Dylan Song For 2018 Mid-Term Elections

 

What time is it? Dylan time. Time to listen well, to understand, to see the other side.

 

Once it mattered to speak well of others, to show consideration.

 

My mother once dressed down for a high school football game as a lineman. She could have played better than some of the team.

 

When she put her foot down, it was usually on something that needed a good grind, like the North Bend Bulldog football team when winning meant not getting beat as bad as last time.

 

No one complained about the new player who wasn’t on the team lineup.

 

My dad was a country boy who moved to town, then back. He joined the Marines in 1950 and did what Marines did in 1950: go to Korea.

 

He came back with scars, a purple heart, a silver star, and a story others told. Dylan tells the story.

 

I grew up in a family of six and joined the Army, the only one in my litter to serve. I’m glad I did because otherwise I’d be marshmallow soft and narrow minded.

 

The old man told me what’s what when I called from boot camp and whined. It helped, both the whining and the advice: “You signed up, so follow through on your word if you ever want to come home.”

 

See, the family and choices we make form us. Even if you’ve never done anything dramatic, or drastic, or regretful, find something close. Dylan did. He left Hibbing, changed his name, moved to Brooklyn, and became a legend. He was somebody. He still is.

 

Now pretend the people you’ve looked up to say you’re nothing, that you don’t matter, and if you did, you still wouldn’t matter. Is that what you tell yourself when you don’t vote?

 

Or take your greatest achievement and pretend the elected officials you cherish decide a dog could achieve the same thing.

 

All I can say is I’d be honored to have my security clearance revoked like John Brennan. Except I don’t have a security clearance because I can’t keep my mouth shut, can’t keep a secret, and if I know something important, I tell.

 

But I do have a library card. And like Nixon said about his dog Checkers, I’m keeping it.

 

Vote correctly in November if you ever want to come home.