State of the Union

I don't watch the State of the Union Address. It doesn't matter who is the leader. I hate the format. No one needs the clapping. I'm not much of a clapper unless I'm at a Bruce concert. Which brings me to my point.

Leading up to the State of the Union I was exchanging texts with a couple of people from my small hometown. We were talking about the cop-killer in California, the gun laws, the economy, and raising our kids. We were in a bit of despair.

Before the president spoke I heard from a lot of people who were not willing to even listen.

After he spoke I flipped to CNN. Rubio was being introduced as the guy who needed to respond. The host asked about the moving tribute to the victims of gun violence and asked him if what Obama asked about presenting the vote was a legitimate point.

"He can ask for whatever he wants," Rubio responded.

I shut the television off and said, out loud, to the empty room:

It's gonna' be a long walk home.

And it hit me that it was exactly what Bruce was talking about. I'd started the day talking about the past and thinking about a much more innocent time. We certainly have a way of romanticizing the past, but we seem to be so far off on so many of the ideals that worked for so long. We want to get back there, but there's a fight at every single turn.

Long Walk Home

Last night I stood at your doorstep
trying to figure out what went wrong
you just slipped something into my palm
then you were gone.

I could smell the same deep green of summer
above me the same night sky was glowin'
In the distance I could see the town
where I was born.

It's gonna' be a long walk home
Hey pretty darling, don't wait up for me
Gonna' be a long walk home
A long walk home.

In town I passed Sal's grocery
the barbershop on South Street
I looked into their faces
they were all rank strangers to me
The veteran's hall high up on the hill
stood silent and alone
the diner was shuttered and boarded
with a sign that just said, 'gone.'

It's gonna' be a long walk home.

Here everybody has a neighbor
everybody has a friend
everybody has a reason to begin again.

My father said, "Son, we're lucky in this town
It's a beautiful place to be born
It just wraps its arms around you,
nobody crowds you, nobody goes it alone
You know that flag flying over the courthouse
means certain things are set in stone
Who we are, what we'll do, and what we won't."

It's gonna' be a long walk home.
It's gonna' be a long walk home.
It's gonna' be a long walk home.
It's gonna' be a long walk home.
It's gonna' be a long walk home. (Bruce Springsteen, Magic CD)


And that feeling of comfort, security and all that felt right about the country felt so distant to me. If we are ever going to make it back to that, we have to stop fighting.

Not everything needs to be a fight.

The stuff we hold dear, as Americans, should not be turned into a political argument.

That seems simple to me.

We should be able to walk the streets without fear.

Problem being it's gonna' be a long walk back to those days of innocence.

A real long walk.