As of this inaugural post, it has been sixty-seven
years, three months, three weeks, six days and three hours since Harry S.
Truman’s official term of office expired. As each decade passes since that
moment it only serves to underline the flourishing legacy he left behind that
is still with us today. With the exception of Abraham Lincoln, it is doubtful a
better representative of the common man with an evolving progressive mind could
be found. At first, our 33rd President came out of Missouri with a parochial
outlook couched in the southern prejudices of the time. With a progressive mind
and a conscience that always strived for fairness one can only marvel at the
evolving ideals and a sense of justice he would harness as the arc of his
ascension in public life spiraled upward growing beyond his humble origins.
His biographer, David
McCullough, called him, “….a man of uncommon vitality and strength of
character.” As the embodiment of one being faced with a world that had evolved
beyond his capacity to view it with the sensibilities of a time long past he
became much more than that. Our greatest President, Abraham Lincoln once
profoundly observed, “The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy
present….we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and
then we shall save our country.” Only a progressive mind such as that of Harry
Truman could understand the meaning of Lincoln’s profound sense of what is
needed to face a world that seemed at the time to be so fraught with unmeetable
challenges and peril. His strength of character and profound sense of
self-awareness eventually enabled him to reach beyond himself and those around
him in order to harness the ideas and energy that would allow him to, “….think
anew, and act anew,” as Lincoln prescribed.
Now we find ourselves being
led by a conservative mindset that has produced an individual so lost in a world
devoid of ideas, lost humanity and score settling grievances he has turned global
American leadership upside down in a post cold war world conflicted with
ambiguity and contradictions about our place and where we fit into it. As he
lurches and reaches backward for tired old prescriptions of division and prejudices
of the past that only serve to undermine the American ideal our burden is added
to as he strives to serve and soothe the closed mind of raw emotions driven by
those that are easily angered and quick to judge. Progressive ideas are
marginalized and ridiculed by a conservative mindset that prefers the simple
solutions of yesterday and quick fix answers serving a consumer driven public
massaged by the commercial blandness of mass consumption and the low
expectations of a status quo society.
Now more than ever we need
new voices that call for us to, “…..think anew, and act anew.” We need new
voices that ring with the clarion call for change to wash away the “dogmas of
the quiet past that are inadequate to the stormy present.” This blog is a
humble attempt, in a very small way, to join that chorus and harmonize with
those that feel that sense of urgency before it is too late to save the
progressive ideals we fought so hard for and achieved. We need new voices that
are driven by the conscience of Harry Truman and the sense of justice and
fairness it embodied. As his legacy has driven me toward this small effort to
continue that fight this blog will focus on two main objectives: first, to make
all of our elected officials accountable to their constituencies, their country
and to the American people they serve, and second, to promote the causes and
principles of the liberal/progressive view. From 1941 to 1944, then Senator Harry S.
Truman, before he was chosen to be F.D.R.'s running mate, was legendary for his
chairmanship of the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National
Defense Program. It even came to be called "The Truman
Committee" for short as it became legendary for its tenacity and crusade
against war profiteering. That legacy included going after those that violated
the rules and spirit of defense and government contract spending. If Democratic
party members were found to be included in those violations he made sure even
they were equally held accountable and suffered the same consequences.
Alas, it is in that same spirit that my first objective will be to
hold all elected
officials accountable on both sides of the aisle no matter the party or
ideological standing. It is especially critical that our Democratic party
elected officials are held to an even higher standard making them even more
accountable to ensure the principles and causes of liberal and progressive
values are upheld.
So welcome to Truman’s conscience. My name is Michael and I’m the
custodian of this small effort to harmonize with the voices of change and the
call for justice in a political climate driven by fear and moral certainty.
Come and join in on occasion and let us sing together.
Truman's conscience will be here.
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