A good honest laugh from Thich Nhat Hanh (circulated email)

A dear friend emailed this message from Thich Nhat Hanh to me about the election. She knows that I'm political and that I really do respect Thich Nhat Hanh's work in the world. But I'm afraid this time I'm laughing at the spiritual leader's naivete rather than laughing with the wisdom he normally gives me. I'll add emphasis for the punchlines:

Nothing is Lost: Insight on the Recent U.S. Election
from Thich Nhat Hanh, November 7th, 2004

For those of you that voted for Kerry, we must look deeply
to see the Kerry elements in Bush. In this long and
difficult campaign, Bush has learned many things from Kerry and
those who voted for him. If there had been no election,
Bush wouldn't have questioned his positions or his approach.
He would have been able to assume that his way is best. But he
almost lost the election, and he is aware that at least
half of the American people don't believe in him. Now, because
he almost lost, he is more humble and must realize that
if he doesn't listen to the other half of the American people,
there will be a big disturbance in the country. So we have to
see that now all of us are in him. Those of you who didn't vote
for him are in him, are a part of him after this very close
presidential race....

Oh, ho ho. And now that I'm all laughing at this dear ol' Buddhist dude's sweetness and faith in the goodness of ALL of his fellow humans, Thich Nhat Hanh goes and ruins my little superior dance by giving me the exact right advice for how we can save the country from Bush's belligerent ignorance:

We have to help our government so that a president elected by 51% of the
population will not serve just that 51% but the whole country. We need to keep
speaking out, daily letting our government know what we want, expressing our
insight and understanding. We need to be very present, very firm and constantly
let the government know we are here. We can support them in our own way, through
being present, calm, lucid and compassionate. Being compassionate doesn't
mean we surrender and give up. It means we see clearly that our country, our
government is us and it needs our help. Compassion means acting with courage and
deep love to help manifest what we know our country is capable of.

And he's right of course. This is Buddhist talk for take to the streets and kick their asses. But, um, to do so with love. Yeh, I can hack that. I can try and kick some asses with love.

of us have to stay here and 'enlighten' our government.

Remember, none of this is real anyway.

nutcase doesn't have to live in the U.S. and put up with the bushistas.

Republican politics are now based on the idea of catering to the hard right and demonizing the rest. Of course they're going to "serve just that 51%".

A calm, compassionate presence is lovely and all, but it's not going to sway the right wing. They hate us. That's now considered a "moral value".