Ah, but Rich, looking at what others are doing from the viewpoint of what they "should" be doing... is another age-old problem. All we can really do, I think, is look at what we ourselves should be doing, and do it, and work out whatever gets in the way of that. It might include encouraging others or inspiring others or helping others do what youo think might make sense for them to do... but it never works from the stance of judging them.

Example: I read a FABULOUS account of a fella who was VERY leftie and VERY worried about the conservatives in his area and their activities. He took this to his counseling sessions. His counselor said, "Why don't you work like the dickens to get him elected?" This novel approach struck a chord, so the fella tried it. To reach that goal, he had to get so close to the candidate, to understand his views and promote them, that he started to really understand the guy and see how he got so rigid. He enountered his own rigidities too, and worked through them more effectively than he had ever been able to. Several years later, he is still a staffer for the guy. But guess whcih one of them is influencing the other? Yup. It's the "leftie" who everyone in the guy's "cabinet" listens to. Because he makes sense and his communication is free of his own rigidities. The politician's rhetoric may be just as rightie, but the ACTION... has been creeping steadily left. This one man has had more impact for his effort than he would have by parading with signs proclaiming the awfulness of the guy's platform. Because his effort is placed where it CAN have the most impact.

~Susan