From the Desk of Jerry Maguire: Mission Statement for America

If the mobilized principle and power of the blogosphere, progressive and mainstream American majority lifts the box office of Al Gore's important film on global warming to even greater heights, and moblizes our power and support for worthy endeavors throughout American culture, we will create the Lexington and Concord of our times that will be a transforming event for a country who's leaders have gone astray.

Make no mistake, the Gore film has been a major success at the box office, as well as lifting hearts and minds. But I am proposing something even greater, a statement so powerful that it will move money and markets to our side, move national politics to high concept and new profiles in courage, and move our debates to new heights of idealism, inspiration, and optimism

You say you want a Revolution? If the Gore movie box office goes completely through the roof because of us, and we have the power make it happen, we will fire the shot heard around the world that will be the real America's answer to a government that in the name of democracy hosts secret meetings with oil company barons, who rip off consumers, pollute God's earth, make us dependent on Middle East despots and Chinese bankers, and finance slander attacks against Democratic recipients of Bronze and Silver Stars.

The Good Book says, the last shall be first. Spend a few bucks for a movie of high honor and you will change the world.

In the published version of Jerry Maguire, before the screenplay there is an essay by Cameron Crowe about the making of the movie, fofllowing the screenplay there is the full text of Jerry's mission statement "the things we think but do not say".

I personally suspect the mission statement was secretly written by the great sports agent Leigh Steinberg, but whether this is true or not, Jerry's manifesto is a brilliant and timeless statement about integrity and honor and passion and truth in American business and American life.

There is no need to elaborate at length on the evils inflicted in the name of democracy by the defamations of the defenders of the one party state. When our President cannot bring himself to condemn the demeaning of 9-11 widows, while he scorns patriotic Americans who sing our anthem in Spanish, when the leader of the free world is reduced to demonizing gays in the name of democracy, we know this:

It is time for us not merely to dream, it is time for us to act, with greater commitment and energy, passion and focus, than we have ever demonstrated before. The colonists are waiting in the forest, George III has arrived at Lexington and Concord, and it is time to make our stand.

In his mission statement, Jerry Maguire issued a call to action. Forget the dance, and focus. Be honest with ourselves. Be honest with those we care about. "We must crack open the tightly clenched of commerce and give a little back for the greater good." In the end there will be more truth, more honesty. For the bull we give up today, we create greatness tomorrow. And in the end, the power of this will be infectious, and there will be more revenue. Jerry knew, as we do: this is the America we love, the America that always has been, the America that always can be.

When Leigh Steinberg encourages megastar quarterback clients to give back to America, he embodies the true character of America, and equally important, he demonstrates the brilliance of what business, citizenship, talent and art can be.

When Warren Beatty speaks of public service; when Angelina Jolie extends her hand to the hungry; when Robert Redford stands up for the environment; when George Clooney wages the fight against genocide; when Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg hail the heroism of the greatest generation; when Julia Roberts sets a standard of generosity for the families of 9-11; when Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins speak with passion for justice; when Mel Gibson speaks out against fearmongering; when Rob Reiner fights for pre-school children; when Alec Baldwin speaks of social justice; when Cher stands tall for wounded troops and a better America, and so many others, do so many things, with such powerful impact, they bring alive Jerry's vision, they embody the true spirit of America.

I submit: if we took a presidential ticket with the viewpoints and aspirations of Warren Beatty and Robert Redford, running against a ticket with the viewpoints and aspirations of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld; it would be clear immediately who speaks for the real America.

It is high time to challenge the two Big Lies propagated by rightist demagogues who demean our democracy, in the name of democracy. And as someone who has worked with and against conservatives over many years, here, first, is the Big Truth that is the true answer to the Big Lie: they do not attack what they hate, as much as they attack what they fear.

If Jack Murtha is a war hero who opposes our policy in Iraq, they attack him as a coward, because they fear his opposition; if blogs are attracting tens of millions of progressive patriots, they mean them, because they fear their potential power; if entertainers speak out with social conscience and challenging art, they demean them, because they fear the reach of their message and their commitment to an America that supports the Bill of Rights and opposes the mentality that creates the Abu Ghraibs.

