moved by a daily dish

earlier this week, andrew sullivan wrote one of the most moving posts i've ever read (seriously, if you haven't seen it, you should check it out http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/03/believing-throu.html ), and it's still with me.

it's not just that he's a disappointed conservative, but it's his pained recognition about being repeatedly beaten down by a party he can no longer call his own. his words, the emotion, the personal agony over what has become of his once beloved and ever-defended republican party leap from the page of his blog with such passion, it still weighs heavily at the bottom of my heart. his admission that, "I do not have liberalism's confidence in government activism, I do not share its collectivist instincts, I find its interest groups unappealing. I do not and never will belong," are words of man searching for answers to the question of his own identity. so painful and heartwrenching, so honest and open, so beautiful and authentically human.

'tis my goal as a writer to leave such a lasting impact on my readers...

as for andrew sullivan, i hope he doesn't give up on his party. i mean, i'm a liberal. i believe in government activism, i shares its collective instincts, and i am drawn to its interest groups. part of me revels in seeing the republican party crashing and burning in a tailspin of fire and confusion, and i am angry that they have the nerve to cry fiscal conservativism after spending eight years throwing fuel on the firey shores of lake deficit. but the american part of me appreciates that we have a system of checks and balances, that i can enjoy my moment of liberal leadership directing our country toward a place of better equality and more opportunity, knowing that the conservatives will get their shit together and launch a comeback just in time to keep the country from crossing a line too far left for a safe return to center. and the cycle will repeat itself again so that we will be ready to take back over, just when the right-wing nutbags have brought us once again to the brink of catastrophe.

if andrew sullivan sticks it out, he can be an integral leader in the right's search for its post-dubya identity. and i think he's just the guy for the job. keep on a keepin' on, andrew sullivan, your party needs your sense more now than ever before...

~k