Heart over head or head over heart—how shall I be ruled? I ask this question on election eve where I have 3 very good friends vying for the Lexington mayoral race. One, the incumbent Teresa Isaac, fits squarely within both heart and head. That is, she shares the same liberal philosophy as I and we and our families are lifelong friends.
Jim Newberry I know from our law school days and our tenure on the NCCJ board together. Jim is a conservative Democrat and a friend, so it is somewhat difficult to decline my support for him in favor of T.I. (but not too much so as he opposes city takeover of the water company).
Bill Farmer on the other hand is a real quandary: he is a strong conservative Republican AND a very close friend, my younger brother’s best friend. He even threw my engagement party, so giving precedence to my political head over my personal heart is difficult.
Yet--and this is where the ballot meets the box—Bill’s eager support for his party makes him equally complicit with the lockstep Republicans in Congress in what I view as the destruction of our democracy.
Like most liberals I believe in government: a) that benefits the greater public interest (welfare, health care, social security, housing, education, etc.), b) is honest and transparent and not beholden to special interests, much less outright bribes, c) operates in a multilateral fashion and does not engage in counterproductive, immoral pre-emptive war, d) that respects the separation of church and state. I truly and to the depths of my soul think the Republicans have over the last 25 years acted in near total opposition to ALL these principles and as such against most of what I hold dear.
So even a brother or sister, were he or she to run under the GOP banner, I could not support. Odd, I now understand why brother fought against brother in the Civil War. In essence, this is what I told Bill during our frank conversation.
Yet, I have now come to the realization that it is the HEART that should take priority in ALL circumstances. That is, no matter what my gyrations, no matter what logical and to my mind morally right arguments I may weave to buttress my philosophies, the political wheel will roll on as if I did nothing. Thus, “God give me the serenity to accept that which I can not change” is the tranquilizer that quells my political passions of late.
When Bill called this afternoon to get permission to quote my opposition to Newberry’s proposed sales tax increase, I would certainly have done so, but for the appearance of entangling our business. I DO oppose such an increase, so it would be honest. And I could look my liberal friends in the eye and say, “look, does it REALLY matter, he’s my friend, and in any case I will always stay true to my philosophy. Who knows, it may even rub off on him. As my Uncle Willy always said, you catch more flies with honey than you do with salt!
So I joke and laugh and cry and hug my conservative friends and family—all the while believing that the structure they support is stifling our nation. Yes, it’s important, yet I sense that try as I might, all my huffing and puffing won’t blow that house down.
Still, as my heart overflows my head recalls: “most people stop when they’re tha-a-a-t (thumb and forefinger spaced one inch apart) far away.”
Where the spirit leads, I will follow.
Rfd 5/15/06
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