Entry tags:

growth, politics

My Experiments With Democracy
cerambicydae and I are back from Reno where we campaigned for Kerry.



Spreading Their Love
I was at the headquarters picking up lunch to take back to our precinct teams. Curious about the bagged lunches being handed out, a weathered, old woman walking by with a dog poked her head in the door and inquired what we were doing. The volunteer in charge of the food explained to her in an apologetic manner that the food was for campaign volunteers.

"Oh... okay. Sorry to bother you," she said and ducked back out the door.

A half a minute later as I'm putting my load of food into the car, the volunteer runs out to catch up to the woman, smiling, "Hey, here's a lunch for you. There's a turkey sandwich and some chips and stuff. Um...if you don't want it, you can share it with your dog."

She thanked him profusely and continued on her way.


Tax cuts for the middle class 1
At one house, I talked to a tired-looking fellow, "Oh, yeah, we're all votin' fer Kerry. Actually, we're from Arkansas originally. We were always for Clinton. Back with him, we were doin' a lot better. A lot better."

Tax cuts for the middle class 2
At another house, the Mexican-American woman says, "Oh, yes, I voted already today."

Consulting my clipboard of names and addresses... "And your husband, has he gotten down to vote yet?"

"Oh he is resting now. He is very tired. He has to go to his second job soon."

"Hmmm, well if he could go down and vote on his way to work, there are no lines right now and he could do it very quickly, only take a few minutes. It would really help a lot."

"Okay, well I will see if maybe he can go."

"Thank you so much, I'm really sorry to bother you."


Leave No Child Behind 1
Our polling place was across the street from an elementary school and every now and then we would hear a chorus of high-pitched voices from the schoolyard, "KERRY! KERRY! KERRY!"


Leave No Child Behind 2
One enthusiastic woman came to our table to get some help. Did we have a sample ballot she could look at? Someone else who had just finished voting gave his to her. She beamed as she told us her story:

This is my first time voting! My daughter asked me, "Mom, how old do you have to be to vote?"

"18", I told her.

"So are you voting?"

"Oh, I don't know."

"But, mom, you're my voice. If you don't vote, who's my voice? You HAVE TO VOTE!"

"Why's it so important, honey?"

"Because we got to get Bush's ass out of there!

Lots of laughing all the way around.

After she had voted, she came back and we all jumped up and down with joy.


You're with Us or Against Us
While I was out canvassing, an SUV plastered with Bush stickers drove past and a thick-necked guy yells out his window, "Are you gonna forge them...like the hypocrites?!"

I gather from this nearly non-sensical statement that the ignoramus thinks I am registering people to vote the day before election day? I laugh as lout as I possibly can.

A minute later he zooms back, "Are you going to throw them out if they vote for Bush?"

Again, I am dumbfounded that he seems not to realize it is the *Republicans* that are accused of throwing out Democrat registrations in Nevada, not the other way around.

What can I do but laugh and feel bad for the sorry fool.

Support Our Troops 1
So many smiles and support and thanks from people in our polling precinct, even when are knocking on their doors in the evening, interrupting their dinner.

Support Our Troops 2
Regular messages from the peeps back in the Bay Area. Love you guys. You kept us going.


Armies of Compassion
Today it seems to me that the majority of Americans have chosen fear over sense. They simply would rather be afraid than informed.
It's easier that way, I guess. Being afraid provides clarity where there may be confusion, paves the way for the confidence of blind faith to replace all insecurities and doubt.
That's the best explanation I can dig up at the moment for how 51% of the people in the safest, most prosperous nation in human history, can not only allow but actively encourage senseless and dangerous policies based on paranoia, divisiveness, and violence.
More understanding of the mass psychosis
which is the re-election of Bush is better left for another day.

For now, I feel paradoxically energized.

Now begins not only planning for the next campaign four years from now, but the concerted efforts until then to protect our country and the entire world from the actions of our very own government.

For every horrible thing that the Republican regime will do with their new "mandate" is an equal and opposite demand to counter it. Every victim of their crusades is another person that must be helped.

For every LGBT American they demonize, we will fight for their rights.

For every clinic they picket or bomb, we will fight to keep them open.

For every person without health insurance, we will fight to provide it.

For every person kept poor and hungry, we will help to lift them up.

For every forest or wetland they despoil, we will fight to protect and restore them.

For every person unjustly imprisoned, tortured, or harassed, we will fight to free them.

For every soldier or civilian they kill or harm, we will help them to heal and forgive.

For every nation, every culture, every religion they attack and try to destroy, we will reach out to them with understanding and *real* compassion.

The Lambda Fund, Human Rights Campaign, Amnesty International, Oxfam, ACLU, Sierra Club, Red Cross and Red Crescent, American Friends Service Committee, and on and on the list goes.

Bush and the other 51% of America may not be our enemy, but they are our responsibility. What horrors they perpetrate in the name of the United States of America we have the duty to mitigate and undo. For those Americans gifted with some measure of sense, conscience, and compassion, the tasks at hand are clear.

Okay, people - it's time to get to work.