9/11

Time for some quiet reflection... both on the dreadful events of this day and on the aftermath, which has cost many thousands more lives in the name of protecting America. We are overly obsessed with our own safety, overly fearful of threats, both real and imagined. It was fear, in good part--and the anger generated by fear--that the current occupant of our White House managed to play to in his hideous campaign for the presidency; and it is fear he continues shamelessly to play on in his never-ending campaign rallies.

And yet... as FDR so perfectly put it in his first inaugural address, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

It seems to me we all need to take a breath, dig deep, and find the courage to make the changes that we need to restore sanity to a country driven mad by fear. We must elect fearless representatives, who think of their constituents and their country first, before party loyalty, and who are willing to stand up and fight for the kind of government that serves its people, not itself.

I look to the courage and self-sacrifice of those first responders on this day in 2001 and wish we could see more of that spirit in our public life today.

Please join me in voting for change, not more of the same. In CA48, the choice is clear. A vote for change is a vote for Harley Rouda.