Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Some thoughts on change of power

WE ARE HOME AGAIN
(read as a speech)

Like the toxic, seemingly unstoppable waters that filled the streets, the homes, the lives of the city of New Orleans, the darkness that broke through the walls and flowed across America, has at last receded.

The darkness —
That seeped into every corner of our consciousness, drowning our dignity,
That made us afraid, even within the walls of our own homes.
That created and abandoned millions of financial refugees,
That contaminated our streets with waves of intentional mistrust and mandatory paranoia,
That banished hope and kept us from even imagining the full measure of our potential,
— is gone, ended at the hands of everyday heroes who, despite the odds, believed that
There must be more than fear,
There must be more than hate,
There must be more than a hunger for power so voracious that it is willing to consume the rights and freedoms so many pledged to protect, and for which so many paid with their lives.

At its height, this flood of darkness forced us to the refuge of our rooftops, helpless to do anything but to call and pray for aid, feeling in our hearts that the wait likely might be longer than our strength and ability to endure.

In the end, we saved ourselves and each other, because each of us is among those heroes who, with a single vote, said that despite the seemingly endless darkness,
There is bravery in our beliefs,
There is love in our hearts,
There is compassion in our souls, even for those who would enslave us with fear, because without it, no paper document, no matter how reasoned or enduring, will keep the darkness from becoming eternal.

The darkness has, at last, receded.
We are down from our rooftops and it is time to begin the clean up,
To wash the stain of greed and self-service,
To mop up the chaos of despotism,
To rebuild, not just the battered, crumbling walls of our own society's greatness, but also the relationships with a world grown weary of our blinding centrism and inability to prevent our darkness from spreading across the globe.

The cleanup will not be easy, but it will be worth it,
And when we are done, we will know that we the people, heroes all, achieved a greater goal and formed a more perfect union, an accomplishment that serves all instead of the few.

That knowledge, that comfort, that dignity will allow us to say, finally, that we are home again.

Home again.

Tourist vs. Traveler? What matters is that you go

While Dorothy Gale believes you need look no further than your own backyard for your heart's desire, the truth is that leaving home -- as a tourist, a vacationer, a traveler -- is good. Good for you, good for the economy, good for cultural understanding.

It is in that spirit that I will focus on travel and all its various forms.

Spud Hilton
Deputy Travel Editor
San Francisco Chronicle