Pursuit of happiness not always a selfish act
Barack Obama wonders “when they decided they wanted to make a virtue out of selfishness.”
That would be July 4, 1776, in our country’s founding document, the Declaration of Independence.
The virtue in question is not bad-mouthed as selfishness, but instead identified as the unalienable right to pursue happiness.
Choosing to exercise this right is a profoundly moral endeavor. Open-minded folks who seek to learn more should read “The Virtue of Selfishness” (a deliberately provocative title) by Ayn Rand.
Mark Kalinowski
New York
Change is needed – in how we work together
By the time you read this, Americans will have chosen our new leaders. I encourage everyone, regardless of whom you voted for, to get behind the next president.
Regardless of all the negative remarks made during the campaigns, this is the man who will be in charge for the next four years.
Please pray for the newly elected president. Please support the new president and VP, who need to lead our country out of these difficult times.
May they seek wisdom and select good advisers.
Just think what great leaders we will have if people of all political parties pray for wisdom and success for the new leadership. Wow!
Bipartisanship is working together across party lines. May that be the new spirit in American politics.
Let’s get back on track, by having our politicians make choices in the best interest of the whole country. Maybe that’s what we need to ask of ourselves, too. Pray for healing our differences and biases.
We all need to look in the mirror and ask, “What can I personally do to make things better in the U.S. today?” If our president asks for sacrifices now, in order to make this a better country and world for our children and all people, may we follow his leadership. The future is in our hands.
No matter who’s elected, it is time for a change in how we work together as people of good will.
Kathi Sikora
Ajo
Parties, rustle centrist votes, not active fringe
The Republicans believe their “base” is the Christian right. This erroneous belief led to defeat.
No party can win by pandering to the fringes.
Americans lean toward being fiscally conservative and socially liberal. The majority favor the more compassionate liberal agenda, which includes abortion rights, stem-cell research, no religion in schools, more gun control, less spying on Americans, more help for the poor and a more liberal Supreme Court.
The majority also favor the fiscally conservative agenda of lower taxes for all, not just for the poor.
The popular vote was closer than the electoral college count. Had the Republican Party adopted a more centrist position, it probably would have won.
Sarah Palin hurt the party, not so much because she was inexperienced, but because she dragged the party away from the center.
Had John McCain appointed a moderate running mate, the right-wingers still would have voted Republican, and more moderates would have come across, too.
This is a lesson for Republicans and Democrats: The fringes are noisy and active, but they are not your base. You always will have them.
America is centrist. The contest for votes lies in the center.
Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Wilmette, Ill.