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.