A Fitting Start on Pennsylvania Primary Day

Prior to September 11th when you could enter Independence Hall in Philadelphia unchecked and unguided, there was a certain silence that could be appreciated, the same sort of silence that can be realized when you enter an empty church on a weekday. The building encouraged contemplation and wonder. It was a good place to dream. Oh, the stories the walls could tell.

I am thinking about Independence Hall today as the much hyped Pennsylvania primary craze between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton finally comes to a close. There is in this race and seemingly this day and age in our country little patience for contemplation. Just like the madness and the mad rush that led Independence Hall to be nothing more than a guided tour with a metal detector and armed guards, our electoral process has become nothing more than a flurry of blurbs and blahs, a rush for the sake of itself with little substance save the folks who try hard to convince us that we will be protected by them.

Oh, if those walls could only speak and tell us a story about leaders who sought not protection for our country, but release from the tyranny that served to limit it. We live in an age where the voice of Hamilton seems like nothing more than a distant murmur or more appropriately a fading gunshot, where the audacity of Jefferson and the bravery of Henry fall behind the shadows of lost liberties, false wars, and hollow excuses for civil discourse. Oh, I think we need those voices to speak again. Maybe if we turn down the volume on MSNBC's Projected Winners Show tonight, we might be able to hear them.