Deja Vue all over again...

Listening to Barack Obama's acceptance speech was heartening in that he mentioned that change in Washington will only begin with each of us making Washington change. This is a bold step for a politician to say they are not the catalyst required to begin change, especially after running on a platform of change for almost a year.
The founding fathers recognized that the individual is the agent of change, and they acted both individually and together to foment change during our revolutionary period. They had the "luxury" of not having instant communication in that individuals with similar motivations and values acted in disparate locations in a similar manner; the luxury was that they did not have this information sometimes for months until reports reached them of such activity and showed that other patriots were actively working for the same ends. It was not until later that the Letters of Correspondence began between the colonies that eventually brought these individuals together in a common bond that jelled with the 1st Continental Congress.
We have instant communication today, such as this blog, that allows us to converse with others of like mind. However, it also allows others to monitor such conversations with an eye toward suspicion; we are just short of having another Committee on Un-American Acitivities in place with a few paranoid and out-of-touch politicos deeming any open conversation on the direction of this nation as being harmful.
I admit to being a registered Republican, leaning Democratic and firmly Moderate. I don't see any of this as being contradictory; it is identifying with the ideals of each that match mine. I could be called "independent" but that tag has been anathema in the political process, with anyone outside of the mainstream parties marginalized and mostly ignored, both by the major parties themselves and the media, whether liberal or conservative. But it leaves me free to make up my own mind and my own decisions; professing an alignment with a major party provides political access the "independent" does not have, so it's a practical choice rather than idealogical.
The gist of my ramblings? Learn to think independently and critically; listen to the words and watch the actions; be wary of both idolitry and iconoclasts; trust no one to act in your best interests but have a deep and underlying faith in the American public to act responsibly; open yourself to action rather than observation, but observe sufficiently to act appropriately.
Real change requires real action, not rhetoric. Be the change, be the action. We have enough rhetoric to go around already.