Empathy with an Author’s Concerns

I grew up disillusioned about the passion and urgency my elders had when discussing American politics, although I did enjoy the way in which President Clinton ran this country. Yet, my confidence in his abilities came under attack when it came to his handling of Monica Lewisky’s accusations. It was not that I took sides with anyone over the whole fiasco, but I was fascinated with how the president stood his ground, particularly in the face of Ken Star’s opposition to his holding office. Eventually this left the public with the opportunity to read the “sordid” details in his 445 page “Sex Report”, a humorous example of how far the Republican party had digressed. Years later, despite my original pride in the Democratic party, I am amazed at John Kerry’s attempt to bring the party back into the fold while preaching to it’s congregation on a shifty podium that was sinking in quicksand. If the Democrats had any real solutions to America’s problems, and could alleviate our woes we would not have to speculate over whether Hillary is going to bring it home in 2008. Encapsulating the road scholar with someone whom is callous and analytical appears to be the only way liberals think that they can return to power.

A few years ago R. Kelly was the most horrendous pervert out there, engaging in sexual acts that are inconceivable for most women his own age, let alone an underage adolescent girl. Today his music continues to fascinate us and move us in ways that few other songwriters can. While the man goes back and forth between spiritual testimony and hedonistic narcissism few would suggest that his skill at storytelling and overall music production is matched by anyone else in the industry. The media avalanche over his improprieties, most of all which should have offended his wife, if anyone else, did little to curb record sales. This leads me to question just how effective we are with persuading an indifferent public to care about the issues. The issues that keep us up at night, those topics that we have to write about at 3 a.m. just so we can get it off of our chest and go back to sleep. Of course, entertainment is rather trivial, except for those who do feel that celebrities have a responsibility to the audience to be a role model, and to the best of their ability, an upstanding citizen as well. Politics are of a pressing matter to every citizen, yet few truly understand the complexities and nuances in the system. People often digress towards listening to those individuals who excite them the most, regardless of whether or not such reporters are truly interested in anything other than their own political stance, whether conservative or liberal. When we meet our readers where they are at, discussing the issues that they live, eat and breathe they listen to us but where is the support when we discuss issues that few know about or even care to? Part of being a writer is being able to balance the realities of the profession with the fantasy of the cause. If you have committed your best to researching and giving equal time to both sides of the issue it is about the best that you could have done for that particular article.

Someone other than the editor will read every published article, and the opportunity to have your voice heard is invaluable and priceless. If it inspires someone to change the world so be it, but if not you have the opportunity to take advantage of a platform that isn’t available to everyone. It is simply having the wisdom to know exactly what to bring to that stage, and how, that differentiates you from the rest. Being able to move forward when they do not receive you in the way in which you feel that they should is indicative of the tenacity that will give you the resolve to be successful in the future.