Dallas

By now we've become very good at memorials--mounds of flowers, grief, extensive media coverage, speeches by celebrities and political leaders, funerals and calls for action.

It's what comes after that we struggle with. How to eliminate the next times. How to attack the causes of the next times. How to each be an effective agent of change.

This is where President Obama hit the mark in his speech in Dallas.

First, we need to pay attention to character in ourselves and others. The media slobbers all over celebrity because we want it. It's easy. It's entertaining. We must begin to want character and seek after it in the individuals we call heroes.

Second, we must realize the culture we have is the culture we created. We want a culture of glamor, comfort, desire and personal wealth. We choose not to adequately fund quality education for all, mental health care, programs to lift families out of poverty and programs to aid children. So we get the culture that flows from these choices.