Wednesday, Indianapolis, Indiana

It was 99 years ago today that the United States Congress passed the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote. This may sound odd to young people today, but the odd reality is that less than a century ago women were not allowed to vote. So it is compelling that today, although she fell just short of winning the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton became the first woman to make a serious challenge to win a party’s nomination.

I have never had a lot of patience for people who base their logic on stereotypes of any kind. To me there is no clearer sign of stupidity and lack of education and making assumptions about anyone based on their gender, race or religion. Now this doesn’t mean that I’m naive, blind to patterns that exist among groups. But dismissing somebody without knowing who they are is the depth of ignorance.

Assumptions about women, for example, are part of the story that have kept men exclusively in national leadership. This bias, absurd on its face, has limited the opportunities for citizens to be led by the women who would have been, could have been more able leaders. And so although I am disappointed that this is not the year for Hillary, due to the astonishing, historic opportunity of an African-American man running for president, I find hope that real and fundamental change is indeed upon us.

The mixed legacy of our presidential history means that it may well be past time to hand the keys of the Kingdom over to someone with a different vision. If John McCain rises to the occasion, terrific. If it is to be Obama, it will be a welcomed change from the stagnation and depressive reality of where we are right now.

Tuesday, Indianapolis, Indiana

The day has finally arrived. After an excruciating year the Democratic Primary is finally over! And it is a day of amazing history. For the first time ever an African American citizen is a serious contender to become the president of the United States. For those of you who are young this may not feel as staggering as it does to those in my age group and older. With vivid recall of the magical experience that was John F. Kennedy, although it ended tragically and abruptly, most of the presidential elections subsequently have felt mostly like business as usual. With the exception of the charismatic Ronald Reagan most of our presidents have had the look and feel of bureaucracy and buttoned down formality.

But now we have the prospect of another youthful president who exudes hope, and causes worry about his inexperience. Whether or not Barack Obama can prevail against John McCain, he has already made clear that millions of Americans will stand behind a person of color if convinced of their competence, worthiness and vision. And so it is as well with Hillary Clinton, who made clear that millions are prepared to put a woman in charge of our national interests. Such things were, quite simply, unimaginable just a few decades ago.

Where ever you stand on the election, whether Democrat or Republican, my fervent hope is that we can finally restore a sense of optimism that seems to be missing throughout the society right now. We are living in times of breathtaking change, where too many people are tripping and falling, unable to keep up with the pace. We are living in a time that demands all of our energy to solve significant problems. The fact that we spend so much of our time focused on criticism and anger toward each other is a tragic waste of our energy. I don’t know for sure why we have become so divided, but my prime suspect is the chattering, profit-driven noise of the partisan television and radio media. It worries me about the impact it is having on the decisions we are making as a nation.

Monday, Indianapolis, Indiana

The big news in Hollywood this past weekend was the huge fire that destroyed several buildings at Universal Studios. In addition to damaging thousands of reels of tape, the fire burned the iconic set of the popular film Back To The Future. The famous courthouse with that great clock tower was completely lost. It reminds us of what great entertainment the Back To The Future trilogy was, especially the first installment.

When young Marty McFly gets sent back several decades in time by Doc’s machine, he unexpectedly encounters his own mother and father while they are still in high school. He comes to realize to his horror that they’re coming together was anything but guaranteed, and that as a result his very existence is at risk. The ingenious script creates a remarkable Oedipal Conflict, as the sudden appearance of hip young Marty is seen in vivid contrast to the clumsy nerd George McFly, his own father! Marty’s mother, and it’s no surprise is smitten with the very presence of Marty, a fantasy of her own creation here in real life.

The way Steven Spielberg and the writers concoct a plan to have Marty help his own in-depth father find the courage to stand up is simply brilliant. And as a result, and again it is no surprise, when he returns to the future Marty discovers that his parents are suddenly well-adjusted and the family more stable than he ever could have imagined.

It is deeply resonant psychologically for any of us to fantasize the opportunity to “fix” our less-than-perfect parents. The very idea of being able to travel back in time and discreetly intervene in their lives, to coax them to alter their choices and decisions in how they behave and who they chose, is a fantasy for the ages. Even if your parents are good enough, what would you like to change about them? Knowing their history as you do what would you like to go back and have different for them, that would make your own life better? Because to do this would not only change your physical circumstances, it would alter everything about how you were raised in the opportunities made available.

It’s no surprise that the film Back To The Future has endured in the mind and the psyche of American viewers. For the chance to fix our mothers and fathers, who wouldn’t pay a steep price for that?

- In every picture of your father as a young man he is not wearing a shirt

- All four of your grandparents are in prison