Let the games begin. A month from today, the Summer Olympics will begin in China. What a difference a few decades can make. Back in 1980, the United States and numerous other countries boycotted the Summer Olympics in the Soviet Union as a result of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Now, the United States is fighting in Afghanistan, along side forces from other countries that participated in the boycott and people have been talking about China’s human rights issues and whether these games should be boycotted.

One of my favorite songs from around that time was Peter Gabriel’s “Games Without Frontiers”.

If looks could kill, they probably will
In games without frontiers - war without tears
…
Dressing up in costumes, playing silly games
Hiding out in tree-tops shouting out rude names

Yes, the games, political, athletic and personal can all seem silly at times. At other times they can seem deadly important.

Meanwhile, Fiona has been playing games at day camp. I don’t know which games she played, perhaps she played Red Rover or Capture the Flag.

“Red Rover, Red Rover, send Bob Edgar over”.

Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar is president and CEO of Common Cause. Prior to this, he served as general secretary of the National Council of Churches, and before that he was part of the class of ‘74, a group of representatives elected at the Nixon years. There is a lot we can learn from him and others in the class of ’74 about how to get our country back on track.

Kim works for Common Cause and Bob came to Connecticut recently to talk with supporters about what is going on with Common Cause. He met ahead of time with a few bloggers to provide more insight into his vision for Common Cause. It was a great exchange and he had a lot to say about returning accountability and authenticity to American politics.

All of this came to mind as I received an email today about Common Cause’s new campaign, Recapture the Flag.

I remember my days at summer camp, playing Red Rover and Capture the Flag. They were incredibly important to me at the time. Sure, others might have dismissed it as just games, but looking back, I learned a lot about playing fair, taking turns and good sportsmanship.

That seems to fit very nicely with the Recapture the Flag campaign. It does seem that at the root of our countries current problems stems from people serving in Washington these days who have forgotten about basic ideals like fairness, taking turns and good sportsmanship. Our country was made strong by separate and equal branches of the government playing fairly with one another.

Yet warrantless wiretapping, illegal torture, significant restrictions to Habeas Corpus, abuse of executive privilege and singing statements and numerous other injustices does not represent the fairness that I learned in games as a kid, or that has made our country strong.

So, it is time to Recapture the Flag. It is time to help America get back on course to live up to the ideals that we held on the playgrounds of our youth. Please join with me in helping Recapture the Flag, and all it stands for.

“Red Rover, Red Rover, send Bob Edgar over”.