Forgive and be free, then get to work!

Imagine, if you can, what it would feel like to have your mother murdered while she was protecting the children inside her elementary school. Imagine how you would react if some of those children were shot dead along with her. Imagine how difficult it would be to carry on, with class and dignity, when the forces that caused the tragedy fought against you when you tried to prevent such things from happening in the future.

The pain would be nearly unbearable. The anger would be a monster. The easy response would be to lash out in ugly ways any time someone dared to speak against solutions to the problem.

Erica Smegielski is stronger than that. She is standing up to those forces, finding the most effective ways to win the battle for reform, and she has the perfect reponse when faced with resistance.

Yesterday Jane Sanders mimicked the Conservative/Republican/NRA talking points. She insisted that she didn’t like people like Erica “politicizing” her mother’s murder by enlisting the help of Hillary Clinton in the quest to stop the madness that causes the Sandy Hook tragedy. Erica was offended, for very good reason. Erica rose above, and instead of throwing punches she offered an opportunity to be constructive instead. Absolutely brilliant, and extremely brave.

As we move forward in the primary campaign, as we battle the horrible Republican hate machine, let this be a lesson to all of us. We have an amazing role model, we have an ideal example. Erica provided the template for the perfect response, no matter how mad we get. Let’s follow her lead, to the White House and beyond!