There are reasons the oil companies peddle their harmful to America energy policies in secret meetings; there are reasons that Texas oilmen finance Swift Boat slanders against John Kerry, then move their money to laughable lies about Al Gore's vision on global warming.

So: when peddlers of defamation and smear run cable television segments with titles such as Hollywood Hates America, what they fear, in fact, is that in its own way, in a very real way, Hollywood Is America. For every Harrison Ford who lights up the screen with stardom, there is a former carpenter who once struggled to make ends meet; for every athlete who runs the track at midnight dreaming of making the team and scoring the Super Bowl touchdown, there is a kid from the streets inspired by the Leigh Steinbergs who reaches to help his brothers and sisters cross the great bridge of American opportunity.

So I say, let everyone who reads these words, and believe me they will be spread far and wide, and everyone who shares this dream, and believe me, we are measured in the many tens of millions, rededicate ourselves, even more, to join this epic stuggle whose stakes are nothing less than the future of our country, our faith in each other, and our crediblity and honor in the world.

To the artists, authors and athletes who have done so much, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and ask you to do even more. For those who have watched from the sidelines, concerned but so far largely silent, join us in this epic battle for the heart and soul of the American idea, you can make a difference, you can change the world, you can help us open the clenched fist of commerce and selfishness.

To the bloggers, the grassroots, the believers in freedom and justice and truth, the heirs to Ben Franklin and Tom Paine, we can be a great generation in our way, as others were in theirs.

I propose that in one transcendant act of empowerment and commitment, each of us, all of us, make a statement that begins with a mass movement of box office power to support An Inconvient Truth, to stand for a larger truth, to show the world that we will stand against the defamation of our democracy with the same intensity and passion that we stand against the pollution of our planet and the corruptions of our Congress and the slanderous politics that seeks to foment fear to turn American against American.

Let the artists stand with the fans; let the fans give support to the artists; let Democratic Leaders in Congress lend their support to the movie and the power of the movement on the talk shows, while we lend our support to them, in return. And as we demonstrate the power of our hearts, minds, money and numbers we should challenge every major corporation as consumers and investors to put their money, where our hearts and numbers are, and not be one party advertisers who fund the demeaners of the right while they give us, who's loyalty they seek, the back of their hand.

To the Intels, Microsofts, Apples and Dells every one of us on the net, with 100% certainty, 100% of our days, are your core business, your customers, your greatest source of profit. If you want to spend your advertising bucks for mistargeted waste funding the media of those who demean fellow Americans, take note: we have far greater numbers than they, our business is up for bids, and our time has come.

I personally have no financial interest in the movie, though I do support Gore for President, but that is beside the point. Let the Mark Warners and Wes Clarks follow in the footsteps of leadership, and move beyond serving the best shrimp at conventions of bloggers, and give their money and power and support in real hard term to this great movement of new democracy. Then we should give them a standing ovation as well, as we should Hillary, and Kerry, and Edwards, and Richardson when they move beyond the platitudes of politics and empower us in real life, in real time, as we offer to empower them.

To the billionaires and moneymen and women of the Democratic Party and the progressive movement, you know who you are, all of us know the names, your generosity is always much appreciated, but of whom much is given, must is asked. Look at the world of media and technology, the power of our numbers, the power of our ability to communicate our message, the power to make sure that votes are counted homestly, the power to mobilize our idealism and decency, the power to make America America again, the power to reignite our democracy at home and restore our moral crediblity with friends of freedom wherever they are found on our planet.

You have the power to leave a giant footprint in history, the opportunity of a lifetime. Make the most of it, and as Jerry says, I promise, in the end there will be more revenue.

Each of us knows the issues, the stakes, this is an epic moment in American history. As Jerry Maguire wrote his mission statement, we must write ours. Some of us will be the Jerrys, walking the halls of the corridors of money and power; others will be Rod Tidwells, the mistreated, knocked unconcious, who found his heart and rose to the end zone, true to himself, and us; others will be the Dorothys, the believes at the core of our country, who can only afford ten bucks, but together, are like billionaires building a country; we do this not only for ourselves, but for the little Rays, Dorothy's little boy who has the God given right to have wide eyes, big dreams, and the promise that in America, big dreams come true.

So: life imitates art; art imitates life; that is the magic of America, and here we stand.