life off balance

i’m a basically optimistic person, and i don’t do well when things start to look hopeless. last week i had lunch with an old friend that i hadn’t seen in years, and we started talking about What Is Wrong With The World. as has been happening more and more lately, the conversation spiraled to the point where the proverbial glass was so far from half full that it had been emptied out, dried with a towel, and smashed on the ground. as we both sat there glumly finishing our pints of yuengling, carolyn said she had been thinking more and more often: “i want my bill back.”

i knew who she meant immediately; she and i are both long-time bill clinton fans. a few years ago she got me into a talk he gave at the ronald reagan international trade building on HIV in africa. he was amazingly articulate and intelligent, but the details are fuzzy because we were both swooning from being so close to bill.

so i understood why our depressing conversation would make carolyn pine for bill. but i just shrugged and told her that it seemed that all bill was doing lately was stumping for hillary. boy was i wrong!

this week started out good and has just gotten better. the media is full of good news for a change, and i’m feeling hopeful about What Is Wrong With The World for the first time in a long time. and good old bill has had a lot to do with that.

of course, he’s been all over the news this week because of the clinton global initiative. i’m awed by what the participants are committing to do. richard branson has committed $3 billion dollars to developing alternative fuels. that is flabbergasting. aol’s steve case has committed more than $16 million to install these amazing “play pumps” in african villages. i love the “play pump” idea: these colorful merry-go-round pumps can be installed in remote areas in just a few hours for about $7000 each. kids play on the equipment and their “kid-power” pumps fresh, clean well water for villages that previously had no clean source of water. think of how many play pumps $16M will buy.

plus, the clinton global initiative isn’t the only source of good news this week. the state of california is suing the six largest american and japanese automakers for contributing to global warming, based on a “public nuisance” argument. i hope that this becomes a trend of states taking on polluters. if our federal government isn’t going to protect our environment, it’s up to the states to do it. are you listening doug gansler? this is why i voted for you.

and speaking of the federal government not protecting the environment, more good news this week: a federal judge ruled against bush’s forest service and reinstated the “roadless rule” enacted by clinton, which prohibits logging, mining, and other development on nearly 59 million acres of public forest land.

so yeah, it’s not all about bill and the fob, but i have to acknowledge that carolyn was so right. it’s nice to have bill back in the spotlight. the man definitely doesn’t shy away from talking to the media, which is fine because he actually has incredibly intelligent things to say on a variety of current issues. in an interview with NPR on thursday, clinton gave his views on the use of torture as an interrogation technique; they were by far the smartest things i have heard any public figure say on the issue.

sexy, smart, funny, compassionate. remember when these words described the president of the united states? it’s hard to believe, it seems like a million years ago. bill wasn’t a perfect president by any means, and we can debate the efficacy of his policies another time. but even if he did nothing else, he gave us hope, and he’ll always have my respect and admiration for that. because i remember a day when the last thing on my mind was What Is Wrong With The World: november 3rd, 1992. it was the first time i ever voted for president, though i had actually voted weeks earlier by absentee ballot. as i sat in the living room of my co-operative dorm and watched the election results come in with my housemates and friends, i felt more hope and optimism for myself and my country than i had ever felt before (and certainly more than i’ve felt in the past 6 years). i spent that winter break helping to organize an inaugural event and had to work on inauguration day. but i remember watching bill’s speech on television and crying. i just went and found a transcript of it to link to, and it made me cry again just now:

We know we have to face hard truths and take strong steps. But we have not done so. Instead, we have drifted, and that drifting has eroded our resources, fractured our economy, and shaken our confidence. Though our challenges are fearsome, so are our strengths… Our democracy must be not only the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.

i will kick anyone’s ass that tells me i don’t love this country. but i know patriotism isn’t about flag waving or suffering fools gladly, even if they were (barely) elected to public office. it’s about participating in our democracy, not just voting but making informed decisions and supporting the best candidates with your wallet and your feet as well as with your vote. it’s about public service and helping others. it’s about supporting the values and ideals that make our country great, even (especially?) if it makes you unpopular. in short — to paraphrase clinton’s inaugural speech — it’s about doing more than celebrating america, it’s about rededicating ourselves to the very idea of america.

ok, i’ll get off my soapbox now. long story not-so-short, i’m inspired by seeing bill up out there in the news again. i want to get off my ass and do more. first item of business, we’ve got an election coming up in about 6 weeks, with two very important races here in maryland. when i finish writing this post i’m going to immediately go sign up to volunteer for the o’malley and cardin campaigns.

oh, and one more piece of good news: next week is barb’s last week! finally, we’ll be free of her!

technorati tags: bill clinton clinton global initiative patriotism