This is not primarily a book about economics, policy or political strategy, though it has implications for all of these. It is a book about the foundations of morality and how our reigning political ideologies misunderstand those foundations.

These misunderstandings have become painfully obvious over the last year. As much of the excitement that drove President Obama to the White House dims, conservative ideologues and their media cronies continue to scare and lie to the public, all in the name of “saving” America from socialists and brown people.

This battle over America’s moral identity demands a sustained commitment to care that can redefine the country’s sense of self. As Furrow concludes:

A commitment to care for the quality of…public life is our national identity. To be a real American is to make that commitment.

Here’s to another year of renewing this commitment together.

Jay Smooth @ ill doctrine:

Dwight Furrow @ Rants and Reasons:

It is fashionable to sneer at Obama’s appeal to  “hope” during his campaign. But that is all liberals have because it supports the will to persist. Conservatives have the power and money. All we have is hope that through extraordinary effort some injustice can be removed.

That is Dr. King’s legacy.

Pam Spaulding @ Pam’s House Blend remembering one of our less-known heros, Mr. Bayard Rustin:

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s hallowed “I Have a Dream Speech” is an iconic moment in the history of civil rights. But this historic moment would probably have never happened if it weren’t for a man standing in King’s shadow, Mr. Bayard Rustin.

Bayard Rustin was a man with a number of seemingly incompatible labels: black, gay, Quaker… identifications that served to earn him as many detractors as admirers. Although he had numerous passions and pursuits, his most transformative act, one that certainly changed the course of American history, was to counsel MLK on the use of non-violent resistance. Rustin also helped to engineer the March on Washington and frame the Montgomery bus boycott.

President Obama In Remembrance of Martin Luther King, Jr.:

Our predecessors were never so consumed with theoretical debates that they couldn’t see progress when it came. Sometimes I get a little frustrated when folks just don’t want to see that even if we don’t get everything, we’re getting something.  (Applause.)  King understood that the desegregation of the Armed Forces didn’t end the civil rights movement, because black and white soldiers still couldn’t sit together at the same lunch counter when they came home.  But he still insisted on the rightness of desegregating the Armed Forces.  That was a good first step — even as he called for more.  He didn’t suggest that somehow by the signing of the Civil Rights that somehow all discrimination would end.  But he also didn’t think that we shouldn’t sign the Civil Rights Act because it hasn’t solved every problem.  Let’s take a victory, he said, and then keep on marching.  Forward steps, large and small, were recognized for what they were — which was progress.

Thank you, Dr. King, for your wisdom and sacrifice and for the chance to learn from such a powerful legacy decades later.

I don’t really know what to say about Roman Polanski. Well, okay yes I do. He’s a scum-sucking rapist who has managed to evade justice for 30 years. What I don’t know is how on earth so many people could be defending him after all of this.

There are some wonderful posts by people who can express their outrage and share their experiences with sexual assault much more eloquently than I…check some of them out on Tari Rocks! and Feministe.

But one thing I can speak about is the need for men to speak out against rape. As many of you know, I’m Transgender, meaning that, in my case, i was born female but for most of my life felt more like a man, and I am now transitioning to living as a man. One of the most difficult parts about my transition is the fact that we live in a horribly sexist culture and some men commit incredible crimes against women.

Doesn’t it make you sick to your stomach to know this man drugged and raped a child? That is not what being a man is about! This is precisely why men must speak out against rape. In addition to needing to unite with women against sexual assault, we also need to provide other boys and men with positive role models. And a big part of being a role model is speaking out against injustice.

Governments and celebrities protecting rapists because they are famous is clearly an injustice, which is why I’m grateful for role models like Jay Smooth and Dwight Furrow who call it out while so many others were silent or, even worse, defended him.

For Jay Smooth’s vlog post calling out Polanski’s celebrity defenders, check out Ill Doctrine

For Dwight Furrow’s post tearing apart media and governmental defense of Polanski, visit Philosophy on the Mesa

To take action against sexual assault, visit RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network).