A Day in the Life of Chaos

Gore Vidal This week we lost an intellectual giant. Gore Vidal died.  Love him or hate him there was no question he had a mind larger than most.  From literature to politics and opinion Gore Vidal had a talent for the artistry of the mind.  He was a devout liberal who believed in a progressive society and often frustratingly to conservatives found a way to represent his opinions with logic and fact. He was an eminent historian and wrote several comprehensive novels.  The grandson of a blind Oklahoma Senator Thomas Gore, he lived a gifted North Eastern life.  Despite his privileged when it came time to enter an Ivy League University he instead chose to be a warrant officer in the United States Navy during World War II.  He followed in the footsteps of his father who was an officer and flight instructor at the United States Military Academy.  He was filled with contrasts.  He had both male and female lovers and while labeled a liberal actually considered himself a conservative. 

One of the most frustrating things about being a Liberal is patience.  We are so desperate in our conviction to our beliefs that we want the world to shift over night.  We want peace, justice, compassion and civility to arrive like a torrential rain cleansing society of injustice and malaise.  We are filled with hope yet the very hope we cling to lays the ultimate seeds for much of our eventual frustration and dismay.   When we elect a candidate based on a message of hope and change we tend to envision it as if we are buying a product.  We simply have to take it home, open it up and we can sample the fruits of our labor and our money.  We hope it will be deliciously sweet, filled with all the promises that were made.  Often however, as the metaphor would come to suggest the flavor is much more complex. Little in America changes quickly. We always like to think it will yet we live in a system that for better or for worse does not allow this.  It can be frustrating at times as we se

It is not easy being a liberal. Once I listened to an episode of the Prairie Home Companion, I know, a distinctly liberal thing to do, and Garrison Keillor had an interesting thought.  He announced at the beginning of the show he was going to become a Republican.  After doing so, he commented how easy life was.  His emotional guilt was gone.  He didn't have to worry about the environment or about charity.  He didn't have to consider other people, only worry about himself.  Yes sir, for Garrison Keillor, life was sweet.  There are times I wonder what it would be like to follow in his path.  I think I would sleep so well at night, my mind would be clear and my focus would be my own. It is funny how when we cross paths with a homeless person in our own world we are often oblivious.  If they are an everyday sight, they become invisible and often a nuisance.  When at work I often leave through a back door to avoid the out stretched hands.  I have never given to them choosing