Open your mouths

In the film The Last Supper, a twisted yet entertaining flick about a group of intellectual liberal grad students who decide to start inviting people who disagree with them on fundamental issues to dinner and then poisoning them, one poses the following question to a conservative talk show host, played by Ron Perlman: if you could go back in time and kill Hitler, would you? The grad students have all determined that they would, because the death of a single young art student would be a worthy sacrifice to save the millions of lives lost during the Holocaust; in fact, such is the very justification for their murderous rampage. However, the Perlman character says, simply, "No. I would talk to him."

In Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore's intriguing pseudo-documentary about the school shootings at Columbine High School, the most reasonable voice comes from none other than shock rocker Marilyn Manson: when asked what he would say to the Columbine killers, he replies, "Nothing. I would listen to what they had to say, because that's what no one did."

In the real world, the one in which we live, the White House has refused to engage in discussions with Syria and Iran about the increasingly daunting quagmire its actions have created in Iraq. You know we're living in strange times when the President of the United States makes Marilyn Manson seem reasonable.

It's possible that Ron Perlman's character may not have succeeded in convincing Hitler not to slaughter countless innocents. It's possible that Manson listening to the Columbine kids would not have altered their course of action. And, of course, it's possible that talking to Syria and Iran will not help us to find common ground and to move forward in stabilizing the reason. But that doesn't matter: to not even try is simply UNCONSCIONABLE.

What sort of nation do we establish ourselves to be if we will only communicate with others after they have already sided with our way of thinking? Problems are not solved by only including people with the same opinion in the solution.

All is not lost until we refuse to acknowledge ideas that may be contrary to our own. The Bush administration would do well to remember that, because right now, it is starting to feel like all may be lost. It's time to rescue it from the depths. Open your mouths. Talk to Iran and Syria. It's amazing what can be accomplished when you're willing to simply engage somebody.

Song lyric of the day:
"I’m so scared about the future
And I want to talk to you
You can take a picture of something you see
In the future, where will I be?
You can climb a ladder up to the sun
Or a write a song nobody has sung
Or do something that’s never been done"
- Coldplay, Talk