It is a refreshing to sometimes stop and reflect on the headlines of the day or two.
1st Headline:
Bob Dylan appeared at the White House yesterday to sing his famous ballad “The Times are a-Changin” honoring the Civil Rights movement. Morgan Freeman introduced him. Dylan sang with only a piano accompaniment and his guitar. The always rough voice of this almost 70 year-old minstrel of the sixties once again rang out. It has never been more fitting:
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’.
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
Don’t criticize what you don’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly aging
Get out of the new world
if you can’t lend a hand.

The world is changing and the young gay population could well be “those sons and daughters”…beyond command. The parents could well represent those who don’t want change in many areas. The old world, especially the conservative churches, is putting up a huge fight in the form of obstruction. Yet it seems that, yes, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is really going to be repealed, but it is moving slow. Rumors that Lt. Dan Choi was called back to active duty unfortunately are untrue. He is doing good work on MSNBC and helping the cause. Our dear Senator Minnick (surprise, surprise) is dragging his feet on this as well. All of the Northwest Democratic senators have signed on with Congressman Patrick Murphy to fully support the repeal. My favorite Republic General Colin Powell, Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, and Sec. Robert Gates have all said that it is time for us to repeal DADT, but Minnick won’t agree.
I think it is time that the liberals and everyone with a gay son or lesbian daughter or relative or friend put pressure on Minnick in his Congressional District. I have called, but he doesn’t want to hear from this part of the state.

My favorite Idaho blog mountaingoatreport.typepad.com just posted the information above along with this good symptom of change:  ”A new CBS News/New York Times poll released this afternoon shows 57% of Americans approve of “homosexuals” serving in the military.   Change the word “homosexual”  to gay men and  to lesbians” and the support  jumps to 70%. The change in support holds when respondents were whether they think ” homosexuals” vs. “gay men and lesbians” should be allowed to serve openly in the U.S. armed forces.  It is interesting to note that the use of “gay men and lesbians” instead of “homosexuals” makes the support increase.”   I was more excited about the overwhelming support the poll reveals for repealing DADT.

2nd Headline:
Nelson Mandela took his walk to freedom 20 years ago Thursday and South Africans are in the streets by the prison gate to celebrate the anniversary of his release from prison. Thousands gathered at the gates of the prison where Mandel was held for 27 years.

3rd Headline:
While in Iran an huge security crack down has appeared to quash demonstrations by the opposition to the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic state, and his successor as supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.. This is the anniversary of the revolution that created Iran’s Islamic republic. Protesters were visibly disappointed that the projected 10,000 were reduced to only 300 to 500 demonstrators. Some of the opposition held banners that say “They won and we lost!”

Conclusion:
Some changes are hard for parents, institutions, and conservatives to accept.  Some things like the end of apartheid in South Africa and the fight from political freedom in Iran, are ongoing and in flux.  Life and changes go on around us. Some of them give us hope and others give us pause, but thank goodness we are here to witness it.  Sometimes we can be agents of change and other times we should just get out of its way. 

Yes, “the old road” is changing, but not as “rapidly” as I would like it to.