all. However his choices have left him with far less than that. Power really does corrupt in so many ways it seems. One thing for sure. We will not hear him preach anytime soon about moral values. Perhaps had not the preaching been so virulent early on, the fall might not be so far on the other side. In a way, still another choice gone awry.

A Time to Start Over, A Time to Grieve

It comes in everyone's life periodically I think. A time when full realization gives way to a reassessment over how one lives day to day. As long as I can remember, I've been involved in various causes for what I saw as improvement in the way things are done. Think gay rights, environmentalism, social justice issues. In some areas we made outstanding gains, and it was good to play a part in that process.

One thing however has become increasingly apparent. In the United States of Corporate America, the individual no longer matters. We now have the best Congress the corporations, now referred to as Dear Leader.corp can buy. It was with little effort and disarming ease that the corporate millions succeeded in destroying the first attempt to tackle health care reform in decades, replacing a public option with a co-op that in a relatively short time will just be one more insurance corporation, putting the screws to ordinary Americans, well like me. 72% before wanted this health reform. Now in a manner reminiscent of 1984, Americans are being re-educated to follow the corporate line. Dear Leader.corp succeeded in getting our president to acceding the corporate pillaging of our pharmaceutical costs and now has surrendered the one hope to control their greed through the public competitor.

In light of all this, it is time for me to reevaluate my own choices. I'm leaning towards the notion of bringing it all back home. Focus on my garden and my writing and making sure in every way possible I can be freed of corporate strings. My father died at age 48, my mother at age 70. I am 62 years old with a finite amount of time left on this earth before I become just one more blip among billions who lived and then died. It is time to seek my happiness, my passions, and my joy. Reflect on the beauties of the natural world in which I live, enjoy my annual garden, take walks with intention, spend time with my beloved partner and our animals. It is time to seek laughter wherever it can be found. It is time to experience the esthetically beautiful, and have long extended conversations with anyone who cares to listen and appreciate. Most important, it is time to stop fighting windmills. That must now belong to the generation that follows.

It will not be easy to separate of course. Politics has been part and parcel of my life for longer than I care to remember. There will be a period of grief. But the fact is this. We are now under corporate rule, with a Congress who serves their needs. On a national scale we have lost. Now only our own personal spheres have some hope of redemption. With but a few years left, I'm committed to working on my little space in the world. In my world there is room for morality. In the greater world, amorality is the calling card. Enjoy it you selfish blood sucking vultures, and though I do not believe in hell, I pray there was one where your carcasses could rot. For the rest, for my friends, seek peace and love. Can't beat that combo with a stick.