Col. Robert G. Shaw (answering a soldier’s reluctance to lead): So, what do you want to do?

Trip: Don’t know, sir.

Col. Robert G. Shaw: It stinks, I suppose.

Trip: Yeah, it stinks bad. And we all covered up in it, too. Ain’t nobody clean. Be nice to get clean, though.

Col. Robert G. Shaw: How do we do that?

Trip: We ante up and kick in, sir.

That exchange, from the Civil War film “Glory,” captures both the frustration of our present moment and the solution we too often forget. It would be nice to get clean — in our politics, our culture wars, and the partisan rancor that drowns out what really matters.

If you’ve never seen “Glory,” now is as good a time as ever. Telling the story of the Black 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, we learn what truly matters.

Even in the context of slavery — and maybe because of it — the question of what we’re willing to live and die for rises to the surface. Beyond some of the best acting you’ll see from Denzel Washington and Matthew Broderick, you’ll be reminded of the values that helped make America great.

Today, we’re led nationally by folks with compromised values — on both sides. Meanwhile, you, me, our community must, more than ever, remember we’re a........

© Santa Clarita Valley Signal