Nor, on the positive side, can the full value of a loving human relationship such as marriage be compacted into some short time. Unlike a modern wine, a modern love match cannot be fully matured and appreciated in a hurry. While sharp and dramatic at first, the mellowing flavors and complexities are the finest and most noble -- and can only be experienced over long time.
Between the punishment of jail and the reward of a loving marriage (both of which need time to have their full value) falls presidential campaign politics -- which also moves faster than before, and also risks rushing a process that needs to take a certain amount of time.
Now, in this last week of summer before Labor Day rings the bell for school, work and the traditional beginning of the presidential campaign, I will not belabor the already too hot politics.
But as we all start thinking about who we want for the next president of the United States (a decision that may save or cost many of us our lives depending on whether we choose wisely or not), we should not let the candidates and the news media rush us to early decision.
Against the backdrop of rapidly changing events -- particularly in Iraq, but also on Wall Street and around the world -- if we let the campaigns run a little longer, we will have revealed to us which candidates are capable of responding honestly and intelligently to changing events, and which never had more than slogans.
The good Lord has given us the gift of time -- and the capacity for patience to take full value of that time. Whether in crime and punishment, love and marriage or candidates and decisions, we should take that time.
Tony Blankley
Tony Blankley, a conservative author and commentator who served as press secretary to Newt Gingrich during the 1990s, when Republicans took control of Congress, died Sunday January 8, 2012. He was 63.
Blankley, who had been suffering from stomach cancer, died Saturday night at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, his wife, Lynda Davis, said Sunday.
In his long career as a political operative and pundit, his most visible role was as a spokesman for and adviser to Gingrich from 1990 to 1997. Gingrich became House Speaker when Republicans took control of the U.S. House of Representatives following the 1994 midterm elections.
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