Fanfare for the Common Man
By Richard Girard
"I am truly free only when all human beings, men and women, are equally free. The freedom of other men, far from negating or limiting my freedom, is, on the contrary, its necessary premise and confirmation.
Mikhail Bakunin (1814 "76), Russian political theorist. God and the State; (1871; reproduced in Bakunin on Anarchism, edited by Sam Dolgoff, 1980).
"So let us not be blind to our differences, but let us also direct attention to our common interests and the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's futures. And we are all mortal."
John F. Kennedy (1917-63), President of the United States. Commencement Address, American University; 10 June, 1963.
There is nothing more unique in this world than the common man. Or to be politically correct, the Common Human Being.
In their multitudes, the Common Human Being makes the world work. He is sometimes underread but not stupid; often underpaid but never miserly; almost always overworked but always ready to volunteer in a good cause; understandably angry at the world's slights of him, while wanting it to work for everyone.
The Common Human Being is not the lowest common denominator, but the highest common good. His dignity is everyone's dignity, his compassion the compassion of us all.
We are, all of us, fellow travelers on the road of life: in tragedy, travail, and turmoil. If we journey alone it is out of choice or ignorance, not necessity. We must share our lives with one another: the moments of joy, the periods of loss, of sorrow, and even our times of shame. It is in the sharing of our common life experience that we best find our common humanity.
And now, one of our greatest champions, a man who believed in the dignity and worth of all of humankind, has been taken from us.
Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
A son of privilege, he had lived a life as filled with tragedy, travail and turmoil as any Common Human Being, and so understood us better than most. He had one sister who was born developmentally disabled; two brothers murdered by assassins of unknown stripe; he was almost killed in the crash of a small plane. He faced: being involved in an auto accident that ended a young woman's life and almost ended his career; the amputation of his son's leg for cancer; the denial of his Presidential aspirations; and the failure to achieve the one great goal of his political life "universal, comprehensive, affordable healthcare for all Americans.
In spite of all this, he remained an upbeat and positive person who always had time for family, friends, colleagues, supporters, employees, and even total strangers that he would meet. And, if we believe the testimony on the radio and television (and I do), it was never about Senator Kennedy, it was always about whoever he was meeting, especially as he matured and became more comfortable with himself.
A year ago, when he made his speech here at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, I looked at the image on my TV screen and said to myself, "This is the lion's last roar. The hair carefully combed over the left side of his head to cover where the doctors had gone in to remove as much of the tumor as they could without killing him; the very slight shuffle I saw in his walk; the weakness in the gestures as he made his speech: all of these spoke of a man whose days on earth were far too short for those of us who loved him.
But the eyes. Oh my God, the eyes!
Those were the eyes of an Old Testament prophet, exhorting the children of Israel to arise and make the land whole and fruitful once more.
The children of Israel in this case were the Common Human Being. Every one of us "spiritual or secular "who has taken the essence of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount to heart, and believes that the needs of our fellow human beings must take precedent over our mendacious desires for wealth and power. Those of us who, like Senator Edward M. Kennedy, are in the core of our beings, liberals.
In sharp contrast to Senator Ensign, Governor Sanford, and the rest of the neo-Calvinists in The Family's C Street House; Senator Kennedy committed the indiscretions in his life not because he was a "born-again member of God's ruling elect, saved for all eternity, and above the rules that apply to the Common Human Being. He committed them because he was human, like the rest of us Common Human Beings, and given to moments of weakness.
I wept that night in August last year, as I weep now. Born to privilege, Senator Kennedy's life made him one of us: understanding what it is like to live destitute of family that you love, goals that you've aspired to, and so much else that most of those born to privilege take for granted. He was one of us, because he never gave up that rarest of all virtues: hope.
Let us dedicate ourselves, in his memory, to carry on his work, and see that affordable, comprehensive, universal healthcare is provided for every American. We owe that much to this most uncommon, Common Man.
