November 11, 2004

[flag] 2008: Looking ahead

Anyone that is reading this probably already knows this, but just in case, here goes:

I AM A DEMOCRAT.

Whew. That's a relief, getting that off my chest. :)

As a democrat, I gotta tell you. It hasn't been the best week.

If you had asked me four years ago what we needed to do to defeat W. in 2004, I would have told you nothing. And I believed it. I thought that in four years, his general incompetence would be so obvious that there would be no way that he would be reelected. I thought, all I gotta do is get through four years. Then he'll be out and the world will be right again.

So, for the past four years, I didn't do much. I fought with some crazyfolk on the internet, and I had a fight with my mom, but that's about it. I assumed that I wouldn't need to do anything, that our common sense of right, of smart, of good would prevail, with or without me.

Boy, I don't think that I could have been more wrong.

So, for these next four years, I am not going to be quiet. I am not going to assume the collective goodness, righteousness, intellegence of the people. I am not going to trust that someone else will carry my sign, or sign my petition or write my congressman. I am going to have to do those things for myself. If we are going to change our situation, we are going to all have to be in the fight.

So, democrats, I beg you. Get in the fight.

Things you can do:

Remember the pain
My dear, dear friend Sally told me once that after her daughter was born, she would take a minute every day to think--really think--about the pain of childbirth. She said that she wanted to remember so that she wouldn't make the capricious decision to have another child. If she were going to go through it again, it wouldn't be through a rosy haze of remembered discomfort but with the clear memory of the searing, unbelievable, cutting-you-in-half with a hacksaw pain. So, let's take a lesson from Sally. Let's take a minute each day to remember what it felt like to lose this election. Let's remember it so that we don't make the same mistakes again next time. Let's remember so that we don't get lazy. We need to stay on our game.
Read. Listen. Write. Learn.
Read progressive publications like The Nation or Mother Jones. Listen to Air America--it is free to stream to your computer, 24x7. And, if you have XM, it's on channel 167. :) Write your congressperson. Often. Get on a first name basis.
Engage those who are less progressive.

Talk to people. Have facts. Share your story. Become the left-wing equivalent of a testifying Christian. Witness for the good guys. Sure, you'll get on some nerves, but do you really want *8* more years of this?

Get mad.

Here's a start:

(from the aforementioned AirAmericaRadio.com)

DeMint (R) South Carolina
"If a person wants to be publicly gay, they should not be teaching in the public schools."

Coburn (R) Oklahoma
"I favor the death penalty for abortionists and other people who take life."

Burr (R) North Carolina
"The conflict [in Iraq] has bought the U.S. time to regroup. The president bought us 14 months where every terrorist has been focused on killing Americans in Iraq."

Posted by Lori at November 11, 2004 12:11 AM