Born in the U.S.A...

Food for thought in this season of political frenzy and media mayhem (and just for the record, I have no ulterior motives in swaying your vote one way or another):

1. "Democracy is neither a possession nor a guaranteed achievement. It is forever in the making: it might be thought of as a possibility--moral and imaginative possibility. For surely it has to do with the way persons attend to one another, care for one another, and interact with one another. It has to do with choices and alternatives, with the capacity to look at things as though they could be otherwise."
-Maxine Greene

2. "Citizens in a democracy have the convictions and enthusiasms of their own responses, yet they are willing to keep an open mind about alternate points of view, and finally are able to negotiate meanings and actions that respect both individual diversity and community needs.

To overcome our tendency to follow authority blindly, we need to develop confidence in our own ability to interpret and judge what we observe around us in the world. But confident and out-spoken individuals must be complemented by a tradition of conduct for reconciling differences among their responses."
-Gordon M. Pradl

3. A Small-Town Mayor Vs. A Community Organizer

4. Does Race Matter In '08? The View From York, Pa.