Long Die The King...and the Queen

The following article was written in 1996 after a particularly snide attack at then president Bill Clinton's wife, Hillary. The level of attacks have escalated since that time on anyone who is in the highest position of power, and as we've seen in this primary season for the presidential race, attack is the modus operandi. It is debilitating and keeps us from dialogue that is important for the renewal of our country. Let's hope that McCain and Obama will refrain from the political smears that we've been accustomed to, and lend dignity once again to an office that deserves better than it has been getting or giving!

------

It has become increasingly evident in the past 20+ years that we have a preoccupation in this country with “getting” our leaders. Ever since the Watergate scandal in the early 70s, it seems that each subsequent president has been targeted with an enormous burden by a mean spirited press that seeks to wrestle them from their position.

In the days of John Kennedy, our “king” was actually killed …now we just insult them out of office. Cruelty used to be directed at the President, but in this day of greater equality, the First Lady is also under major attack. As long as she (regardless of party) is willing to wear the obligatory white pearls and big smile, and say very little about anything, she’s left alone. However, when she becomes involved, she is subject to the same tactics used against the man of the House. We read recently about Jean Houston having helped Hilary Clinton through a guided visualization in which Mrs. Clinton was able to ‘dialogue’ with Eleanor Roosevelt. Anyone who has followed visualization techniques through the years would applaud the use of this meaningful exercise, but in the framework of today’s news media, what was meant to be an expanding experience was taken completely out of context and denigrated as a psychic séance.

The work of Jean Houston, which is truly spectacular, was trivialized, and Hilary Clinton was viewed as floundering, seeking help from a dead presidential wife because she couldn’t get adequate council from any living ones. (Perhaps that was true!) For those of us attempting to raise consciousness, it is another indication of the narrow-minded attitude still prevalent in this country.

We could leave it there, but it is an indication of something bigger going on. The end of patriarchy is not going gently into the night…it is enraged by the inroads the feminine is making, and doing everything possible to short circuit it. However, the very attention given to this incident brings forth the larger work that Houston is involved with. As she told a friend of mine who happened to be taking a seminar from her the week the s… hit the fan, Hilary Clinton is a role model for the embodiment of equal partnership between men and women that will emerge in the 21st Century, and she is in need of prayers from all of us, because the constant criticism is debilitating.

We may as a society be able to discredit or eliminate the rulers, but we cannot stop the rise of equality, because it is tied to the reawakening of earth, the indigenous cultures, and other ancient wisdom that is emerging in spite of what we do to stop it. A new consciousness is forming related to union and reunion, and the sooner we move into the concept with a sense of cooperation and partnership, the more dynamic the possibilities will become for everyone.

The roots of our hostile political climate are complex, and this is by no means meant to trivialize the issues, but when we complain that there are no good leaders on the horizon, we need to ask ourselves, would we be willing to take the offices that put us and our family in the spotlight, with a hungry media intent on crucifying us? Not many good people are willing to destroy their lives for the ‘privilege’ of serving in that political climate.
From Seasons of the Soul Summer 1996