September 11th to November 4th

Just a number of thoughts that occurred to me while walking around today....

As much as our parents' generation (for the Americans on this thread) remember where they were when John F. Kennedy was shot, we can still hear the news of a plane hitting the World Trade Center, and can return the room we were in when the towers fell. While much of the pain and trepidation about being attacked for the first time has dissipated, the ramifications of that event continue to unfold, even seven years on.

I, for one, will never read the book, My Pet Goat, to my kids.

For those who are scratching their heads at the reference, this was the book our president was reading to school children on September 11, 2001 when the planes hit the twin towers. Essentially he was faced with the first real test of his presidency, and ended up looking like a deer in headlights while countless firefighters, EMTs and policemen gave their lives in the line of duty. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGLYkXp_y0I And it was pretty much downhill from there. You know the stories, and quite frankly, there are too many disasters in the years to follow to make for an easy read. But, if interested: http://www.thenation.com/sections/george_w_bush

Essentially, the way our leaders have acted following the first foreign attack on U.S. soil since the Revolutionary War (let's not forget renegade whiteboys Timothy McVeigh or Terry Nichols, however, the perpetrators of the Oklahoma City bombing) has ensured that our nation is less safe, our foreign policy more narrow, and a new generation born with a deep hatred of our country. All because of our leaders' steadfast perception that what they do is right, is in the name of freedom, and that history will judge them as competent bringers of justice to the world. But in reality, let's not kid ourselves: it's all about the money.

The power grabs in the Middle East to ensure pipelines through contested regions. The suppression of renewable energy projects where the profits aren't landing in the pockets of the oil conglomerates. The perpetual state of war that benefits what president Harry Truman famously described as the "military industrial complex." The resistance of the U.S. military to allow reporters to follow troops wherever the story might lead, nor show footage of flag-draped coffins returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. The abysmal lack of subsidies for organically-produced agriculture that put these healthier foods out of reach for lower income families. The list goes on and on, but for the most part, a lot of what trickles down from the top of our system of government depends on the choices we make on our own, in a voting booth, with nothing else to distract us.

As Americans, as flawed as our electoral system is, we find ourselves at yet another crossroads come the presidential election on November 4th. Now many of you live in states and regions whose outcome is virtually decided. I don't think New York is going to McCain, for one. Nor California or Massachusetts. But some of you live in states, or next to states, where Obama and McCain (let's not pretend this election is about Sarah Palin) are running neck and neck, and where literally the future of the planet lies in the outcome of certain districts.

We got surprised in 2000, and were shocked in 2004, but I'll be damned if I'm going to sit in front of a TV screen again watching the polls come in on Nov 4th. I will be going to Pennsylvania to do whatever I can, in the closest swing state to New York (sorry NH, but you're only 4 electoral votes...). We cannot let an election be stolen out from under us again. And when I say "us," I'm also referring to a large swath of Republicans who consistently vote against their long-term interest on the basis of homophobia, ignorance of world affairs, and thoughts on when exactly life begins. It is for those who want to marry their partners, for the Iranian street vendors who simply want to put food in their family's stomachs, and the babies of women unable to raise them that we must do what we can in the months ahead to reverse the dangerous course our country is on.

Disclosure: I am a privileged white person in one of the richest countries on Earth, and can afford to think these things. I realize this.

You, by the virtue of being a friend of mine, have likely had similar advantages growing up. And for this reason, we have the education and resources to both think about these issues, as well as can find time to do something about it. I am not being hyperbolic when I suggest that the fate of the world depends on those willing and able to correct a wrong perpetrated on the American people and the world for 8 long years. Register to vote. Get your apathetic friends to register. And contact your friends and family in swing states to see what you could do from afar. This, and with a million other small action leading up to Nov 4, we can help bring an end to the Republican tyranny that has made us all worse off.

There are going to be at least two Supreme Court justices nominated by our next president, and McCain has said repeatedly that he will nominate people such as Scalia and Alito to the bench. For those of you with sisters and daughters, or may be having daughters in the years ahead, this is no theoretical exercise. The most important women in your life could be unable to terminate a pregnancy that is threatening their life, would be resigned to work for unequal pay, and in both circumstances, these effects could last for a generation.

If you haven't guessed already, this is election is important. Sharing mostly unreported views of the world is important (the Georgia/Russia conflict, for one). And using our privilege to stay on top of national and world affairs is important. If this election goes the wrong way come November, the road ahead will become considerably steeper and rockier. That said, I am confident that the Obama-Biden ticket will come out on top, and that this will be a resounding victory on the scale of Clinton in '96 (Reagan in '84 is too much to ask for, but a girl can dream...). But as we saw with the Diebold fiasco in 2004 (http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2004/03/03_200.html), and what is happening in small districts around the country with no paper trails on the voting machines, this outcome is by no mean guaranteed. Only by a landslide can we deliver a more prosperous future to our children and grandchildren. We can do it, but we have to do some more work to get there...


Now, because I've been standing on this soapbox for quite sometime, and with many things left unsaid (believe it or not). I should probably stop. But below are a few news outlets I check regularly to keep abreast of things not always reported in the mainstream media:

- Washington Monthly - www.washingtonmonthly.com
- The Nation - www.thenation.com
- Drudge - www.drudgereport.com (believe it or not)
- Talking Points Memo - www.talkingpointsmemo.com