A horrid child-abuse scandal is unfolding at Penn State University, where people’s integrity, care of vulnerable children, and betrayal of privilege all are at issue. Today I offer a counter-point: a short, 5-minute speech by Michigan State University’s quarterback, where he speaks about privilege and responsibility. In these times, his words are uplifting and worth listening to.

After last week’s blog, Let’s Bring Together the Tea Party & Occupy Wall Street, Michel Martin, from NPR’s Tell Me More, asked me and representatives from the two groups to have an on-air conversation. All the potential peril in trying to do something productive could be heard during this conversation. But I remain undaunted, and I hope you are, too. Here’s why.

Like you, I have watched as the Tea Party has taken shape and now as the Occupy Wall Street movement is spreading – and my desire is to bring them both together around a single table for a real conversation. My experience tells me that they probably share some important things in common, and the nation would do well if those things could be uncovered and explored.

I was out sick all last week and flat on my back, but one thing I crawled out of bed for on Sunday was to watch on TV the dedication of the MLK Memorial. We often want to lionize King – and well we should – but I am even more struck by how he personally persevered and the lessons for ourselves.

Solutions to the challenges we face don’t yet exist and planning alone won’t get us there. In communities, states and the nation we need a different mindset – one of innovation.

There’s a new study out on how we Americans get our local news, and the findings show that “word of mouth” ranks second among all sources after local TV news. This has important implications for how communities go about informing themselves, engaging people, and, ultimately solving public challenges.

Earlier this year, my 21-year-old daughter, Emily, and I went to Germany to visit the Nazi death camp, Dachau. As Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins tomorrow evening, I keep thinking about that trip and its meaning. At issue, for me, is not what others might have done, but what do I do, each and every day?

Many people responded to the 9/11 attacks by putting flag decals on their cars, singing God Bless America and other patriotic songs, donating to various charities, and wearing flag lapel pins. At the time, I warned against such gestures, as I feared they amounted to a kind of empty or false unity. But today is different: we desperately need people to take such action.

President Obama will make the short drive from The White House to the halls of Congress on Thursday night to deliver his long-awaited “jobs speech.” What should we expect from him and the Republicans and what will give people the confidence that we are headed in the right direction?

The nation is reeling from hurricanes, earthquakes, the Great Recession, two wars, and severe public sector budget cuts, among other challenges. A broken politics sits at the heart of our inability to move forward. But beneath that is something even more important and vital to our long-term health: people clinging to their sense of humanity and dignity.

Yesterday’s opening of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is a poignant reminder of how we must engage to re-shape our nasty politics and public life. On the side of the memorial is this inscription: “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.” At issue is how we take these words in and live them especially at a time when our politics are so distasteful and sorely lacking in a sense of possibility.

Political bullying is in vogue now and the question you can hear bubbling up throughout the country is, “Who will stand up to the bullies?” Michele Bachmann is only the latest in a line of political bullies roaming our streets, and she was on full display following her win in the Iowa straw poll.