Paul T. Klein

Alec Baldwin makes an admirable and sharped-toothed reply to CNN’s Jack Cafferty’s suggestion that Baldwin is unfit for public office because of his lack of a “political” education.  He rebuffs Cafferty’s comments and provides a scathing reminder that only those who have done no wrong may cast stones.

It is a ridiculous argument that people who have previously worked in entertainment as actors or directors, or that people who have been authors or artists, or those who have labored in factories or studied sciences should be precluded from the national political stage.  If you are an educated individual, with a heart that bleeds for your nation, regardless of your party-affiliations or your previous employment, than it is your solemn duty as a citizen to do whatever you feel is necessary to make your country better for those around you.

I love that Baldwin says that running for office is “a way to serve one’s country”.  Kennedy’s words must still sound loud and still boldly echo true: “Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country”.  Holding (or even just running for) office is a legitimate and noble way to include yourself in our national and global identity.

I’ll say it over and over again, but we’re all in this together.  We’ve got a job to do, and though at times it may seem murky or unclear, our goal has always shone and whispered in that cloudy vapor of insignificance and national-doubt: we can do better.  We can always, always do better.  Let us progress, but let us falter and learn from our history.  Let each and every person who walks or wheels, crawls or creeps, yet aches for the goodness that we all know humanity is capable of — let each of us do our part.