Common Ground

On this blog (as in life) I try to focus on the positive whenever possible. I feel that what unites us is always more important than what divides us; our common ground more important than our division and more importantly finding solutions to our problems more important than simply griping about them. Yesterday I was unable to maintain this focus. I received an (unsolicited) "press release" from a person that holds political aspirations. The person (who I will not name because I don't want to give him attention I feel is undeserved) issued the press release to denounce today's protest organized by the Right to Serve campaign. This person represents no group or interest other than their own and feels justified in judging what is the right way and wrong way of combatting the discriminatory "Don't Ask, don't tell" policy. I don't want to go into all of the ins-and-outs of how much I was appalled by the content of this press release or the sheer audacity of this individual, but I would like to point out that whether we agree or disagree with a group's method, we should look to see whether we are trying to find solutions to problems or merely sitting in the peanut gallery criticizing those that are at least doing something. I hope that we all renew our efforts to find that common ground.