A Republican Experiences a True Moral Epiphany!!! (This really is beautiful!)

[FourScore]

Run time: 05:28 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnTwrnKb61Q   Posted on YouTube: September 20, 2007 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: September 26, 2007 By DU Member: FourScore Views on DU: 2381

 
Watch it and read Mark Morford's comments:

"Could it really be happening? Was there really any way in hell a straight white male BushCo-era Republican would dare step up to a live microphone in front of a TV camera in a major American city and honestly admit that, well, he was wrong, and he is very sorry, and he has now officially reversed his position and now fully supports gay marriage and will actually sign a city council resolution acknowledging and advocating same?"

SNIP

"But there is another fascinating element to this story. There is one more thing to ponder. Is it not curious that, on the rare instances such a personal breakthrough occurs in a pubic political figure, it's most often in the favor of a progressive idea, a humanistic switch away from cultural conservatism?

That is to say, is it not interesting that you almost never hear a Democrat or a liberal step up to a microphone and choke back tears and say, "My people, I have been all wrong about, say, the death penalty (or gun control, or women's rights), and after searching my heart and following my intuition and seeking inspiration from my loving family, I now have reversed my position. I wish to wholly support killing prisoners. What's more, I now support torture, and will vote for the unprovoked bombing or Iran and I just signed a decree that everyone must get a large handgun and by the way it turns out sex really is deeply scary and we cannot let women have such control over their bodies and therefore I no longer support condoms or RU-486 or low-rise jeans in public. Thank you."

Truly, Sanders seems to follow a wondrous, though not often noticed, law of humanistic expansion. It goes something like this: When you find your heart, when you look to your own family and your own life and your own soul for the answers and go beyond the limitations of your political handbook and disregard the bitter decrees force-fed to you by some dogmatic religion or belief system, well, chances are just incredibly good you will emerge a tiny bit more progressive or liberal or open-minded than before. Is that not fascinating?"

SNIP

"But it's more than that. The speech actually expresses one of the most precious and endangered ideas in all of American society: that human beings, their views and their beliefs and their notions of love and sex and what it means to be alive on this weird blue dot, these things can actually evolve, beliefs can shift, the heart can open, and no matter where you live and who you are and what you do for a living, it's never too late to let love in."

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2007/09/26/notes092607.DTL&nl=fix

[burythehatchet]

1. just beautiful

[lateo]

2. That was great.

[midlife_mo_Jo]

3. Wow. That was very touching.

Thanks for posting this. I'm sending the link to a couple of folks I know. :)

[Ladyhawk]

4. I sent the mayor a note.

It's very important for everyone to introspect these days. Things are so polarized that more often than not, we're at each other's throats...and it isn't just partisanship. Everybody seems so hyped up.

Anyone capable of saying, "I was wrong" in public is doing what they can to heal the rift. Anyone else want to step up to the plate?

[FourScore]

11. Well said, Ladyhawk!

I will send a note later today as well.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

5. I have a new hero today.

A gentleman to be much admired for his embrace and acceptance of wisdom.

[The Wielding Truth]

6. It looked like that just about killed him. Did he just find out his

daughter was a lesbian and that changed his mind? I wonder what prompted this painful decision.

[progressoid]

7. I heard a clip on NPR and got a little choked up.

But seeing the whole thing is...well...I need a Kleenex.

[OregonBlue]

8. WOW, just WOW! A brave man he is.

[MiniMe]

9. That was touching. I just hope that his daughter knew he was doing that

[FourScore]

10. I wonder if it was his daughter that he smiled at briefly

during the speech. It really is so wonderful.

[Momgonepostal]

12. Here's his email address:

[e-mail]

in case anyone would like to send a note of support.

Thank you for posting this clip! I could see that it was not an easy thing for him to do. That took a lot of guts.

[begin_within]

13. He lives 4 blocks from me. Too bad he's otherwise a very pro-business, anti-labor right-winger.

[DuaneBidoux]

26. He's shown the ability to grow once, maybe again...

[begin_within]

14. Republicans in eastern San Diego county held a news conference yesterday to condemn Sanders

Very short article on it, with many added comments is here:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070926-9999-1m26ecrally.html

[Cha]

15. Of course they do..

that's what repukes do..and that's what makes Jerry Sanders so special. Mayor of San Diego, eh..my ol stompin grounds!

[FourScore]

18. That's too bad. n/t

[Dollface]

16. "There is no instinct like that of the heart."

Love lends courage.

[Oilwellian]

17. This video gives me hope for all of humanity

One heart & mind changed at a time. Love WILL conquer all.

[DuaneBidoux]

19. If all Americans saw this it would be game set and match in a heartbeat-and then we could do...

the stuff that needs doing so badly such as health care and poverty alleviation, and education for all.

[Mojambo]

20. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. n/t

[undergroundpanther]

21. wow! K'n'R

Mark Morford..You RAWK!! Keep that heart alive and let it be warmed by your true humanity and let the cold reptile authoritarian blood be drained away!!

:yourock:

[Mugsy]

22. He never really fully explained the impetus for his reversal.

It is not until the last minute or so that we get even the slightest explanation for why he suddenly changed his mind: apparently, he was confronted by his own daughter and probably just discovered that a staffer (likely a longtime friend) were also gay.

I suspect they confronted him on the issue and showed him the hypocrisy of his previous position. But I do find it interesting that he never really does go into exactly WHY he suddenly changed his mind, other than to say that he now sees the error of his ways. How about some reasoning we can pass along to other opponents?

[MikeH]

23. Good for Mayor Sanders

Living in San Diego I am very proud of my mayor's having had a real change of heart, and doing the right thing.:)

He is a (moderate) Republican, and I didn't vote for him, and don't agree with him on other issues. He seems to be very pro-business and anti-labor.

However I am very happy that he does seem to have had a real epiphany and a real change of heart. Often change for the good happens one person at a time, and sometimes happens where one might not expect it.

Of course the real hard-core right-wingers condemn Sanders, just like they always oppose any positive social change.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

24. Boy, the freepers are pissed!

:rofl: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1899882/posts

[Momgonepostal]

25. Geez, those people have something wrong with them

What a bunch of bigots.

[DuaneBidoux]

27. These people are truly ill with a kind of bitterness and hate I simply don't think we can grasp.

[Zenlitened]

28. A net gain in happiness. A net gain in decency.

The world becomes a measurably better place when ignorance and bigotry are cast aside.

Kudos to this man for finding the courage within himself to do the right thing -- in a climate where doing the wrong thing is so easy for so many, and often brings rewards.