The Summer of Surprising Hope

You know it's been a tough summer when both Darth Vader and Lord Voldemort emerge at the same time. And there was plenty to be sober about: heat waves, hurricanes, terrorist attacks. Still, more than ever, the serious always seemed to be battling the frivolous for airtime. We were mesmerized by ballroom dancing celebrities. We were stunned and uplifted to learn that beauties and geeks could co-exist. And then there was Tom. Tom and Katie, Tom and Oprah, Tom and Brooke, Tom and Matt. None of it was very pleasant, but it proved that people will watch Tom Cruise in anything. Somewhere during all of this, Tom fought a war against some space aliens, and we watched that too. Because, you know, we need more wars.

Politically, the summer was all heat and no fire. Like today's movie market, political stories opened huge and then fizzled during the second weekend. Remember the Downing Street Memo? The "smoking gun" document that would bring down the Bush administration. What was that memo about again? Remember Howard Dean's outrageous remarks that would rain down all sorts of trouble on the Democrats. No, I don't either. Now, we've got Karl Rove unmasked as the evil Leaker. Okay, that story must have legs, right? The President's chief political strategist revealing the name of an undercover CIA agent, and with Bush previously stating that he would fire anyone connected to the leak. This is big. This is going to be above the fold for months. What's that? The President nominated John Roberts for the Supreme Court? Wow, that must be one of the blandest names of all time. Still, I'm hooked, let's forget about that whole "Rove CIA thing." And on and on it goes.

Somewhere in the middle of the summer, there were also a lot of politicians making outrageous statements and a lot of politicians demanding apologies for those outrageous statements. I lost interest in all of those fireworks around the 4th of July. So, as I reread the above, it really makes the Summer of 2005 seem pretty bleak. Our country remains superficial, divided, and polarized. Would noone show us hope? Who would be our light-givers? Bizarrely enough, in our polarized state, the answer would be George Will and Anna Quindlen. Two Newsweek magazine contributors, one staunchly conservative, the other staunchly liberal. With little fanfare or notice, these writers, within the span of seven days, both appealed for American politicians to stop being so damn sure of themselves and listen to one another.

Conservative Will wrote in his May 23 column: "[T]he greatest threat to civility--and ultimately to civilization is an excess of certitude.....America is currently awash in an unpleasant surplus of clanging, clashing certitudes. That is why there is a rhetorical bitterness absurdly disproportionate to our real differences. It has been well said that the spirit of liberty is the spirit of not being too sure that you are right."

Liberal Quindlen added, one week later: "[T]he young men and women who began their college years in the shadow of September 11 graduate in its shadow as well. The intolerant, the monomaniacal, the zealots driven by religious certainty engineered the worst attack on American soil, and the result has been intolerance, monomania and zealotry driven by religious certainty."

I'm not sure if Will and Quindlen intended to present a joint argument. But the fact that the columns appeared back-to-back and were penned by two people who probably agree on very little politically does indeed make a very powerful argument to those, on both the left and the right, who have lost their way. In this very difficult and uncertain time, our country needs both sides to talk to each other, to break through barriers and perceptions that have stood too long and are too easily accepted, and realize the potential value of someone who thinks very differently. And if beauties and geeks can do it, anyone can.