We can contine to rebuild America; or, we can slide into permanent peonage, hostages to greed.
"Vision without action is a pipedream," a neighbor's bumper declares. Is the American people's vision of a more just society ... just a pipedream? I say, "No!" We MADE that happen. Is our massive 2008 electoral rejection of Republi-Corp's nightmare ... a pipedream? NO. The sovereign people DID that. Have Americans struggled and died for centuries to govern ourselves ... for a pipedream? Surely not! But right now, what stands between us and ruthlessly authoritarian ideologues is simple. Votes. And lots of 'em.
Tyranny is shameless. This weekend, stealth wealth is lavishing awesome resources on anything and everything money can buy. If we are worthy of governing ourselves, we will not be suckered. We'll rally voters to elect people who will act on behalf of us all, not just privileged elites.
The results of this nation's most precious jewel -- the right, privilege and obligation to vote bad guys out of office -- makes the status quo crazy. Yes, crazy! On Tuesday, as we teeter on the brink of a disasterous Congress, the classically disenfranchised may very well tip the scales.
Citizens denied the right to vote is still no abstraction. Living memory is rich with pale and dark skinned Americans alike, struggling to make this fundamental right colorblind. Women among our elders were born when NO woman could vote. My mother was 11 when women finally won the right to vote.
Appallingly, the most under-served of us are still the easiest targets for anti-democratic voter suppression. No matter how corrupt and corrupting, we are witnessing outrageous reactionaries who have no qualms whatsoever about doing whatever it takes to seize Congress. They are intent on bullying us into their reactionary agenda.
"NO COMPROMISE!" howls John Boehner*, itching to run the U.S. House for the benefit of big business. Across the Capitol building is the equally disgraceful Mitch McConnell. His own proud pigheadedness has relentlessly clogged the wheels of the U.S. Senate these past 2 years. Legislative Republicans insist on "NO COMPROMISE!" That's not a strategy. That's a deathwish in a democracy and it's been official Republic-Corp policy since President Obama took office.
These Repugnants are not even embarassed about what they'll do to us if we let them. Two quick picks from their wheelbarrow full of genuine (for once) Republican weapons of mass destruction:
George Bush's only regret (!) is that he didn't destroy Social Security. Republi-Corp hasn't given up. Wouldn't it have been lovely to have the Social Security Trust Fund invested in Wall Street. The transfer of wealth to the already rich plutocrats would have paled in comparison to this travesty, which is precisely what Republi-Corp has in mind for us. The Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration figures current Republican proposals will slash up to 58% of real people's benefits at a time when private pension plans are woefully underfunded. You can thank Wall Street* for that as well.
Serious proposals come from Republicans to rescind the people's hard won right to elect our Senators directly. Presumably you and I are too ignorant and inept to choose our Senators, so electors would (again!) stand between us and those crucial Senate seats.
Brownshirts beating up women also seems to be part of the agenda.
Fight back! We DO have voice and we DO have the vote.
Voice: Stop making nice about the radical fringes' craziness infecting our political system. Tell it like it is. They're poison. And after the election? Do NOT "get over it." Get on with it.
Vote: Do what people have fought and died to do since before 1776. VOTE! Doesn't matter how great a candidate is if we fail to exercise this precious right. Even if the candidate isn't so great, default to Republi-Corp is a really, really bad idea. Encourage -- and enable -- everyone you touch to vote, too. Just Do It!
I share President Obama's vision that a more just society is not a pipedream. Will we wimp out on our duly elected President who's championing us in the face of virulent, vindictive opposition? The clock's ticking. Forward or back? You choose.
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*-- Frank Rich reports in today's New York Times that John Boehner "is the largest House recipient of Wall Street money this year." They probably just like easy-going personality.
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