LouLife

There are times, I think, when the idealists must stand up to the realists, and this is one of them. Our cynical politics have turned us into a fearful people, an us-against-them population worried about terrorists, immigrants and the have-nots multiplying in impoverished neighborhoods. We’re losing our vision for an American community and, with it, our capacity for optimism.

This is not a happy thought, not a typical Thanksgiving-month thought. But let’s deal with it for a moment.

There are hopeful people out there engaged in constructive works, and some of them are brought forward in this issue. Yet most of us remain on the fringes, avoiding big commitments and big causes. We are withdrawing, disengaging, as the “only thing we have to fear” tightens its hold.

I recently saw a “debate” among the Republican contenders for the 2008 presidential nomination and had to pick my jaw off the floor as I rose from the couch afterward. The retirement-age men on the stage that night were whipping up such hysteria about Iranand the consequences of not teaching its leaders a hard lesson in Iraqthat, before long, one of the talking points was that those evil Iranians would be dropping a nuclear bomb on U.S.soil if we back down now. Was it Giuliani or Thompson or McCain who sent us to our emotional shelters with that one?

They all did, really, as did Romney and the other faceless men hoping to get elected by protracting the Bush strategy of planting bugaboos and pretending to be the sternest father, able to keep all of those ghosts in the closet so we can sleep safely at night. (Speaking of fringes, the only GOP candidate who cut through the martial madness was Ron Paul of Texas, a long shot who was ignored when he pointed out that we’re in Iraqunder false premises and need to get out; that Congress should be declaring our wars under the Constitution, not presidents; and other inconvenient truths.)

Conservatives I’ve conversed with recently, knowing my liberal bent, have used this opening gambit: “What do you think of Hillary?” My wife believes this is not because they dread another Clinton presidency, as most pundits suggest, but rather because they relish the opportunity to demonize Bill’s partner and think they can win with that strategy. What if that’s true?

Hillary Clinton, in my readings, is not selling ideas. She’s trying to come across as a steady, experienced insider — yet another realist. At this point, she’s banking her fate on not making any mistakes and not taking any positions that can be used against her.

Well, I have an idea for Clinton. Show some idealism, show that you think electing someone who can change attitudes in Washingtonis more important than your personal path to power. Announce that you recognize yourself and your husband as polarizing figures, withdraw your quest for the nomination and throw all of your support behind a candidate who will do right for the American people.

We have not seen sacrifice of self for something bigger for a long, long time in Washington. In Kentuckypolitics, we’ve been treated to the spectacle of Ernie Fletcher — assuming he’s voted out in this month’s election — bringing down Republican rule in Frankfort by fighting to keep the governor’s chair for himself despite a scandal that brought his popularity to levels so low he became ineffective at leading the state.

We get messed up with fear that we’ll elect another bad president or that Frankfort will continue to be an epicenter of incompetent government and we forget something else that’s really important — what real folks are doing to improve lives on the home front. People around us are suspending their egos and devoting precious time and resources to helping others who are in jeopardy of being left behind. In an age of paralyzing paranoia, they are the true optimists.

Nowhere is their idealism needed more than in our schools, and nowhere can it have a bigger impact. We’re regressing toward an uneducated society, and the public schools that take the blame for the problem while being asked to fix it must be supported. The 7,000-plus volunteers who have gone to those schools to tutor struggling readers in the Every 1 Reads program are doing just that (see page 65). They are bringing hope to children who might be left behind — for life.

The samaritans who founded West End School, Robert and Debbie Blair (see page 54), live, study and play with the at-risk boys in their boarding school, giving kids from the mean streets a genuine shot at a college education. The Blairs are building on faith, not fear.

We’d do better to cast our ballots with fellow citizens like them.