Where are we going?
Like many of the people I know, I've been struggling with how to cope with a government that is increasingly out of our control. It's one thing to say we should end the war, we should stop kidnapping and torturing people, we should stop invading other countries to steal their resources and kill hundreds of thousands of their citizens, we should start taking care of our own people, and we should get the press and those in public office to pay attention to the electorate rather than the corporations who give them money. The real challenge is how do we do this?
It should be obvious by now that with one or two exceptions (notably Dennis Kucinich) those in Washington or Sacramento couldn't give a damn about what we think: so long as the money is coming in from their corporate masters, there IS no problem. It should also be obvious that with that corporate control, mere humans no longer have any influence over who is nominated to run in the elections. Excuse me, but I don't think the race for corporate contributions should determine who we are allowed to vote for. Hillary has been shown to be crooked as a dog's hind leg, and that great statesman and leader Karl Rove has smirkingly commented that she's just what the Republicans, in seeking PERMANENT control of government, could want: she'll be easy to beat. The bottom line: somebody is picking who can and can't run for public office, and it surely isn't us.
So having been effectively disenfranchised and ignored by those in power (our congressman's contemptuous letter to the North Coast Journal told us he has better things to do than listen to constituents on the question of impeachment. . .or anything else), what can we do? If our votes no longer count, how can we keep our country from becoming another nazi Germany?
The only thing I can come up with is to try to get the 54% of Americans who think that Dick Cheney should be thrown out of power NOW to all go to Washington at once and close the place down until those representing us start to listen. I for one would to happy to pay for transportation for five people to go to Washington on, let's say, October 1, gather with three or four million others and physically petition "our" government for redress of grievances. Such gatherings are allowed under the law (for the moment), and I'm afraid nothing short of that kind of action will have any effect. I think that's the only way to trump the corporate masters, end the war, and force Senators and Congressmen to act as they swore to act when they assumed office: to protect and defend the Constitution.
Qui tacit consentit: who is silent consents. If you don't consent to murder, torture, corruption and lawlessness, now is the time to speak up. I really believe that soon it will be too late.