I REALLY DIDN’T WANT TO WRITE THIS.

But I really thought I had to. For myself if no one else. I’ve learned from past experience that expressing myself politically never ends well.

But perhaps what I have to say right now isn’t so much about politics as it is about sadness.

To wit, just recently, we, as a country, grieved for the souls who died in a plane crash in Washington, D.C.   

We then looked, as we always have, to our government for support and comfort in our sadness.  In the past, our leaders have carefully considered their words when they spoke to us in the wake of a such a tragedy.  They let us know that they share our sense of loss.  They promise us they’ll work tirelessly to get to the root of the cause. They give us faith and hope.

And it has ever been thus.  Until now.  This time was different.  This time, soon after the plane crash, we got only blame, finger-pointing, and accusation from our government. Followed a few days later by an unpardonable remark about “visiting” the crash site.    

So now, we grieve not only for the souls whose lives were lost but we grieve for the lack of compassion in our leadership.  We’re left with an emptiness on both sides of the equation.

Even with my harsh lessons from the past, I personally, needed to acknowledge the plane crash and the responses to it. And I fully accept any consequences that may come my way via this little blog as a result.