On the evening of September 11th, 2003 – I boarded a flight out of Heathrow for Washington, DC and landed in Dulles, where a cabbie named Aces picked me up and drove me out of the airport.
I was nervous at the time, since I had just left my home I had known for years and had recently broken up with my girlfriend – who had just flown back to Brasil the morning before. As we drove to DC that Friday morning, I remember having a feeling of trepidation, of excitement and of wonder about getting involved in politics – finally. My business partner, Rana, had been a strong advocate for being involved and making a difference and my history of student activism in areas of minority student support and athletc affairs – supposedly prepped me for this adventure. But I was certain it did not.
Politics was never meant to become a profession for me – rather, I felt a duty to fight for what was right for the Democratic Party and give up my business and relationship for the important task of electing someone that was “other than Bush”. After years of apologizing for our government in foreign countries, and watching an anemic online campaign form versus what seemed to be a powerhouse of Republican forces, I finally decided to step up and make a difference.
align=”right”>But, this was just for this action. I thought of this as a simple consulting gig – where the task was to solve the problem, and get out. I help start companies, I love to build products, I love teaching people. Politics has always been a world of well-dressed…..sharks. And on my ride with Aces, we chatted about what it was like to stay in DC and what kind of person would it take to stay.
Aces said, “You don’t have the right disposition; you seem to care too much. People here are about the game, not about the results.” And I said, “That’s where I am different. I get results.” And, for the most part, that is what I have done.
And for three years, while the game I have not completely mastered, I have begun to understand it better. And I still do not feel like I am part of the system – which I think is a good thing. I am called upon to help in numerous ways, and I continue my fight to make a difference – whether from within or out. But it is my feverant hope that we, as citizens, continue to try to make a difference in this country and continue this democracy going.
Someone asked, why do I have a stamp of Mount Rushmore on the site. The practical reason is because my designer found it – and I liked it. The real heart reason is that the one place where I felt the spirit of what those great men felt and stood for was on the viewing platform staring up at those faces. Below the platform are four of their most famous quotes – which continue to inspire me. That is why I am proud to be an American.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Thomas Jefferson
Declaration of Independence
July 4, 1776
“The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”
George Washington
First Inaugural Address
April 30, 1789
“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Abraham Lincoln
Gettysburg Address
November 19, 1863
“We, here in America, hold in our hands the hopes of the worlds, the fate of the coming years; and shame and disgrace will be ours if in our eyes the light of high resolve is dimmed, if we trail in the dust the golden hopes of men.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Address at Carnegie Hall
March 30, 1912
Tags: Sanford Dickert, civic duty
