Somebody Needs To Do Something
There is an interesting editorial in the November-December Mother Jones magazine about the moral dilemma of leaving Iraq. You can read it at
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/11/iraq-war-index.html
One of the points the editorial makes is the responsibility we all bear for what has happened in Iraq – a responsibility that gives us an obligation to consider the consequences of how and when we leave. Just as all of Germany and Japan bear the blame for their countries' actions in World War II, so also must all of America own what our government does in our name.
Even those of us who opposed the war from the beginning, or came to oppose it after the fact have to share this responsibility. Through our votes or refusal to vote, We The People put in place the President and Vice President who lied us into this war as well as the legislators who authorized it. And even now we continue to accept their actions or lack thereof, whether we agree with them or not.
Isn’t it time for us to make a choice? We can choose to just continue complaining to one another about the administration and congress; or we can choose to start using the power of our numbers to do something about it.
Think what would happen if just one tenth of us started writing, calling, and emailing each of our legislators once a week to let them know what we think about what they are doing or not doing. That would be 30 million voices flooding Washington every week with praise for the good and strong objections to the erroneous and the undone. Now that would be a force to be reckoned with!
It wouldn’t take much on anyone’s part to accomplish this. If we each convince three people to commit to such weekly action and those three each convince three more who in turn each convince three more… in no time the force would be with us.
The calls, letters and emails could and should be short and to the point. “Thanks for your action regarding so and so.” Or “I disagree strongly with your view on so and so.” You don’t need to be a great writer or orator, just a frequent one. To get the biggest bang for our buck, the messages must stream in week after week so they understand we are paying attention and mean to stay on their tails.
For those of you who are so busy you just haven’t been able to find the time to get involved – understand that we are running out of time. As English author, Charles Buxton said, “You will never ‘find’ time for anything. If you want time you must make it.” Look at your life - if something is important to you, you always make time for it.
This is important to all of us. If we don’t get our country back on track, our lives will change drastically and not for the better. If you think you can just wait and somebody else will do it, look around. Do you see somebody else doing it? You are the somebody who needs to do it and now is the time it needs doing.
Comments
Too often I fear apathy has become important to us - motivated by comfort. Sometimes I wonder, however, if writing to our so-called "representatives is enough.
I had recently written to Diane Feinstein telling her I was very unhappy with her yay vote on the bill chastising MoveOn for their Petraeaus ad. More than a month later I finally get a short reply from her, basically stating what I had already known, that she was "disappointed to learn of MoveOn.org's advertisement criticizing General Petraeus," and "On September 20, 2007, I joined 71 of my colleagues in approving Senator John Cornyn's (R-TX) amendment to the fiscal year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1585), expressing the sense of the Senate to reaffirm support for General David Petraeus and strongly condemn personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all members of the United States Armed Forces."
Well doh! I already knew that. She didn't respond at all to my real issue with her when I stated I was disappointed with her vote, and thought that instead of censoring political ads it might be more important to pass bills her electorate had put her there to pass. Of course, she did thank me for my writing and hoped I'd continue to inform her of the issues that were important to me.
It certainly had all the earmarks of a form letter, leading me to wonder how many others had also told her they hadn't agreed with her vote. It sure doesn't motivate me to want to write to her again. I might as well have pissed in the wind.
I agree Trish that we have to do something. At this point, I'm not really sure what that might be, though I'd agree writing and calling is good to fill in the time. More and more I get the feeling they don't particularly care what most of us think or want.
Perhaps when we become uncomfortable enough in our lives because of their actions and inactions, and take to the streets en masse, nothing will change. I know that's cynical, but I've been becoming more and more so since the year 2000 for some reason.
I couldn't agree more that if something isn't done, and done quickly, we are going to be in big doo doo. Bush et al are the greatest threat to our Constitution and our way of life in our history. I've been reading Al Gore's "Assault on Reason," and would suggest it as must reading. He seems to feel the same way.
Posted by: Stephen | October 30, 2007 04:58 PM
Stephen, I understand your frustration. I have a large collection of just such form letters from Feinstein, Boxer and Herger. And as our letters, calls and emails dribble in, a few here and a few there, they can all get away with pretty much ignoring us and our opinions.
However, if there are suddenly 30 million messages flooding the capital every week that is a whole other kettle of fish and not so easy to ignore. Whether they like it or not, they still have to run for election and great numbers of people saying “Wait just a minute!” will make them sit up and take notice.
That is why I am suggesting we each take responsibility for starting such a campaign by doing it ourselves and convincing three other people to join us and asking them to convince three other people and on and on. It’s the old eating an elephant approach – one bite at a time – and before you know it, it is done.
If we allow our frustration to keep us from trying, there is no hope. If you stop and think about it, we have nothing to lose. If we try, we may fail but if we don’t try, we fail for sure.
Posted by: Trish | October 30, 2007 06:26 PM
I totally agree with you Trish, and I know you understand I was just taking it to the next level, anticipating the need to do so.
Once again, for those needing it, here is a link for anyone needing the information on just how to contact their representatives:
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ .
Posted by: Stephen | October 30, 2007 06:37 PM