Workplace Calisthenics: Angst, anger form bouquet of U.S. democracy

Since I write this column two to three weeks before publication, I will make a prediction: the winner of the 2004 presidential race has not been declared by the time you read this.

There will becontested ballots, recounting of absentee votes, legion stories of "voting irregularities" and dire threats of constitutional failure.

But, there will be no M-1 tanks on the Square to keep the peace.

It is my opinion that the chorus of raised voices, the squinted feral eyes, the scowl-lined faces, the hands folded into fists they are the bouquet of our democracy.

I am getting just a little tired of the endless media moaning in the last few weeks about how "divided this country has become." So what! Think of the alternative.

We could be up to our hanging chads in suffocating silence. You know, like in countries where the majority has learned to just "button it" in order to stay alive. If we have not figured it out, despots around the world conduct very boring elections. If King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia or Fidel Castro of Cuba have a significant vocal minority, the minority needs to check their life insurance policies.

In an equalitarian experiment like the United States, "all men created equal" means we have to let "all men and women" express their conscience. It does get messy.

I have just returned from the annual all-male LeMon family fishing trip. Amid the raw aroma of men slathered in fish scales and testosterone-laden musk, the conversation normally hones in on politics.

Because of the presidential election, this year was especially lively. Our family has a long history of viewing political debate as a prelude to physical violence.

The words came with great fluidity, lubricated by passionate beliefs. It was not long until the average blood pressure in the room rose to 190/125. The spittle was launched, the facial muscles twitched and the accusations were stuttered through sarcasm.

It was great fun.

It is my opinion that our family's political divisions probably mirrored the poll numbers we have been treated to during the last few days. We are a divided country.

So what?!

The genius of this republic is its ability to weather whackos. Whackos, as we all know, are people who do not see the world as we do.

There is a place in democracy for dissonant voices. Only in America could Ralph Nader, the Libertarians, the U.S. Nudist Party and the Daughters of the American Revolution be invited to the same party.

But, there are responsibilities attached to this diversity among us.

First, if democracy is everything it is cracked up to be, the minority voices have to be handed the microphone.

Did we hear from the minority in this election? In a nation of almost 250 million citizens, is it possible for the Society for the Preservation of Polka and Citizens for Captain Kirk to make it to CNN? Obviously, the answer is no.

Minority opinion, rather, does dictate this nation provide a "safe zone" for thinking outside what is politically correct for the majority. Repression, in any form, is antithetical to our patriotism.

You know what that means? If you hold the power, you have a constitutional responsibility to listen to me. Notice I did not say agree with me. Just listen.

Second, our diversity can be a siren call that there is despotism taking root among us. There are no dissenting voices in North Korea today. If there were, they have been smothered by the awful weight of totalitarianism.

With a free press and freedom of speech, if the United States gets hijacked by a despot, the truth will come out. Unfortunately, this sometimes takes years, but the truth will rule this nation.

Finally, diversity means this will all come full circle. That's right, the conservatives will have to move over for the liberals until the liberals will grudgingly pass the torch back to the conservatives.

We never get this democracy thing just right. It is the role of the dissenting voice to constantly broadcast, "We can do better," and "The torch is being passed to a new generation," and "Rebuild America."

In other words, the whackos keep raising the bar on the king-makers in Washington and become the king-makers in the next election.

What we have in this "fractured and divided nation" today is nothing less than millions of whacko voices crafting millions of mid-course corrections for this republic to "right itself."

The election may not be over because the genius of democracy has just begun.

I can hardly wait for the next LeMon family fishing trip!

Cal LeMon, of Executive Enrichment Inc., solves organizational problems with customized training and consulting.